Examples Of Mary Maloney In Lamb To The Slaughter

In “Lamb to the Slaughter”, Dahl engages the reader by the characterization of Mary Maloney to emphasize that what you see on the surface should not form your opinion of a person. She was perceived as an ordinary fragile housewife although she was capable of getting away with murdering her husband. Mary Maloney walks into her house after obtaining vegetables at the local grocer while "Keep[ing] things absolutely natural [. . . with] no need for any acting at all" (4). By purchasing vegetable for supper after murdering Patrick, she created herself an alibi. The policemen identified her as a loving and devoted to her husband who could not have been in any part of the cause of Patrick's death. With the knowledge of Mary Maloney's cunningness