Roald Dahl The Landlady Analysis
“She was about forty-five or fifty years old, and the moment she saw him, she gave him a warm welcoming smile.”(3 Dahl) ‘Him’ is Billy, the main character in this novella. “Billy was seventeen years old. He was wearing a new navy-blue overcoat, a new brown trilby hat, and a new brown suit”(1 Dahl). In this story by Roald Dahl The Landlady, Billy gets taken in by a nice old landlady into her den. There are two main themes in this story the irony of Billy’s situation and the deception of the landlady to trick Billy to be at ease. In this short story, the theme of irony is shown best by the situation Billy is presented with. On the way up the stairs to Billy’s room, she is explaining she is always ready just in case someone, as perfect as him,
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Deception is also shown throughout this story, best by the landlady. The landlady appears to be a nice, caring, good-hearted, generous, and non-threatening. She deceives Billy Weaver as he is taken in by her physically from the cold and by her seemingly harmless appearance described in the following quote. “She seemed terribly nice. She looked exactly like the mother of one’s best school friend welcoming one into the house to stay for the Christmas holidays.”(4 Dahl) The bolded words show descriptors for Billy’s thought process of the landlady and show what he thought of her, being a nice, welcoming, and mother-like old lady. This shows her deception because she ends up not being such a nice old lady. The landlady takes Billy up to his room and when she leaves Billy still only thinks of her as being non-threatening. “After all, she was not only harmless – there was no question about that – but she was also quite obviously a kind and generous soul.”(5 Dahl) This quote shows how blindly deceived Billy is by the landlady’s acting. The landlady pretends to be a nice old lady that comforts you, gives you tea, takes you in when it is cold outside, has low prices for staying the night and offers to go lower if need be. However, the landlady gets alluded to be a murder of younger guys of at least three, which is definitely not how she pretends to be. Both of these quotes show the deception of the landlady perceived by
Deception is also shown throughout this story, best by the landlady. The landlady appears to be a nice, caring, good-hearted, generous, and non-threatening. She deceives Billy Weaver as he is taken in by her physically from the cold and by her seemingly harmless appearance described in the following quote. “She seemed terribly nice. She looked exactly like the mother of one’s best school friend welcoming one into the house to stay for the Christmas holidays.”(4 Dahl) The bolded words show descriptors for Billy’s thought process of the landlady and show what he thought of her, being a nice, welcoming, and mother-like old lady. This shows her deception because she ends up not being such a nice old lady. The landlady takes Billy up to his room and when she leaves Billy still only thinks of her as being non-threatening. “After all, she was not only harmless – there was no question about that – but she was also quite obviously a kind and generous soul.”(5 Dahl) This quote shows how blindly deceived Billy is by the landlady’s acting. The landlady pretends to be a nice old lady that comforts you, gives you tea, takes you in when it is cold outside, has low prices for staying the night and offers to go lower if need be. However, the landlady gets alluded to be a murder of younger guys of at least three, which is definitely not how she pretends to be. Both of these quotes show the deception of the landlady perceived by