The Landlady

The Deception of the Landlady
The characters and symbols in this story show the theme as people should not always believe in what they see or hear because things are not always as they seem. First off, in this story the characters reveal the theme through their actions, thoughts and verbal speeches. They show that people should not believe in what they hear or see because it could be a lie. In the beginning of the short story, the landlady portrays a very polite and welcoming person. For instance, when Billy rang the doorbell, “she [had] stepped aside, holding the door wide open [and] said pleasantly “please come in” (Dahl 120). This obviously shows that she is well mannered and is glad that Billy is here by the tone that the author had set
Billy had first noticed the landlady having “a round pink face and very gentle blue eyes” (Dahl 140). These features all seem very positive because the round pink face is usually used to describe baby faces. Babies are very innocent which shows that she may be viewed as just an innocent old lady. Also when Billy had said she had very gentle blue eyes, the word “gentle” is used as describing someone as very kind and calm. These words let him have a good approach towards the landlady following the blue eyes; blue eyes were viewed as beautiful in the society, as it wasn’t as common. Usually since first impressions matter a lot in the society, Billy’s first impression of the landlady was very positive which lets him trust her more easily. Though later on in the novel as the landlady had been serving him tea Billy observes her hands were “small white, quickly moving hands, and red fingernails” (Dahl 340). The color red represents danger and power because of its association with fire and blood. This shows how after the reader finds out about the poisoning of the tea, the landlady will have power over Billy because she already has poisoned him with the bitter almonds. Danger occurs in the story because of the fact that Billy is not able to be fully aware of his surroundings anymore after consuming the bitter almonds. Therefore, this shows that the landlady was not the same person that was portrayed through her features in the start of the story. In the story when Billy had been peering through the window of the “bed and breakfast” lodge, he noticed a little dachshund and he thought to himself that “[ ] animals were usually a good sign in a place like this… a pretty decent house to stay in” (Dahl 60). He had thought that the little dog had been real from just judging how perfectly alive it seemed, but he never notices it never moved. Billy said that