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Theme of Lamb to The Slaughter

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Lamb To The Slaughter

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The Imbalance of Traditional Gender Roles

At the beginning of the story, Mary and Patrick Maloney fulfill traditional feminine and masculine roles. Dahl subverts these conventional gender tropes as the plot progresses by reversing the power dynamics between the male and female characters. In doing so, the author challenges rigid gender roles, suggesting they are the product of a patriarchal society that favors men.

Mary initially embodies the 1950s homemaker. Confined to the domestic sphere, her life revolves around her husband. While Mr. Maloney is at work, she ensures the house looks welcoming, then sits with her sewing. The way Mary listens for “tires on the gravel outside” illustrates her eagerness for her husband’s return (22). Once Patrick Maloney is home, Mary endeavors to meet his every need. Although six months pregnant, she performs the role of a domestic servant, hanging up Mr. Maloney’s coat, preparing him a drink, offering to fetch his slippers, and insisting on making supper. She also provides emotional support, reflecting on how tired her husband must be after his day at work. Entirely submissive to Mr. Maloney, Mary performs these tasks without resentment, as she has fully embraced the role of the “good wife.”

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Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl | Themes, Summary & Analysis

Michel has taught college composition and literature for over16 years. He has a BA from DePauw University and a Master's degree from Texas A&M International University. He has worked as an educator, speechywriter, ghostwriter, and freelancer.

Joshua holds a master's degree in Latin and has taught a variety of Classical literature and language courses.

What is the theme of the story "Lamb to the Slaughter"?

The story shows the themes of gender and mistaken identity. Mary and the weapon are the last things the police would suspect to be involved in a murder. Mary uses her gender, and the perception of what that means, to cover up her crime.

What is the author's message in "Lamb to the Slaughter"?

The main message is that appearances can be deceiving. Mary looks like a grieving housewife, but she is in fact a cold-blooded killer. The murder weapon appears to be some heavy tool but is in the fact the main ingredient in the dinner Mary prepared.

Table of Contents

"lamb to the slaughter" by roald dahl, summary of "lamb to the slaughter", analysis of "lamb to the slaughter", "lamb to the slaughter" themes, lesson summary.

"Lamb to the Slaughter" is a short story by Roald Dahl first published in 1953 in Harper's magazine. Despite being famous for his children's books, Dahl also wrote adult fiction, including this short black comedy. The story follows Mary Maloney, a housewife who kills her husband using a frozen leg of lamb. Mary then sets up a crime scene and tricks the investigating officers into eating the now-cooked lamb, disposing of the evidence.

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• 0:01 Overview
• 2:59 Mistaken Identity
• 4:02 Black Comedy
• 5:14 Lesson Summary

Mary waits for her husband, Patrick, to return from work. Pregnant, Mary nevertheless works tirelessly to ensure everything is ready for Patrick when he arrives. Patrick, though, is distant and refuses the food and drink she has prepared. The text never says what he tells her then, but he tries to comfort her by telling her she will be looked after, hinting he asks for a divorce.

Shocked and in a suddenly emotionally shut down, Mary continues trying to do what Patrick wants, offering to make dinner. She retrieves a frozen leg of lamb from the cellar, despite Patrick insisting he doesn't want it and will be going out. Mary, still in a trance of sorts, hits him in the back of the head with the frozen leg, killing him.

Without feeling or shock, Mary calmly thinks of what to do to give herself an alibi. She practices questions and goes to the store to buy food for the supposed purpose of making dinner for Patrick. She remains jovial and cheerful as she goes about her chores and speaks to the grocer, Sam, then returns and continues to act the part of a wife who finds her husband murdered. While she finally feels shocked at seeing Patrick's body, she continues with her plan and calls the police.

Detectives, a doctor, and others arrive and process the scene. Two of them, O'Malley and Noonan, stay with her and ask her questions. They all treat kindly and with respect as they worked with Patrick. She tells them her story of going to the grocer, and the police take her at her word for everything. As the police search for and fail to find the murder weapon, Mary suggests Noonan, O'Malley, and the others eat the leg of lamb she has in the oven as she couldn't possibly eat at that moment.

When the police muse that the murder weapon must be right under their noses, Mary, in the other room, giggles.

"Lamb to the Slaughter" is a classic example of Roald Dahl's black humor. It's essentially a horror tale of cold-blooded murder, yet at the same time, Mary is presented somewhat sympathetically as she's doing everything she can for her husband to make him comfortable and he asks for a divorce seemingly out of nowhere.

What Is the Main Message of "Lamb to the Slaughter"?

Discovering what is the main message of "Lamb to the Slaughter" requires looking at both the title and the story itself. The title refers to bringing lambs to be slaughtered, an act that first necessitates the lambs be cared for and fed before being butchered for their meat. Likewise, Mary cared for Patrick and made sure everything was ready for him. By killing him, she avoids the stigma of being divorced in the 1950s while still keeping his pension and perhaps a life insurance payout.

Despite being a cold-blooded killer, Mary creates a perfect example of black comedy. A black comedy is a comedy that shows otherwise horrific and morbid events in a humorous way. The murder itself is fairly ridiculous, as is the fact that Mary disposes of the evidence by feeding it to the police. The ridiculousness of the situation is part of the reason why the police would never suspect her. A pregnant woman murdering her police officer husband with a piece of frozen meat would never occur to them.

Appearances, the story shows, can be deceiving.

"Lamb to the Slaughter," theme-wise, can be read several different ways. Though short, the story presents a black comedy murder that flips several preconceptions on their head. When asking what is the theme of "Lamb to the Slaughter," the most important thing to remember is that it is a comedy, so the absurd is the main thing to focus on.

Mistaken Identities in "Lamb to the Slaughter"

The police mistaking Mary for a doting and grieving housewife is the crux of her plan. In their eyes, the killer had to have been someone capable of overpowering a police officer and killing him in cold blood. Mary, though, is a pregnant woman, someone who in the 1950s could not be considered capable of these things.

Mistaken identity even extends to the murder weapon. The police deduce the weapon must have been something heavy and metallic. The weapon, of course, was a frozen leg of lamb which could not have weighed more than a few pounds, but it was hard and lethal. Both Mary and her weapon show that appearances can be deceiving.

Gender in "Lamb to the Slaughter"

Gender is a main theme in the story, especially the way a female is perceived and approached. Mary is not just a woman, but a pregnant woman. She is the picture of femininity and motherhood, a classic example of a housewife waiting on her husband. Mary, of course, uses these perceptions to her advantage in creating the perception of herself as a victim. She is not timid or mild. She brutally kills her husband with a single blow to the back of the head and then coldly calculates how to get away with the murder.

Roald Dahl's " Lamb to the Slaughter " is a black comedy short story. Despite being known for his children's books, Dahl's story is a famous example of black comedy, a humorous portrayal of an otherwise shocking or horrific situation. The story shows Mary murdering her husband with a leg of lamb and getting away with it after he tells her he is leaving her.

Mary's murder of Patrick shows that people tend to overlook the true nature of things. Mary herself is a pregnant housewife but also a calculating killer. The weapon was not some heavy tool but rather the main ingredient in a dinner.

Video Transcript

Overview of 'lamb to the slaughter'.

Have you ever heard someone called a wolf in sheep's clothing ? What does that mean? Usually, when people employ this colorful colloquialism, they mean to say that someone has taken on the appearance, habits, or other characteristics of a group in order to infiltrate it. Of course, this phrase takes on a whole new meaning in the context of Roald Dahl's short story ' Lamb to the Slaughter .'

On the surface, Mary Maloney , the story's protagonist, is your typical 1950s housewife: attentive, respectful, pleasant, and kind, but never too flashy or outspoken. Little do we know, however, about the murderer who lurks beneath this matronly exterior. Of course, such a thing would've never crossed Mary's mind if she hadn't completely lost control for a second.

The first real mistaken identity in 'Lamb to the Slaughter,' though, is that of Mary's soon-to-be-late husband, Patrick . In the very beginning, Mary, eagerly waiting to tend to him, views Patrick as a hard-working detective and provider for their growing family. When he finally drinks up enough nerve to tell her he's leaving her and the baby, with apparently no good reason, though, her brain isn't able to handle the shock - and neither is his.

After Mary loses control, her brain sort of goes into autopilot mode, the way yours might when you're not quite ready for your morning routine. Her first thought is to go on preparing dinner. However, after hefting the frozen leg of lamb up the stairs, her shocked mind realizes it's the perfect weapon. Mary clubs Patrick on the back of the head, killing him instantly. She, then, decides to go to the grocery store and act as if Patrick's death happened while she was away.

This inventive homicide and the 'hilarity' that ensues as a result make this story a black comedy , a humorous portrayal of otherwise shocking, horrific, or morbid situations, which anyone who has read Dahl's children's novel Matilda , for instance, knows he's a fan of. Let's take a look at how Dahl turns the dark theme of unsuspected suspects in 'Lamb to the Slaughter' into something to smile about.

Theme in 'Lamb to the Slaughter'

The main theme in 'Lamb to the Slaughter' is concerned with how we overlook the true nature of a person or situation when we allow preconceived notions to cloud our judgment. For instance, you should be able to pick out a wolf dressed in sheep's clothing from the rest of the flock fairly easily, but if you ignore the obvious and accept the wolf as a sheep because it looks white and fluffy, you've been duped - just like the detectives investigating the death of Patrick Maloney.

Mary could well be the primary wolf in question, since she's literally able to get away with murder. You would think that since Patrick was also a member of the police force, the detectives would've investigated more thoroughly. However, this familiarity with the family also blinds them. Really, even Mary is initially mistaken about her own identity, as well as Patrick's.

Mistaken Identities

If your friends were to wear Halloween masks, you might very well be mistaken about who they were. In much the same way, people can project certain traits that mask who they really are from the world or maybe even from themselves. Take Patrick, for instance, whom Mary originally considered to be the perfect husband, one worthy of her dutiful devotion. By all accounts, that would've been true if it weren't for the fact that he'd decided to leave her for presumably no sound reason.

The fawning housewife who existed before this revelation of Patrick's true character seems to have been just the sheep's clothing hiding one homicidal mama wolf. When her mind goes into shock and her body into autopilot, Mary's only focus - subconscious as it may be - is to protect herself and her unborn child, which she would've had a hard time doing as a pregnant divorcee in the 1950s. She could fare much better as the widow of a police officer, particularly when it comes to getting away with murder.

Dahl's Black Comedy

You've probably figured it out by now, but the title of Dahl's 'Lamb to the Slaughter' is just one huge play on words. The way this phrase is usually used in literature since antiquity is to describe situations in which people are being sent to their doom unknowingly - sort of the way things would've been for her had Mary not taken matters into her own hands.

Since she does avoid becoming a casualty here, the older meaning might not apply, but Dahl's wordplay shows how easily betrayal, in this instance, can be reversed. The title represents not only that a leg of lamb was used to kill Patrick, but that an otherwise gentle and benign creature like Mary was forced to use it.

But what's so funny about that? This shockingly dark turn of events is brightened a bit, or made creepier, by Mary's laughter at the story's end. The cause? By reassuming the disguise of harmless matron, Mary's able to convince Patrick's former colleagues to destroy any evidence linking her to the murder by eating the lamb she's prepared. The detectives' 'realization' that the murder weapon is 'probably right under their noses' as they stuff their faces with lamb is just too ironic for Mary not to giggle.

' Lamb to the Slaughter ' is a short story by Roald Dahl of the murder of Patrick Maloney by his wife Mary after he surprisingly announces his intention to leave her. The expectant mother eludes detection, since the detectives are unable to see past their previous opinions of her, illustrating the story's theme of overlooking the true nature of things. Ultimately, the story is a black comedy , a humorous portrayal of otherwise shocking, horrific or morbid situations, with the title being a play on words identifying Mary's weapon: a frozen leg of lamb.

Learning Outcomes

After this video, you should be able to:

• Summarize 'Lamb to the Slaughter'
• Discuss the main characters of the story
• Analyze the short story's theme
• Explain why 'Lamb to the Slaughter' is a black comedy

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Themes in Lamb to the Slaughter

Updated 21 July 2022

Subject Books

Downloads 47

Category Literature

Topic Book Report ,  Book Review ,  Lamb to The Slaughter

This acclaimed novel features some of the greatest themes of the twentieth century, including the betrayal of Mary Maloney, human perversity, and the role of the law. As a novel of amorality, Lamb to the Slaughter focuses on human perversity, Mary Maloney, and ritual cannibalism. But the themes of the novel go beyond these central plot points.

Mary Maloney

The short story "Mary Maloney's Lamb to the Slaughter" is a dark, disturbing read. The author, Mary Maloney, portrays an unhappy housewife who is about to give birth to her first child. While she is six months pregnant, she is described as having soft skin and dark eyes. Although her husband, Patrick, is a devoted husband, she is not entirely docile and takes care of him. She offered him drinks and even brought him things he needed.

In this story, we learn that a mother tries to comfort her infant daughter and prepare her for the inevitable euthanasia of her child. Mary's lamb, named "Snow," appears in the story, as is Patrick's leg. In the novel, Patrick and Mary's marriage has been strained for a decade and Mary is unable to accept this. The police are baffled, but he tries to console Mary.

In Lamb to the slaughter, betrayal is a common theme throughout the story. Judith Ross kills a lamb by eating a leg. She later laughs as detectives reveal that she used the leg as a weapon, but she is fully aware that she has succeeded in her mission. Despite the obvious motive for betrayal, Judith is a likable character.

The lamb leg is the largest symbol in the story. Lambs are traditionally weak animals, and Mary was a weak character at the beginning of the story. However, she is able to use the lamb leg to kill her betraying husband. The story also explores the idea of appearance versus reality. The woman's betrayal is the first of many misunderstandings in the story.

Human perversity

The classic short story "Lamb to the Slaughter" by British author Roald Dahl tells the story of Detective Mr. Patrick and his wife, Ms. Patrick, who become the main characters of the story. The story explores themes of love and human nature. It is also a good example of how one can turn from an idle wife into a smart criminal through the power of love.

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Lamb to the Slaughter

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Throughout the short story, Mary Maloney is firmly situated in a patriarchal society—that is, a system in which men hold more power than women politically, socially, and economically. Historically, women have been often consigned to the private sphere of domestic life, as they were deemed by men to be intellectually and emotionally unfit for the public sphere outside of family and home life. Men, on the other hand, were able to move through both spheres, enjoying the comforts of domestic life provided by wives and mothers while interacting with the political and economic institutions of the public arena.

Mary’s marriage is a perfect example of gendered hierarchy, as her entire life revolves around that of her husband. While Patrick works in the public sphere as a detective, Mary stays at home in the private domestic sphere, working on her sewing and eagerly awaiting his return “after the long hours alone in the house.” Once her husband arrives, all of her energy is devoted to anticipating his needs. Fulfilling the duties of a stereotypical housewife, Mary, demonstrates her affectionate submission by performing various domestic tasks for her husband — for example, hanging up his coat, making him drinks, offering to fetch his slippers and make supper — despite the fact that she is six months pregnant and Patrick barely acknowledges her efforts.

Like the society in which the story is set, Mary’s marriage is heavily influenced by male or masculine dominance. The narrator explicitly describes Mary’s love for her husband as an idolization of or subservience to masculinity. Patrick’s return home is “blissful” for Mary not only because she has been isolated in the house all day but also because she “loved to luxuriate in the presence of this man, and to feel—almost as a sunbather feels the sun—that warm male glow that came out of him to her when they were alone together.” Mary’s comparison of masculinity to the sun, to a powerful celestial force indifferent to yet shining upon mere humans, reinforces a gender hierarchy in which men are associated with strength and perfection, and women with weakness and inferiority.

This male dominance also manifests in the lack of reciprocity in the Maloneys’ marriage. Despite Mary’s repeated endearments of “Darling” and attempts to make her husband more comfortable, Patrick responds brusquely, without reciprocating her affection or acknowledging the effort it must take her, as a heavily pregnant woman, to care for him and the house. Furthermore, when Mary attempts to engage him in conversation or requests that he eat something, Patrick ignores her, but when he wishes to speak to her, he orders her to “Sit down,” expecting her to submit as a dog would to its master. Whereas Mary attends to both his physical and emotional needs (preparing him drinks, offering him food, sympathizing with him about his job), Patrick assumes that his wife is little more than a creature to be “looked after” financially when he leaves her. After breaking the news of his imminent departure, he dismisses his wife’s potential reactions and emotions as “fuss,” coldly asserting that it would be bad for his job. Patrick’s privileging of his work over Mary stands in stark contrast to the life she has built around him.

After Mary murders her husband, then, she is able to escape suspicion partly because of her cleverness and partly because the policemen hold traditional, patriarchal views of women as caregivers incapable of violence or deceit. When Jack Noonan , a detective and friend of Patrick, asks Mary is she would prefer the company of her sister or of his own wife, he reinforces the stereotype of women, and thus of Mary, as caregivers. When he explains to Mary what happened to Patrick, he implicitly assumes the culprit is male, using masculine pronouns such as “him” and “he” to describe the murderer. The detectives consider “impossible” the idea that Mary has deceived them all as well as Sam , the grocer who unwittingly becomes her alibi.

Gender and Marriage ThemeTracker

Gender and Marriage Quotes in Lamb to the Slaughter

The room was warm and clean, the curtains drawn, the two table lamps alight—hers and the one by the empty chair opposite. On the sideboard behind her, two tall glasses, soda water, whisky. Fresh ice cubes in the Thermos bucket. Mary Maloney was waiting for her husband to come home from work.

There was a slow smiling air about her, and about everything she did. The drop of the head as she bent over her sewing was curiously tranquil. Her skin—for this was her sixth month with child—had acquired a wonderful translucent quality, the mouth was soft, and the eyes, with their new placid look, seemed larger, darker than before.

She knew he didn’t want to speak much until the first drink was finished, and she, on her side, was content to sit quietly, enjoying his company after the long hours alone in the house. She loved to luxuriate in the presence of this man, and to feel—almost as a sunbather feels the sun—that warm male glow that came out of him to her when they were alone together.

And I know it’s kind of a bad time to be telling you, but there simply wasn’t any other way. Of course I’ll give you money and see you’re looked after. But there needn’t really be any fuss. I hope not anyway. It wouldn’t be very good for my job.

It was extraordinary, now, how clear her mind became all of a sudden. She began thinking very fast. As the wife of a detective, she knew quite well what the penalty would be. That was fine. It made no difference to her. In fact, it would be a relief. On the other hand, what about the child? What were the laws about murderers with unborn children? Did they kill them both—mother and child? Or did they wait until the tenth month? What did they do? Mary Maloney didn’t know. And she certainly wasn’t prepared to take a chance.

The two detectives remained, and so did the two policemen. They were exceptionally nice to her, and Jack Noonan asked if she wouldn't rather go somewhere else, to her sister’s house perhaps, or to his own wife who would take care of her and put her up for the night.

Sometimes Jack Noonan spoke to her gently as he passed by. Her husband, he told her, had been killed by a blow on the back of the head administered with a heavy blunt instrument, almost certainly a large piece of metal. They were looking for the weapon. The murderer may have taken it with him, but on the other hand he may’ve thrown it away or hidden it somewhere on the premises.

“It’s the old story,” he said. “Get the weapon, and you’ve got the man.”

“Here you all are, and good friends of dear Patrick’s too, and helping to catch the man who killed him. You must be terribly hungry by now because it’s long past your supper time, and I know Patrick would never forgive me, God bless his soul, if I allowed you to remain in his house without offering you decent hospitality. Why don’t you eat up that lamb that’s in the oven? It’ll be cooked just right by now.”

The woman stayed where she was, listening to them through the open door, and she could hear them speaking among themselves, their voices thick and sloppy because their mouths were full of meat. … “That’s the hell of a big club the guy must’ve used to hit poor Patrick,” one of them was saying. “The doc says his skull was smashed all to pieces just like from a sledge-hammer.” … “Personally, I think it’s right here on the premises. “Probably right under our very noses. What you think, Jack?” And in the other room, Mary Maloney began to giggle.