Read the story Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl (Link given below). Also check out the dramatised version of the story (Link given). Then try to answer each of the questions given below in the comments section.
Lamb to the Slaughter - Roald Dahl
Alfred Hitchcock Presents Lamb to the Slaughter. (1958)
1. What
does the title of the story mean?
2. What
point of view is “Lamb to the Slaughter” told from? Why is that important?
3. How does a stereotype of women subscribed
to by men work to Mary's advantage in her story?
4. Give two other examples for irony
in the story apart from the given example. (Example: 'perfect' wife kills her
husband)
5. Why do you think Mary killed her
husband? What is your perception of Mary’s guilt? Was the
murder premeditated? Was she caught up in the
moment? Or was she temporarily insane, therefore not responsible for
her actions?
6. Mary is on trial for the murder
of her husband. You are a junior to her Defence Attorney and are responsible
for advising your supervisor in this case. Based on the evidence in
this story, write a report to your supervisor analysing the evidence and
determining how the defence should present the case. Make sure to support
your assertions with evidence from the text.
7. Write Mary's death bed confession
about the incident. What do you think her perception
of events is? Support your opinions with textual evidence.
1) The title 'Lamb to the Slaughter', actually means an innocent creature about to undergo torture and death.According to the context, it means doing an action without knowing that something bad is going to happen and therefore act calmly.
ReplyDelete2) The story has been told from Mary Maloney's point of view. This is important because emotions and intensions of every character in a story tend to differ a lot. The same happens here. If the story was told from policeman's point of view , it would have been entirely different.
3) According to me, women aren't emotionally strong as men and they can't bear sudden shock. Here, as Mary Maloney was in the shock that her dear husband had been killed by someone the policemen didn't enquire her much and they didn't even suspect her for a second . This helped Mary here as she acted as if she was in trauma that her husband was killed and though she gained sympathy from the policemen.
4) Example:1.The murder weapon being eaten by the policemen
2.Mary Maloney, the murderer giggling at the situation, that there will be no evidence left to find the murderer.
5) When Patrick Maloney said that he was going to leave her as he loves someone else, she couldn't feel herself, she didn't have control over herself, and she harldly had any idea of what she is doing. The murder wasn't a pre planned one. Mary was temporarily insane and she is not responsible for her actions. The murder wasn't premeditated. She loved Patrick so much that she couldn't believe that he betrayed her. Thus this frustration made her hit him so hard that killed him. She felt guilty that she herself killed the person she loved.
6)Mary on trail for her husband's murder:
Under the facts of this case, victim Patrick Maloney was not killed by Mary Maloney as there are no evidence to prove that Mary killed Patrick
The facts concerned to this case are as follows:
1) Patrick Maloney came home in a tired and depressed state
2) Patrick had a strong drink that day. Usually Patrick doesn't have strong drinks.
3) Patrick and Maloney would go out for dinner every Thursday. But on that day , Patrick refused to go out for dinner with Maloney.
4) Mary Maloney went to grocery shop to buy vegetables that evening and when she returned she found her husband lying on the ground in a collapsed state.
5) Mr and Mrs. Maloney doesn't use club like things in their home and there no such thing in their home.
The point of discussion regarding the case is that, Patrick might have been threatened by someone that he refused to go out for dinner or he might have been pressured regarding any work in the office. He wasn't behaving normal that day. He was drunk more than what he usually drinks. He was in a stress. He didn't share his feelings to anyone.
The conclusion would be that the death trail on Mary Maloney should be discharged due to lack of evidence and prove her innocent.
7) Mary's confession would be that she killed Patrick by hitting him with lamb leg. She killed him because he was to leave her and marry someone else leaving Mary and their unborn child. She killed him instantaneously in anger and lack of control over her emotions. She didn't want him to leave her. She loved him.
Roll. No:2018103056
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ReplyDelete1.The title of the story means,If someone does something or goes somewhere like a lamb to the slaughter, they do it without knowing that something bad is going to happen and therefore act calmly and without fighting against the situation.
ReplyDelete2.The story is told from the point of view of Mary. This choice to tell the story from the point of view of the murderer is an interesting choice and that largely defines this story. The reader knows only what she knows. At times,the reader is not given access to the reasoning behind Patrick’s decision to leave. This makes it far easier for the reader to be on Mary’s side when she makes decisions.
3. Stereotype of women subscribed to by men work to Mary's advantage in her story.This makes the story more ambiguous in morality by making the reader associate with the woman more. In addition, it almost certainly helps keep her from being suspected. The motherly instinct of protection is invoked by this understanding as anyone can understand the instinct of a mother protecting her child and the fear of killing is important to making Mary a more positive character.
4.The phrase "Lamb to the Slaughter" suggests an innocent creature about to undergo torture and death. Mary Maloney could represent such a creature, and she would have met a similar fate if she had been found guilty of killing her husband.
The policemen are eating the very thing they need to find in order to apprehend the person guilty of killing their fellow policeman, Patrick Maloney. They even comment that the murder weapon could be right "under their noses," which it is.
5.After her husband tells her that he wants to leave her, she is in such a shock that she enters her kitchen, grabs the first big object that she finds, and then goes to her husband and killed him with it with it.She is not responsible for her actions.What this denotes is that Mary has snapped. While she has no real reason to motivate her to kill her husband, it is obvious that the creeping fear, anger, hurt, and frustration of the news have come altogether dangerously. That, added to the fact that she is pregnant and already in a delicate state, may be the reasons why her reaction was so extreme.
The murder is not premeditated.Mary Maloney didn’t know. And she certainly wasn’t prepared to take a chance.
6.Mary's trail for her husband's murder:
A: Mary Maloney was a woman who was very obsessed with her husband and loved him very much. she knew what to do when he got home, when to talk, she knew when he didn't want to talk and so on.
B:The shocking news that Patrick had so irresponsibly revealed to her was one of the reason why she killed him. she wasn't expecting it and that sent her mind to a state that she thought that none of what he said was real.
C: Mary Maloney couldn't accept the fact of what her husband said and chose to ignore it. It was something she couldn't predict in her supposed "perfect" home and that wasn't acceptable. The problem needed to be gone.
D:Mary Maloney was pregnant when Patrick told her the news and she could have been suffering from depression. The stress of the baby, the hormones, and mood swings and the bad news that her beloved husband heartlessly released. All of this caused her to be more violent and also the fact that her husband didn't even try to console but simply tried to avoid her. with all of this in the mix, she couldn't have possible knew what she was doing at the time.
E:So the conclusion is Mary's act is right any women in her position will do the same.
7.Mary's death confession:
I killed my husband Patrick because he decided to leave me and my unborn child.
So I got violent and furious.Because I loved him so much,and I cannot accept the truth that he is trying to betray me and my child.
So I killed him.
This will be Mary's confession.
Name : Balaji . S
ReplyDeleteRoll No:2018103014
1.The title "Lamb to the slaughter" means that doing something without knowing the upcoming bad consequences and act calmly without fighting the situation.In this case,Patrick is slaughtered by using the leg of the lamb by Mary Maloney . Since the leg of the lamb is used as a murder weapon it is brought to the slaughter.
2.The story "Lamb to the slaughter" is told from Mary Maloney's point of view.It portrays her emotions,anger,guilt and calmness within a short period of time and it is important that the story must be told from a character who holds the story till the end.The same story might feel different if it was portrayed from Patrick or Jack Noonan's point of view.Hence it is important to carry out the story from the character who holds a lot of emotions throughout the story.
3. Women are more sensitive than men in most cases.As she acted like she was in shock in her husband's death,the policemen and the detectives had no reason to suspect her as emotions and sensitivity of women are seen as a stereotype that she might tell the truth and this worked out to be an advantage for Mary Maloney in this story.
4.1.When Mary entered the kitchen after returning from the grocery and remarked "Patrick!" and asked "How are you darling?" . Even though she knew that Patrick was dead yet she treated him as if he were alive.
2.In the end she begged the policemen to eat the meat and the policemen also knew that she cannot eat the whole meat alone but she really want them to eat it because she knew that it is the murder weapon but policemen didn't and if they eat it they will never be able to find the murder weapon.
5.Mary couldn't accept the fact that she was being betrayed by her husband.She couldn't feel herself and she didn't know what she was doing and all of a sudden she hit him with the leg of the lamb.The attack was not premeditated.She wasn't responsible for her actions.The fact of being betrayed led her to do so and she felt guilt as she killed her own husband.
6.So as to prove that Patrick was not killed by her wife Mary Maloney the following points are being taken into account of this case:
1.On the day of the murder Patrick had taken a lot of drinks that he usually don't.
2.He was in state of depression and didn't speak or expose himself much to Mary.
3.Usually Patrick and Mary would go out for dinner every Thursday but on that day they didn't as Patrick was not interested.
4.Mary went to the grocery to buy vegetables that evening while Patrick stayed alone in home.
5.When she returned home from grocery she found him lying in the floor being hit by someone with a heavy metal or wood.
6.Patrick and Mary didn't have any kind of heavy metal in their home or there was no sign of suspicious weapons around the house.
With the above facts,it is enough to prove that Mary Maloney is not the murderer who killed Patrick.I conclude that death trail on Mary Maloney should be discharged due to lack of evidence.
7.Mary Maloney's confession would be like she killed him with the lamb leg because he wanted to leave her and marry someone by leaving her with his child unborn.She didn't like her husband marrying other woman.She wanted him to be with her.
Reuel Samuel Sam
ReplyDelete2018103053
Q1) ‘Lamb to the Slaughter’ is an apt title given by Roald Dahl to this short story that focuses on the murder of an established police officer. The title, in literal sense, refers to the situation where an innocent lamb is taken to the slaughter house while being completely oblivious to what fate has sent for the lamb. Contextually, Patrick was the ‘lamb’ that was ‘slaughtered’ when he was least expecting. It is also a clever wordplay since the weapon of crime was a frozen lamb leg.
Q2) The story revolves around the point of view of ‘Mary Maloney’ as we are able to see the thoughts and expressions she goes through during the entire incident. Point of view is an important aspect in story telling because it sets the emotions of the reader in a certain path as we tend to think according to point of view we are provided with. For example, if the story were to be narrated from the point of view of the grocer or the policemen or even the doctor, we would have a completely different take of the same incident.
Q3) The story by Roald Dahl and Alfred Hitchcock’s dramatized version differ in the context of this question. The policemen do not even consider the possibility of the criminal to be female in the story, but the possibility is brought in the dramatized version. However, they brush it off with a sly remark and do not give it any real consideration. Moreover, the emotional trauma and shock Mary was portraying helped her out since the police did not suspect her of the crime. Perhaps it is possible that the policemen did not consider a woman to be capable of dealing such a heavy blow to an experienced policeman.
Q4) Mary’s reaction to seeing a deceased Patrick is found to be ironic as she was the criminal responsible for his death. Furthermore, Mary holds up a shocked and traumatized expression throughout the incident but at the end dons a giggle as the inspectors get rid of the evidence for her. This is yet another example of ironic behavior that is seen in this short story.
Q5) Alfred Hitchcock’s adaptation provides us with Mary’s motive for her action. She was definitely not happy with her husband’s will of divorce and she even seems to go into denial. However, Patrick did not seem to approach the topic as gently as he should have. This caused Mary to act out of sudden emotion and so she attacks her husband, not with the intent to murder, but just out of rage. Once she realizes her crime, she is seen trying to cover her tracks without showing remorse. However Roald Dahl’s version has her pouring out her emotions for her husband who she truly did love. Therefore, it is clear the murder was not a long time coming and that it was the result of a disagreement and rage. I believe Mary is completely responsible for her action, but Patrick’s death is not something she wished for.
Reuel Samuel Sam
Delete2018103053
(Continuation)
Q6) Case: Patrick Maloney’s Murder
Suspect: Mary Maloney, wife of the deceased victim.
Crime Scene: A modern home was left in shambles as someone attacked the resident during the evening when no one else seemed to be present at home. The victim was still in his coat indicating he had just gotten back home. The drink on the counter might suggest the victim may have been slightly intoxicated.
Evidence:
• No weapon that fit the forensics’ description (heavy rounded object with no sharp edges, like a metal bat) was found in the house.
• The suspect was not home during the crime. She was verified to be at the grocery store by the owner Sam.
• Suspect seemed traumatized and shocked during the whole incident.
• Victim was disturbed when he got home. This is proved by the fact that he still had his coat on.
• Suspect was cooperative and did not seem in any kind of hurry
Conclusion: All charges against Mary Maloney for the murder of her husband must be dropped as there is no concrete evidence that proves her as guilty.
Q7) Mary’s death bed confession:-
“Life is a mystery; Death an even bigger one. As I draw closer to my final breath, I think it is right to get this sin off my chest. Years ago, when my ex-husband came home one evening, he told me that he loved someone else and that he would be leaving me for her. This left me heartbroken as I truly loved Patrick; he really was a wonderful man. But I do not know what came over me, I just acted hastily and with lamb I had gotten ready to prepare for supper, I hit him when he was not paying attention. I truly regret what I did. I do not understand how I got away with it. The policemen, although smart, had their judgement clouded that day. I really am sorry for what I did. Atleast now I can go, knowing that I have confessed.”
I believe that Mary acted completely out of haste. The news she received came out of the blue and she went into denial. The anger then got over her and she impulsively attacked Patrick. She most likely perceived the entire incident through the eyes of anger(initially) and then fear. Her coverup was amateur at best. She thought quickly to react to the policemen and played out her shock really well. Although she did love Patrick, by the end of story, I do not think she regretted any of her actions since she was found giggling.
JA. vijay
ReplyDelete2018103622
1) The title of the story means that doing an action or a work without knowing that something worse is gonna happen and therefore to stay calm
2) The story is told from the point of view of Mary Maloney. It is important that the story is told from Mary's point of view because this enables the reader to understand why she acts as she does.
3) The male stereotype of women in "Lamb to the Slaughter" portrays females as weak, co-dependent, and submissive individuals that would have embodied the proverbial "barefoot and pregnant" paradigm.
4) The title "Lamb to the Slaughter" is an irony present in the text. Another example for irony is the murder weapon itself which is being eaten by the policemen.
5) When he said that he's gonna leave her and marry another woman, she couldn't bear the shock. She couldn't control her emotions and hit him with the frozen leg of a lamb. the murder wasn't a pre-planned one. she was caught up at the moment.
6) i) On the day of murder patrick looked unusual.
ii) He seemed to be weary and stressed out.
iii) He doesn't want to go out for a dinner with her, as they usually
go out for a dinner on thursdays.
iv) Mary went for the grocery shop to buy potatoes and some
cheese for supper, as they were not going out for a dinner.
v) we she returned from the shop she found her husband dead on
the floor.
vi) There was no evidence for the murder on the spot.
7) Mary's desire to confess is overridden by her fear that her unborn child will die during her execution. In effect, the threat of one death prevents justice
S. LOKESH
ReplyDelete2018103559
1.The title 'Lamb to the Slaughter', mean an innocently and helplessly, without realizing the danger.
2. The point of view is Mary Maloney. It is important because only the reader knows what is going on inside of Mary's head, but not what is going on inside of anybody else's head.
3.The male stereotype of women is portrayed as weak, co-dependent, and submissive individuals.So Mary can't be the accused of this murder .
4. Verbal irony : A lamb is a gentle animal. But in the story, a leg of lamb is used as a weapon.
Dramatic irony : The dramatic irony was when the police officers ate the only evidence; the leg of lamb.
5.In my opinion, I think that Mrs. Maloney is not guilty at all. Because yes, she killed her husband and that is a crime, but the poor woman had reasons for killing him, because he made bad things to her. The murder is not premeditated. She was temporarily insane, therefore not responsible for her actions.
6. Patrick was ignoring Mary, making her feel isolated, alone and hopeless. Patrick was more concerned with his job than with Mary and his child. He stated that "there wouldn't really be any fuss, I hope not anyway. It wouldn't be very good for my job."
Mary Maloney was in a state of desperation. in a state where she had felt her entire world might as well had came crashing down on her without any hesitation. That is what had assisted in driving Mary to do the unthinkable, murder.
7.She killed her husband because of his secondrate behaviour .He has no concern for his wife and child.So she killed him.
Name : Sridhar
ReplyDeleteRoll no : 2018103068
1)The title Lamb to the Slaughter, means ignorance and innocence, this phrase is also mentioned in Bible. Generally, the phrase refers to a person who goes unconcernedly and innocently into a life-threatening or dangerous situation.
2)The story is said from Mary's point of view. It helps her to gain sympathy from the investigators and in their point of view she is a pity woman who lost her husband at the time of her pregnancy and it helps her to prove innocent if it is portrayed either in investigators or Patrick view she may be found guilty.
3) In general it is believed that women can neither harm their family nor her husband because they have a heart of mother with full of kindness and generosity so they can't harm anyone. Like this the investigators in the story also didn't suspect on Mary for her husband's death because she is a caring wife of Mr. Patrick.
4) 1.The DRAMATIC IRONY in the story is the investigators didn't realize that they are eating the very thing they need to find in order to apprehend the person guilty of killing their fellow policeman, Patrick Maloney. They even comment that the murder weapon could be right "under their noses," which it is.
2. The VERBAL IRONY is found in the title of the story. The phrase "Lamb to the Slaughter" suggests an innocent creature about to undergo torture and death. Mary could represent such a creature, and she would have met a similar fate if she had been found guilty of killing her husband.
5) Mary don't want to lose her husband because she loves him very much when he says "IT'S OVER" her heart breaks and after hearing her husband wants to divorce her and wants to start a another life with someone she can't able to bear this and she lost herself. In fear of losing her love she hit him with a lamb's leg, when she can't have a control on herself.So it isn't a preplanned murder . She is in a temporary insane so she isn't responsible for the action done when she isn't herself .
6) Mary Maloney on trail:
The evidence from the story to prove her innocence
1.Mary Maloney is a wife who loves her husband unconditionally who takes care of all the needs of her husband.
2.On the day of murder Patrick was stressed and had a hard wine which he never takes and also he called off their plan for supper that night all this seems unusual for Mary.
3.At the time of murder she isn't at the house she is at the glocery shop and buying vegetables to prepare supper.
4.On seeing her husband's body after returning from the grocery shop she was shocked, panicked and called the police immediately and also she cooperated with their investigation.
It all implies that Mary Maloney is innocent and she has no part in her husband's death.
7) Mary's confession would be like that she killed her husband Patrick in the fear of losing him. Everything in her life has changed in those few seconds all this occurred as an act of love and affection towards her husband. But she loved him very much.
Name : Kiran Sekhar.C
ReplyDeleteRoll No : 2018103553
1. "Lamb to the slaughter" means without complaining or arguing, especially what is going to happen is not known and therefore not frightening.
2. The point of view in "Lamb to the Slaughter" is third person, although, the third person perspective is not the common omniscient point of view. We know that the story is in third person, because of the use of pronouns like "he" and "she." If the story were written in first person, the reader would be reading "I" and "me." The point of view is third person limited. It is limited to Mary . We can see this because the narrator comments on Mary's thoughts and feelings, but cannot comment on any other characters.
3. The male stereotype of women is portrayed as weak, co-dependent, and submissive individuals.
4. The verbal irony is found in the title of the story. The phrase "Lamb to the Slaughter" suggests an innocent creature about to undergo torture and death. Mary could represent such a creature, and she would have met a similar fate if she had been found guilty of killing her husband.
As readers, we know what is going on.The characters do not. That would be the dramatic irony. We realize that they are eating the very thing they need to find in order to apprehend the person guilty of killing their fellow policeman, Patrick .
5. I agree that Mary murdered her husband through a heat of passion. We can see this when she came back from downstairs and he said "I'm leaving. Don't make me anything". Although I agree that it was in the heat of passion, I do not agree that it was because of him discussing to her, because if it was due to the divorce statement that Patrick made.I believe that the heat of passion was at the moment when Patrick was facing towards the window and said he "had to leave", provoking her to hit him due to him seeming as though he didn't care about her or her child.The murder is not preplanned. It is just due to temporary insane of Mary.
6. Mary's trial:
Patrick had told Mary news that made Mary desperate to hope that none of this had ever happened "her first instinct was to not believe any of it, to reject it all."
Mary not only had to care for herself and her child, but do so on a daily basis by her lonesome as Patrick had to frequently travel. Thus, by leaving his wife to take care of herself and the child alone, he increased the amount of stress that was already upon Mary's shoulders.
Another sign that Mary has mental instabilities is she was talking to herself, trying to convince herself that nothing had ever happened that "all she was doing, was returning home to her husband and he was waiting for his supper."
The main evidence of Mary being mentally unstable is the fact that she had accidentally killed her husband, someone who she had loved very much.
Mary has exhibited many visible signs that are attributes of a person with mental instabilities.
Mary is under constant stress from having to take care of her baby and herself as it "was her sixth month with child." This was causing additional unnecessary pressure on Mary, causing her to react the way she did.
7. "Eventhough I loved my husband ,I killed him because he was ready to leave me and my baby for his pleasure." This would be Mary's confession.
Chandru R
ReplyDelete2018103017
1.lamp to the slaughter textually means that lamp is going to slaughter house but the the lamp will not know anything about the consequences going to happen.it literally mean doing something without knowing the consequences.
2.it is Mari's point of view because all the expressions,emotions are from Mary.so it is Mari's point of view.point of view of one of the character in the story is important to tell the story.here Mari's point of view is important because she only there in the starting from the beginning to the end of the story ,others point of view of view will not be sufficient .Patrick point of view will not tell the story clearly after his death.hence Mari's view is important here.
3.since Patrick was dead in the first hit of Mary,so police will see for the person who is strong.there is belief that women are not very strong.so the suspecting percentage will less.and also at that time investigation she is crying they will not too much question and they only check the Mari's statement.
4. Eventhough , she know that his husband is dead she called him darling after coming from grocery is one irony.without knowing that the lamp leg was the weapon they are having dinner is also an irony.
5.she killed her husband because he told that he is going to leave her and and growing child alone.so she killed him.the murder was not planned.after hearing the statements of the husband ,Mary become insane,i.e. she became unconscious and made the mistake.so she is not responsible for her actions.and also she was not caught at that moment.
6.a) there were no evidence for the murder against her.
b)there is evidence that at that time of murder she was in the grocery.
c)since the lamp leg is at the oven ,it clearly says that she definitely went to the grocery for buying vegetables.
d)she is cooperative to the investigation without any hesitation.
e)whatever she said at the investigation was matching and true.
7.Mary's confession:
He told me that he is going to me and my child. I loved him very much ,i considered him most valuable than my life.So i can't bear the his leave. So i got anger and i killed him.I missed him in the entire life after his death. I love Patrick. I love you.
ABIRAMI MAHESH VIJAY
ReplyDelete2018103002
1. "Lamb to the slaughter" can have multiple meanings.
First, the literal meaning being: this is literally a lamb that led to a slaughter, as the murder weapon was a frozen leg of lamb. Now comes the metaphorical one: Doing or partaking in something innocently without knowledge of a life threatening situation or a situation uncalled for. Patrick, although this it isn't explicitly said but is understood, wishes to divorce Mary. He is compared to a lamb that is innocently led into a slaughter house, not foreseeing its death.
Patrick had no idea that even bringing up the divorce will result in his death.That's the lamb to the slaughter.
2. The story is told from Mary's point of view. We can say this because, firstly, she's involved throughout the story. Second, we don't get to hear Patrick's reasoning for leaving her, which helps the reader sympathize with her more.
Her perspective is important because anyone else's perspective wouldn't have given this much of detail. It also gives an insight of a murderer's mind and what she was willing to do to get herself out of jail time to protect herself and the baby. It also shows how someone as mild mannered and innocent as her turns into an unsympathetic killer that giggles knowing she's safe.
3.Women are generally considered mild mannered,and even though Mary was interrogated by the detective, it was more of a formality than a genuine attempt of considering her as a murderer. And they didn't even care to think how she, someone so innocent, couldve cooked up the alibi.
4. a. At the end of the story, while the detectives are indulging in a nice dinner, they do not realise that they are eating the murder weapon and Mary giggles knowing the evidence is being destroyed. This is an ironic behavior to what she portrayed in the beginning of the story.
b. Also, the fact that the detectives are consuming the murder weapon itself is an irony.
c. The way Mary reacted when she entered her house after going to the grocery store is ironic. She calls out to Patrick as though he is still fine and alive though she sees his dead body on the floor. This is ironic as she was the murderer.
5. It wasn't at all Mary's intention to kill her husband. But the fact that her husband had decided to divorce her when she is expecting a baby would've been a huge shock to her. The blow on Patrick's head was a result of Mary's mixed emotions : fear, confusion, anger and sorrow. She hit him in the heat of the moment not realizing what was actually happening. We are very sure that she's a woman who cares abt her husband. So when she realised what she has done she was obviously and naturally filled with guilt. In fact she was even ready to do jail time for her crimes and the only reason she felt the need to hide the fact that she was the murderer was to protect the baby in her womb. She was very unsure what would happen in a case such as this (ie a pregnant woman going to jail). Had it not been for her having a baby, her guilt would have led to her confession. But the importance of the baby's life outweighed the guilt she had. The the murder was definitely not premeditated as Mary had no idea of the bad news he was bringing her. And she was not temporarily insane, rather, she was simply caught up in the moment because of the suddenness of the news and the immediate trigger of Patrick not wanting dinner and whatever he said that pushed her to show out jer emotions. Although this doesn't justify her actions, it does make sense because she was going to have a baby too and him leaving makes it both difficult for her and the baby to grow up without a father figure.
ABIRAMI MAHESH VIJAY
Delete2018103002
(Continued)
6.
1. The absence of the murder weapon or any object that matched the forensic's description.
2. Judging from the wound on Patrick's body, it was a strong hit, meaning someone clubbed him hard.
And Mary doesn't have the strength to do such a thing without any weapon of that sort which would've been found at her residence if the murderer was her.
3. She said that unlike their usual Thursday evenings, where they go out to dinner, Patrick was tired and she decided to cook the lamb at home. So she went to the grocery store to buy the things and was not present at the murder site when it happened. The grocer was also interrogated and it was confirmed that Mary was at the store while it happened.
4. She purchased what she needed and came back only to find her husband dead. And when she saw her husband dead, she was shocked, had shed genuine tears and looked miserable.
5. Mary did not seem to be in a hurry while the detectives were asking her questions and was patient throughout the investigation at her house.
Hence, there is no solid evidence to prove that Mary was her husband's murderer and all charges against Mary should be dropped.
7. "There is one confession i would like to make before i go. Few months before my first child was born, one evening my husband came home with some disappointing news. He told me that he had decided to leave me for another woman he loved. I was taken by surprise and was extremely shocked to hear that.
I do not know for sure what was going through my in that moment. I was feeling shocked, angry, betrayed, hopeless and sad all at once. I was confused. I was furious at the fact that my husband, whom i loved very much, could be so selfish and abandon me and his unborn child so easily. These feelings got the best of me and led to me committing a crime I have regretted more than anything. I killed my husband that evening. I killed him with the frozen leg of lamb I was to cook for dinner. I got lucky, and the detectives had no thought of me being the murderer. I am truly sorry for what I did. I have always been since that day. My grievance was true. I miss my husband and still love him very much. " -Mary Maloney
NAME:TANGUTURI NAGA LAKSHMI SUCHARITHA
ReplyDeleteROLLNO:2018103613
1)The title of Roald Dahl's short story Lamb to the Slaughter, where it means ignorance and innocence. Generally, the phrase refers to a person who goes unconcernedly and innocently into a life-threatening or dangerous situation.
2.Lamb to the Slaughter" is told from the point of view of Mary Maloney. This choice to tell the story from the point of view of the murderer is an interesting choice and one that largely defines this story. The reader knows only what she knows.
3)The stereotype of women in "Lamb to the Slaughter" portrays females as weak, co-dependent, and submissive individuals.
She was indeed pregnant, she was dependent on her police officer husband as her provider, and she was also submissive to his wants and needs.
Mary may have not suspected (or she may have, we will never know as readers) what her husband was up to. However, she was quite aware of the behaviors and dynamics of her husband and his peers. This is what led her to use the stereotypes that men had on women all to her advantage. This was her salvation after the murder.
That being established, she acted the part perfectly. The men were too blindsided. They immediately assumed that Mary was innocent simply because she fit the parameters of the "innocent" woman established by the stereotypes of the time, which were described above. This is how she used them to her advantage.
4)After Mary Maloney realizes that she has killed her husband, her reaction is very calm, considering the circumtances. One might expect her to freak out, to go into hysterics, to weep and sob, to,but she didn't.This is yet another example of ironic behavior that is seen in this short story.
5) We can claim that she was not legally responsible for what she did. She was in shock and acted automatically, without thinking. She did not truly mean to kill her husband and therefore should not be punished. More importantly, we can argue that Mary is not morally culpable. Mary has been a good wife to her husband. We see in the story how attentive she is towards him even when she is 6 months pregnant. In return, he is going to leave her while she is pregnant. Mary is completely responsible for her action, but Patrick’s death is not something she wished .
6)Patrick Maloney was not killed by Mary Maloney as there are no evidence to prove that Mary killed Patrick
*The suspect was not home during the crime. She was verified to be at the grocery store by the owner Sam.
*Suspect was cooperative and did not seem in any kind of hurry.
*Mary Maloney manages to commit the perfect murder by getting the police officers who visit the property to investigate themselves to dispose of the murder weapon. Police officers actually eat the leg of lamb with which Mary killed her husband, and what is even more darkly ironic, they talk about the murder weapon they eat it.
Conclusion:Due to lack of evidences this case have been discharged.
7)Mary is a model housewife, always tending to her husband's needs, always ready to pour him a drink. When he tells her he's leaving her, she doesn't take it. she feels ,she lost her identity as a wife and a woman.
Mary's entire plan hinges on her successful deception of everyone, including the grocer, the policemen, and herself. When she comes home from the store, she's shocked by her own shock at seeing her husband's dead body. She can hardly believe she killed him, and this makes it easier to live with the murder.
SRIHARI S
ReplyDelete2018103601
1. to slaughter is basically being killed in a cruel manner. here lives of Mary and her child were being cruelly demolished by Patrick, who no longer wanted to live with them. A lamb to the slaughter means being completely unaware of the impending danger.
2. This idiom can be viewed from two perspectives in this story. Mary was clueless about the shock that Patrick was about to reveal. Patrick wouldn’t have imagined his wife to gather courage and raise against him. This story is told from Mary’s perspective. This story was addressed around mid-1950s.This is a good choice as it broke the jinx that men take women for granted, and escape without any penalties.
3. in those days, women were restricted to their homes without much of exposure. There were considered submissive to their husband and were expected to abide by them. They were basically visualised as innocent. Thus, Patrick was ignorant about such a move by Mary. Even the interrogators just accepted whatever she reported. A more in-depth analysis was required.
4. Irony of the story – the person whom she loved more than herself, for whom she used to wait every moment, was murdered by her own self. Patrick who found the truth behind many crime scenes as a criminal investigator, was not provided with justice for his own death.i.e. the person who murdered him wasn’t brought to the limelight
5. Mary was in a state of shock, when she heard that her better half had an affair with other women. She was probably emotionally unstable at that moment and might’ve been worried if Patrick would cause harm to her child. In order to protect her child from a criminal she had to transform herself to a criminal in the end. The murder wasn’t predetermined. It was due to her emotional instability.
6. * the house looks very disturbed
• she was in a shock that she even forgot about the meat kept in the oven
• no weapons found in the house
• grocers’ opinions on Mary are strong
7. “My countdown has begun. at least ill join Patrick now. happy that the society is changing... no one should suffer as I did. I trusted him blindly but my life took an unexpected turn that day. I can’t change it now. but it least now I’ll be relieved that this hidden secret is no more a secret”
Muni Raj Kalyan Chembeti
ReplyDelete2018103044
1. The title " a lamb to the slaughter" has several meanings. In literal sense it means that a frozen leg of a lamb was used to murder Patrick. The phrase actually refers to someone who is going to be in a dangerous situation without knowing about it. And here Patrick is referred to as a lamb and he didn't expect that he would be murdered.
2. Here the story is told in Mary's point of view. She expresses her emotions throughout the story and it is very evident from the story. In story telling, the point of view is very important as it is through which the reader gets emotionally involved in the story. The reader sees everything about the story with the eyes of the person in whose perspective the story is narrated. The story has makes different sence in different point of views. If the above story was told in the other characters ' point of view, we would have been differently attached with it. It would make a different sense to us.
3. Generally most men live with the thinking that women are weaker than them. It was this stereotype which helped Mary in manipulating the whole murder. She pretended to be in shock after her husband's murder and it was this emotional drama which made the policemen to not suspect her. They didn't even doubt her once as she was pregnant and felt that she couldn't have murdererd her husband who was a well trained policeman.
4. One of the irony in the story is that, when Mary was returning from the grocery store, she prepared her mind and started to pretend she was in shock seeing her husband but it was her who killed him.
Another irony in the story is that, the policemen were looking for the weapon that might have been used to kill Patrick. But they themselves were eating the lamb, which was the weapon used.
5. Mary truly loved her husband which is quite evident from the initial part of the story. But when she hears from her husband about the divorce, she was completely devastated. She didn't expect such a thing and kept denying it making her feel it was a dream and out of that utter shock she unintentionally kills her husband. Hence it wasnt premeditated for sure. But after killing him she doesn't feel guilty, she tries to smile and also cooks food which she used to kill her husband. She was responsible for the killing, but she actually didn't want to.
6.
The points to defend Mary and prove that she is not the murder are
A. Patrick and Mary go out every Thursday. But on that day they didn't as Patrick wasn't interested and there was something else bothering him. He would have probably been threatened by goons as he was a police.
B. On that day he drank more than usual as he was quite disturbed.
C. Mary wasn't there at the murder scene as she went to the grocery store and the owner Sam had seen her.
D. There is no weapon anywhere in the murder spot.
7. Mary's confession could be something like the following
"I don't have the heart to keep it anymore to myself. I shall confess now or else I will never die in peace. It was me who killed my husband. When he had told me about another woman that he loved and wanted divorce from me , I couldn't accept my fate and acted out of shock, fear and anger. I hit him with a leg of lamb and killed him. I destroyed the evidence and fed that lamb to the policemen who had come to investigate. "
Mary was very intelligent in manipulating the whole scene without leaving even the slightest clue that she was the murderer. She did everything instantly inspite of that utter shock.
Well I think she truly loved her husband and had no intention of killing him. But she never was guilty of the crime she committed as she had manipulateed the whole scene and was giggling when the lamb was eaten.
Sivanarul S
ReplyDelete1) The title "Lamb to the slaughter" means that a lamb was no concern about the slaughter without knowing what he could do but goes to him by firmly believe him. Here Patrick as lamb not knowing the Consequence told the slaughter Mary Maloney about the divorce.
2) Right from the start the story begins with Mary maloney. She was the character who we could make a strong opinion as she was potrayed as a loving her husband and bearing her foetus. Which makes the audience focus on Mary's Perception was right.
3) Stereotype starts when the author wanted to start from the Mary's Perception as a women who was longing to her husband and finally became disappointed makes us to catch up with stereotypes of the women always being accused by men. So we think there should be a change over women. As she hit his own husband by a club(lamb leg) we could feel the pain of her and we were right she was made for a good cause though it was a crime. As the story was narrated appon the women stereotype. If this was different we could say it was clearly a crime. Which makes the Mary's advantage over this story.
4) i-Detectives lost their evidence by eating it.
ii-As slaughter being a slaughter (Mary Maloney)and the lamb being a lamb (Patrick and the detectives).
5) She was being frustrated by the disappointment of the husband and which made her to mad at him so she hit him with a soft meat but which being a frozen made him killed on the spot. Though it was not premeditated murder. As she being insane at the time she called the cop to create a different story as it was not done by her and justified her false truth.
6)* She was not present at the spot of the murder as she was being spoted by the Sam(grocery store owner) so there is no point of accusing her.
*There is no evidence that she hit with a club like structure as there was no things like that.
*Though we consider if she did she couldn't called the cops as she ran away from the murder scene.
*As Patrick being detective he was suspicious of what being around and he could have managed the situation by himself.
So there is no point of making Mary Maloney as the victim of this case.
7) "Though I didn't mean to kill my husband as he couldn't told me to divorce me and marry another women. I hit him with lamb club not knowing which made him to kill and all I was in anger and disappointment of him. Maybe he was in unconscious of saying bitter truth about the divorce. But I loved him more than I care this made me do stupid things." This could be her death bed confession.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteName:Naren T.P
ReplyDeleteRoll no:2018103568
1. The title "Lamb To The Slaughter" here signifies the deed committed by Mrs. Maloney. She thought of their unborn baby only after she hit him with the Lamb's Leg. This title is a Biblical reference where a person commits a deed unaware of the plots devised against him. Mrs. Malony is driven by the sudden disappointment and emotional breakdown to murder her husband.
2. The story is being represented as a sympathetic one once she murders her husband. But slowly the shades of Mrs. Malony change when she urges the police officers to finish off the food that serves an evidence. She also giggles when the police officers say that the evidence may be under their noses. Though the love for her husband may make her feel guilty she wants to live for their unborn baby. As a wife she may have failed killing her husband, but she doesn't want to fail as a mother. This narration almost convinces people that Mary doesn't deserve hatred for the murder. The author never asserts the guilt of the lady.
3. The women are usually stereotyped to be weak and incapable of actions as murder or heist. Similarly, in this story the police don't even slightly suspect the wife to be a murderer or don't even bother of interrogating her as a person of interest. Her pregnancy works to her advantage where she remains a center of sympathy and all the police feel so sorry for her. Having the murder instrument gone, proving the lady a murderer would be the toughest task for even Hercules to pull off, given the sympathies the lady receives.
4. The first irony in the story is that a lamb's leg turns a murder weapon. The leg of a silent and harmless creature, turns a murder weapon. Another irony in the story is that the police who must find the murderer, destroy the evidence and sympathize towards the murderer.
5. Mrs. Malony committed the murder just out of instincts and she remained the perfect wife until she lifted the lamb's leg to strike at her husband. Though she'll carry the guilt of the murder till her grave, she could console herself that whatever she did was for the baby she was bearing. It occurred just as an emotional outbreak and she had no intention to kill him until she was driven by her instincts after her husband revealed that he was going to leave them. We could not say that she's isn't responsible for her actions as she could have still controlled herself. She is responsible for the murder even if she feels that her actions are justified.
6. The points to be considered :
1. The murder weapon has not been confiscated which charges none of murder.
2. Mr. Malony being a senior police officer had made a lot enemies over the years anyone arrested or convicted by him could have been behind this.
3. A pregnant women could not have caused such an injury and murdered a person without any struggle.
4. As Mr. Malony was drinking much that day and wad upset that evening anyone related to work could have pulled this off.
5. The grocer confirms that Mrs. Malony came to buy things to cook up dinner for her husband and was particularly normal at that time.
6. She was pregnant and no such women who takes care of her husband would want their children to grow without their father.
7. Death Note:
To Malony Jr.
My time has come I don't want to think that your father was killed by some criminal. I killed him and I've lived with that guilt all my life. He was about to leave us and what I did was only my instincts and I always loved him more than my life. I won't you won't forgive me for this for giving you a life without your father. But even in my last my breath I regret that only moment when I swung my arm. I could have killed myself the very day but all my life after that I've lived just for you. Forgive me. Love you.
Name: Dhananjeyan AK
ReplyDeleteRollNo:2018103523
(1)The title of the story 'A lamb to the slaughter' depicts an unknowing trauma to an innocent character in a calm manner which is similar to a slaughter of an innocent lamb. Here, the husband Patrick is slaughtered by his own wife Ms.Mary using a leg of the lamb. So it is metaphorically used here as the title.
(2)It's clear that the story is in Mary's point of view because the story clearly explains the emotions of her and makes sense to the audience when she establishes her true self.
(3)She takes advantage of the stereotypic attitude of humans that women are weak, soft and sensitive and are innocent of making such a terrific crime like murder. Her sorrow towards the husband's murder and grief in her eyes didn't let the men suspect. She also takes advantage of her pregnancy and kind words with other policemen to establish her as innocent.
(4)The most ironical part of the story is the policemen eating up the murder weapon (lamb's leg) by their very own selves. The way she callout her husband as if he's alive after coming from the market is ironic because she already had killed her husband. Also, after being a murderer of her own husband, the traumatic situation she creates in the atmosphere is ironic.
(5)Mary may be a situational prisoner at that time to commit such a crime. By the story, it's obvious that she loves her husband more than anyone else ..and the attitude of him ignoring her and her love could have broken her heart. This could've made her go mad and made her react. So I think at that time, Mary was totally emotional driven and she hasn't intentionally killed him.
(6) Shreds of evidence to prove Mary is innocent:
*)There are no signs of the murder weapon in the room. As forensics investigated, it is concluded that Mr.Patricks could've hit by a steel club like a heavy metal thing. But there is no metal like things in the house. It claims the innocence of the suspect.
*)Even if it assumed that somehow she got a steel club or something, she couldn't be able to gain that much force to smash his skull being pregnant.
*)Mary actually went to the supermarket at the time of the murder and wasn't present in the crime scene. The shopkeeper is the evidence.
*)It is claimed that he seemed troublesome that evening, looking disinterested and out of mind. He may have been threatened by some local goons and they could've hit him hard to death.
These evidences are enough to claim the innocence of our client Ms Maloney Patrick.
(7)If Ms Mary is guilt of her fault, her confession would be:
"I couldn't bear the guilt that breaks my heart. Yes, I'm the one who killed my husband. I killed him because I loved him more than myself and not ready to give up on him to another woman. I couldn't tolerate the way he ignored me and my love to the way that I uncontrollably hit his head with a lamb's leg. I swear that my intention was not to kill him. It all happened in sudden and I regret every moment for what I've done to him. Love you always Patrick!"
NAME : ANISH KUMAR C
ReplyDeleteROLL NO : 2018103514
(1) If someone does something or goes somewhere like a lamb to the slaughter, they do it without knowing that something bad is going to happen and therefore act calmly and without fighting against the situation.Likewise Patrick would have not expected that his wife will act so.And so Patrick is portrayed as lamb going to the slaughter.
(2) The story is in Mary's view point.This makes us to easily connect with the story.The writer makes us to stay in Mary’s character and makes us to feel her situation.
(3) It is a stereotype of women that they do not possess the required skills that men inherently possess for certain activities.Generally emotions of women play a vital role in all walks of life.This has become Mar’s advantage that the police didn’t suspect Mary as the murderer.
(4) Meat becomes weapon :
Meat which Mary took to prepare supper for Patrick became weapon to kill Patrick, which seems to be irony.
Detectives overturn the trace :
It is the duty of the detectives to find the weapon (meat) used for the murder.But they ultimately eats it and makes the trace no more which again seems to be irony.
(5) Mary could not accept to live without her husband whom she loved.But her husband asked Mary to leave her.This made her to kill her husband.The murder was definitely not preplanned.Mary was eagerly waiting for her husband and if he had not spoken so,Mary would have not murdered him.The murder was the outcome of her emotions and feelings.
(6) Suspect for the crime: Mary
Evidences :
Mary was pregnant.In such a situation she will not do so.
Weapon used for the murder was not found.
Mary answered to the questions of the detectives without any hesitation.
There is no strong evidence against Mary and so Mary cannot be stated as victim.
(7) Death bed confession would have been,
“I killed my husband as he was ready to leave me and our unborn child and marry someone.My love and affection for him made me not to accept the situation of leaving him and see him married with someone else.”
Name : N.A.Nisha
ReplyDeleteRoll No : 2018103047
1. The word “ Lamb to the slaughter “ literally mean that the weapon which was used to kill Patrick Maloney was a lamb and it also refers to Patrick Maloney as a lamb . The quote means the slaughter of an innocent and here the innocent person Patrick who say the harsh words to his wife Mary even after knowing circumstances and dies due to his own foolishness.
2. Lamb to the slaughter is told from the point of view of Mary’s Maloney.It is important that because this enable the reader to understand why she acts as she does. The other characters are only minor ones except Patrick who is not even more important character himself.
3. Mary's advantage in her story because the stereotype of women subscribed by men are policemen in the story didn’t doubt to Mary.The policemen think all the ways how the murder killed Patrick but they didn’t suspect Mary because they thought that she was innocent and loves him very much.
4. The irony here is that the policemen are saying that the weapon is on the premises and under their nose whereas they don’t know that the piece of lamb they are eating is actually the weapon they all are finding. The other one is that Mary Maloney giggles when the policemen are eating the lamb.
5. When the Patrick stops Maloney and tells her the bitter of truth that he is going to leave her and he loves some other girl.For a few times , she cannot believe that and think she had just imagined it .She can’t bear when her husband loves some other girl and decided to leave her ,so she killed him .It was not the premeditated murder . She was not caught in the moment. Yes, she was temporarily insane and therefore she was not responsible for her actions.
6. If I am a junior to her defence attorney ,the report l will be submitted as follow:
* Mrs Maloney loves her husband very much and she is innocent.
* Patrick is tired and he I’d acting strangely and is drinking heavier than usual.
* Usually they dine out on Thursday nights , that day was not case.
* At the time of murder , Mary went to grocery shop.
* The murder attack Patrick back skull by using the thing like a bat.
* The murder destroy all the evidence in the Mary's home and it is not found there the thing which is used by murderer.
* And finally there is no evidence , who killed the Patrick.
7. Mary’s confession :
She killed her husband when he says that he want to leave her. She think that her husband share his life only with her and she can’t able to imagine her husband with other girl.So, she can’t control her emotion then she killed him.Like this, she may confessed.
JUANITA J
ReplyDelete2018103544
1.The phrase signifies an innocent lamb that is fed at home, unsuspecting and ignorant, but is being led to slaughter,meaning in an an unconcerned manner - unaware of the impending danger.
2.It is about how a woman commits a perfect crime by killing her husband with a frozen leg of lamb and then getting the investigators to eat the lamb after she cooks it. We have to know what she is feeling, thinking, and planning. And we have to believe in the dramatic change of character that took place in this passive, humble little housewife.It is important that the story is told from Mary's point of view because this enables the reader to understand why she acts as she does. Being in her point of view forces the reader to identify with her, in spite of the fact that she has committed a murder. We understand her fit of rage as a reaction to her extreme devotion to her husband and his cold rejection of her when she is six months pregnant.
3. The male stereotype of women in "Lamb to the Slaughter" portrays females as weak, co-dependent, and submissive individuals that would have embodied the proverbial "barefoot and pregnant" paradigm. That aside, these very traits rendered Mary as someone who was feeble, susceptible and vulnerable in the eyes of society: a young, pregnant, police officer's wife. All of these traits are tantamount to innocence, by default, in the eyes of men who are good, but also somewhat primitive, according to their indirect characterization. She was, in the end, the brightest of the bunch.
4.The title itself is using verbal irony. Normally when someone says "lamb to the slaughter" it refers to a lamb that is unknowingly going to be killed.The title itself is using verbal irony. Normally when someone says "lamb to the slaughter" it refers to a lamb that is unknowingly going to be killed.As the audience, we know what is going on.The characters do not. That would be the dramatic irony. We realize that they are eating the very thing they need to find in order to apprehend the person guilty of killing their fellow policeman.Meanwhile, in the other room, Mary Maloney giggles at the situational irony of it all. The lamb, after all, saved her from the slaughter of what could have been a death sentence, or life in jail as a pregnant woman.
Mary Maloney could represent such a creature, and she would have met a similar fate if she had been found guilty of killing her husband.
5. This question can be answered through a close reading of the text; Dahl doesn't directly state the reason, but it can be inferred from clues given. If you look carefully at the story, it indicates that Mary was waiting contentedly for her husband to come home from work. He does, and she waits on him hand and foot, wanting to please him and make him happy. However, he seems a bit distracted this evening, and drinks his entire cup of whiskey all at once, and is nervous. Finally, he tells her that he is leaving her. my opinion, I think that Mrs. Maloney is not guilty at all. Because yes, she killed her husband and that is a crime, but the poor woman had reasons for killing him, because he made bad things to her.
6.When a sergeant points out that the oven is still on and the leg of lamb is done, Mary urges the policemen—“good friends of dear Patrick’s . . . helping to catch the man who killed him”—to eat it bercause she knows they have missed their own suppers. The policemen consume the murder weap-on on while speculating about the case.And in the other room, Mary Maloney began to giggle.
7."And he told her...he added... '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.'"These lines hint at the fact that he has just relayed the horrific news that he didn't love her anymore and didn't want to be with her.This is reason enough for her to lose it.
Name :-Syed adnan moin
ReplyDeleteRoll no:-2018103074
1)The "lamb to the slaughter" literally refers to the frozen leg of lamb which was used to murder Patrick .The actual meaning of the phrase refers to the fact that a person is unaware of the dangerous situation he is likely to be in.Hence here patrick is referred to as the lamb who wasn't aware of being killed by his wife.
2)The story is told from Mary's point of view and all the feelings of Mary was clearly evident from the strory .In story telling the point of view is very important as the story is conveyed through the emotions and feeling of the character and varies from character to character.
3)Most men usually believe that women are weaker than them, this stereotype of men has come to a great advantage to Mary for manipulating the crime that she committed.like in the strory the police men believed the same and would have thought that it is impossible for a pregnant women to murder a person.Hence they newer considered her to be a suspect in any part of the story.This came to be of great advantage for her.
4)The first irony in the story is that while she was returning back from the grocery store she pretended to be surprised seeing her husband dead where it was her who killed her husband.
The second irony was that the police kept looking for a weapon that could have been used in the murder but they themselves ate the lamb which was used to kill patrick thus destroying the evidence.
5)when patrick revieled that he was having an affair with another women and then wanted a divorce this led Mary to get furious and hit patrick with the frozen lamb leg out of anger and she had no such intention.The murder was not premeditated because she truly loved her husband which was evident from the story where she was eagerly waiting for her husband to return.
6)
Every thursday patrick and mary go out for dinner on that particular day patrick refused to go out and moreover he drank more than usual ,hence there was something bothering him.mary was spotted at the grocery store by the owner sam and hence this clearly proves that she was not present at the time of the murder and hence there was no proper evidence that mary was the murderer.
7)Mary's death bed confession :-"This is something I kept to myself my entire life but not anymore,I can't rest in piece without confessing my crime.It was me who killed my husband,it was newer my intent to kill him.it was just the thought of him with another women Made me furious"
Mary actually did not feel guilty for her husband's death.As ,If she was truly guilty she would have accepted her crime and surrendered instead of planning a crime scene where she fed the evidence to the policemen and then giggling at the time the policemen where eating and destroying the evidence.
Name SANJAY KARTHICK V
ReplyDeleteReg no:2018103586
1)The title of the story “Lamb to the slaughter”means doing something without knowing that something bad is going to happen and therefore act calmly and without fighting against the situation. Calm and relaxed.
2)The is told from Mary’s point of view.This is important because each character has their own perspective.Hearing a story from different characters point of view
may lead the story in different path.
Mary subverts gender stereotypes and takes on the traditionally male role of violent attacker and murderer. Her quick thinking and ability to deceive others causes the policemen to sympathize with (and to some extent infantilize) her as if she were a victim, despite the fact that she is actually the murderer.
4)
We realize that they are eating the very thing they need to find in order to apprehend the person guilty of killing their fellow policeman, Patrick Maloney. They even comment that the murder weapon could be right "under their noses," which it is.
Mary Maloney giggles at the situational irony of it all. The lamb, after all, saved her from the slaughter of what could have been a death sentence, or life in jail as a pregnant woman.
5)Mary couldn't accept the fact that she was being betrayed by her husband.She couldn't feel herself and she didn't know what she was doing and all of a sudden she hit him with the leg of the lamb.The attack was not premeditated.She wasn't responsible for her actions.The fact of being betrayed led her to do so and she felt guilt as she killed her own husband.
6)To prove that Patrick was not killedby his wife Mary take the following evidences into account for this case.
1.On the day of murder Patrick seemed to be in terrible tired.
2.Patrick had a strong drink which was unusual from his daily one.
3.Usually on thursdays Mr and Mrs.Maloney go out for dinner,but Mary called and cancelled as she saw Patrick terribly tired after his work.
4.The weapon with which Patrick was hit was not found within the premises of their house,they could found any weapon like that as per forensics description.
7)Mary’s death bed confession
I thought that everything was okay; I made meals for him, and doesn't have any reason to suspect that he is unhappy. Then, he drops the bomb that he is leaving and to try no to make "any fuss...it wouldn't be very good for my life but I couldn’t digest it and murdered him with a frozen leg of lamb.I desired to confess but it was overridden by my fear that my unborn child will die during my execution. In effect, the threat of one death prevents justice for another.
Name:S.karthickraja
ReplyDeleteRoll no:2018103547
1)The title "Lamb to the slaughter" means doing something unaware of the impending danger. It denotes a lamb that goes to the slaughter, innocently and helplessly, without realizing the danger.Here Mr.Patrick maloney is portrayed as the lamb.
2)The story is story from Mrs.Mary maloney's (murderer) view.It is very much important because the story could be very interesting when it is portrayed in the murderer's perspective,he is able to justify his action and can explain what forced him to do such thing. The reader could get to know the whole story only when it is heard from the murdered's viewpoint.
3)In general, it is believed that women are frail and feeble. In the story, it is depicted that Mary is a lovable woman who is very fond of her husband and her innocence deceives the policemen .
Moreover, Mary is a pregnant woman which naturally drives suspicion out of her.These traits have been very advantageous to her.
4)The irony in the story is that Mary has called the police and the detectives are in her house. As they are eating the leg of lamb, one of the officers says in relation to the murder weapon that it is “probably right under our very noses".And Mary giggles at that situational irony of it all.
5)In the beginning of the story, Mary Maloney adores her husband. She didn't expect such a treachery from her husband. She couldn't bear the betrayal."All her love turned into rage to kill her husband". The attack is not preplanned.
It is an emotional murder ,She is not guilt of the murder as she has reasons to deny her guilt.
6)To prove that Mary is not the murderer , I would have authentified it in the following way:
* First, Mary went to the grocery shop at the time of the murder.She wasn't in the house.
* Patrick came home late and tired, he may be pressured in his office. He had a strong drink as it may poisoned him.
* The clubs with which Patrick was killed was not found on the premises.
* Mary is a pregnant woman and she is innocent.
7)Mary's death bed confession:
"This is the thing that I kept concealed throughout my life. I killed by beloved husband . I loved him more than anything in the world. But he desired to leave me and my unborn baby.I confess it but I didn't feel guilty."
Adithya.M
ReplyDelete2018103505
Q1. In the story the title"Lamb to the Slaughter," has a number of meanings .The first clear meaning is one that is a form of dark humor. The lamb in this case is actually a murder weapon. This twists the meaning of lamb to the slaughter into something that is not a metaphor but what actually happens.
While the first meaning is clear, the metaphorical use of the statement is still valid and in fact there are two people who go into a situation like lambs to the slaughter. The first of these is the murder victim who, while knowing he is going to do something uncomfortable, has no idea what is going to happen to him. The second though is Mary herself. It is the shock because she doesn’t know what is coming and that shock is what drives her over the edge.
Q2."Lamb to the Slaughter" is told from the point of view of Mary Maloney. This choice to tell the story from the point of view of the murderer is an interesting choice and one that largely defines this story. The reader knows only what she knows. At times, such as the end of the story, this means that the reader knows more than the other characters, especially in relation to the leg of lamb. On the other hand, the reader is not given access to the reasoning behind Patrick’s decision to leave. This makes it far easier for the reader to be on Mary’s side when she makes questionable decisions
Q3.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.
Q4. After being told about a proposed break-up, she grabs a frozen leg of lamb and “walks up behind her husband and without any pause she swings the big frozen leg of lamb high in the air and brings it down as hard as she can on the back of his head.” (1) This shows an example of situational irony, as it has to do with an event happening that is the opposite of what is expected. The readers would typically think that, after an experience like that, would just cry or ask for the reason behind the break-up. Obviously, that is not what happens
Mrs. Maloney even “begs the police to eat the leg of lamb saying, ‘It’d be a favor to me if you’d eat it up.’” (2) This shows an example of dramatic irony, as the audience knows that the lamb was murder weapon, but the characters don’t. The policemen think that she wants them to eat it because nobody else will eat it, but she really just wants them to eat it so that they will never be able to find the murder weapon. These are just two examples of irony
Q5. It is not a premeditated one ,It's very much a crime of passion. Mary's whole world is crashing down about her ears. Her husband, to whom she's given such undivided loyalty and devotion for many years, has told Mary he's leaving her. Mary's whole life has been devoted to caring for her husband; she cannot conceive of any kind of meaningful life
without him.
Of course she is guilty. That is why she goes to so much trouble to establish an alibi and to dispose of the murder weapon. She is not guilty of first-degree murder because the murder was not premeditated.
Continuation(2018103505)
DeleteQ6.Evidences:
1. No weapon that fit the detectives description (heavy rounded object with no sharp edges, like a metal bat) was found in the house.
2. The suspect was not home during the crime. She was verified to be at the grocery store by the owner Sam.
3.Suspect seemed traumatized and shocked during the whole incident.
4. Victim was disturbed when he got home. This is proved by the fact that he still had his coat on.
5. Suspect was cooperative and did not seem in any kind of hurry.
As there is no concrete evidence that proves her as guilty all charges against Mary Maloney for the murder of her husband must be dropped .
Q7."I don't have the heart to keep it anymore to myself. I shall confess now or else I will never die in peace. It was me who killed my husband. When he had told me about another woman that he loved and wanted divorce from me , I couldn't accept my fate and acted out of shock, fear and anger. I hit him with a leg of lamb and killed him. I destroyed the evidence and fed that lamb to the policemen who had come to investigate. "
Mary was very intelligent in manipulating the whole scene without leaving even the slightest clue that she was the murderer. She did everything instantly inspite of that utter shock.Well I think she truly loved her husband and had no intention of killing him. But she never was guilty of the crime she committed as she had manipulateed the whole scene and was giggling when the lamb was eaten.
MITHUN RAAM.M
ReplyDelete2018103562
1. Lamb to the slaughter refers to someone who falls unknowingly into life threatening trap. Metaphorically it refers to the two characters Mary and Patrick who go into the situation like lambs to the slaughter. Patrick who is the victim has no idea what is going to happen to him. The second one is Mary who has no idea what is coming to her.
2. It is told from Mary’s point of view. The point of view is important it helps the reader understand the character's feelings and emotions. It will have further impact on the upcoming events. The story has a motherly touch. A mother knows that the protection and security of the child is more important. It makes the readers think that Mary is not guilty for her actions and provides a positive impact.
3. For ages women are defined by the characteristics of gentleness, caring and tolerance. The author has optimised the traditional role of women as child bearers and domestic servants. She fulfils the wifely duties as caregiver. So it is practically impossible to imagine a woman with all these characteristics to perform a murder.
4. “ I know that Patrick would never forgive me, God bless his soul “ is an irony
The reason why Patrick will not forgive Mary is because she killed him, not because of some trivial issues which the readers know but not the police.
5. Patrick wanted to leave Mary but she is unwilling to believe her husband's rejection. It is too tough to convince a heart that’s been loyal to the soul. Her thoughts were clouded by the love for him. She was suddenly caught by the thoughts of the unborn child. The murder was totally an unintentional action out of exasperation. She then tried to cover her tracks. As per the story the murder was due to undying and eternal love for Patrick. So she is not responsible for her actions. It was just an instantaneous response to betrayal from a loyal one.
6. Evidences:
The police suspect the weapon to be a big spanner or a metal vase. Generally pregnant women are feeble . So it clearly states that she is not the murderer.
Mary was at the grocery shop at the time of the murder
There are no witnesses
Mary lived her husband and there is no personal vengeance for her to kill her husband.
So Mary is not found to be guilty.
7. “ The biggest mistake of my life ...is the day I killed him. I thought I would be happy. When I lost him my life crumbled into pieces. The infinite love blinded me leaving a very traumatic time. With each day passing by, I feel guilty. I will keep loving you because love doesn’t die when a person does . Forgive me”
-Mary
E.DIKSHIKA
ReplyDelete2018103529
1.The title of the story means that doing an action unknowingly without knowing the later negative consequences and act calmly without quarreling the situation.Here, the lamb's leg is used as a killing weapon and it is brought to the slaughter.Here, Patrick is slaughtered by his own wife.
2.The story is told from Mary Maloney's view.The story handles Mary's emotions such as happiness, anger, guilt, etc.Her character plays a major role.She lives in every part of the story.It would have been different if the story was narrated from someone' point of view.It could have been the policemen, Jack Noonan, Patrick.Each one's perspective is different for the same incident.
3.Mary truly showed the basic stereotype that women are innocent, weak,independent.She showed her innocence to the policemen and that truly made them to believe that a pregnant woman would not be a muderer.
4.The most ironical part of the story is the policemen eating up the murder weapon (ie)the lamb's leg.After committing the murder, Mary calls out her husband as if he is alive and gives a shocking reaction after coming from the grocery store.Then, the policemen fails to find the murderer and destroys the evidence and sympathises the murderer.
5.Mary was not satisfied with her husband's will of divorce.She expressed mixed emotions all of a sudden unknowingly and so she murdered her husband.It was not a preplanned murder.Everything happened at the heat of the moment without realising it.She finally understood her crime and for the sake of her child, she hided all the evidences of the murder.But still she cares for her husband.
6.
*Patrick came home in a depressed state
*Patrick was higly intoxicated on that day.He mostly dont take strongly.
*Patrick refused to go for dinner on that day.Usually, they hang out for dinner every thursday.
*They didnt have any heavy metal in their home.
*Mary was shocked to see her drowned husband after returning from the grocery store.She immediately called the police and she cooperated throughout the investigation.She proved herself to be innocent.She hided all the evidences.
7. If Mary had a guilt feeling for her crime,her confession would be:
" All of a sudden , I showed mixed emotions of anger.I killed my husband as I loved him more .My heart broke as he ignored me and told his will of divorce.He didnt understand my unconditional love.I always loved him more than my life.He was ready to leave me and a beautiful child for his own pleasure.Unexpectedly,I couldnt control my emotions and all of a sudden I hit my husband with the lamb's leg and killed him.I deeply regret . At last I can leave knowing that I have confessed "
Shiny.I.M
ReplyDelete2018103065
1.) Lamb to slaughter literally means the action done by us without knowing that something bad will happen. Here in this story,the husband is like a lamb killed for his action.
2.) The story "lamb to slaughter" goes around Mrs.Maloney. It portrays her views,the reason she killed him, her feelings for him and her pain. The story goes like he decided to leave her and so she killed him. But this story may be different in Patrick's or Jack Noonan's view.
3.) Women are more sensitive than men. She acted like she was in shock because of her husband's death. Everyone believed that someone killed Patrick none suspected Mrs.Maloney.
4.) Eventhough, she knows her husband is dead ,she called him darling. The weapon used to kill her husband was eaten by the police.
5.) Mary couldn't accept that her husband wants to leave her . She was under trauma and couldn't control herself may or may not knowing she killed her husband with the leg of lamb.But after knowing that she killed her husband, she felt guilty.
6.) Mary's trail for her husband's murder,
a.) Mary is so obsessed with him. She loves him so much.
b.) No evidence that she is a murder.
c.) He drank strong unlike normal.
d.) Murder weapon not found.
Conclusion: No proper evidence to prove that Mary is a murder.
7.) Mary's confession will be she killed him with the lamb's leg . As he decides to leave her, she was so shocked and couldn't bear that. So, she killed him but She loved him very much.
Arunraj
ReplyDelete2018103011
1. The title "The lamb to the slaughter" is completely justified in the story. The phrase actually refers to a person who is unknown about a dangerous situation he is likely to be in. In the story, Patrick didn't expect his wife Mary to kill him and hence here Patrick was referred to as the lamb.
2. The story was told in Mary's point of view. We could see all her emotions throughout the story. Any story is generally told from one character 's pont of view. The reader lies in the shoes of those characters and understands and experiences the emotions of that character. A story can be told in different points of view and hence can make different impact on the reader. This is why, point of view is important in story telling.
3. Mary was a pregnant lady and her husband Patrick was a police. Most of the men, think that women are weaker than men. Here the policemen must have also believed that stereotype, and though that a pregnant lady wouldn't be able to kill a police(Patrick). They had never suspected Mary to be the murder, inspite of the fact that it was only Patrick and her staying in the house. This stereotype of men proved to be a great advantage to Mary.
4. In the story we see few ironies.
One of them is that, after returning from the grocery story, she pretended to be utterly shocked seeing her husband dead. But it was she who had killed her husband.
During the investigation, the police were looking for a weapon that could have been used to kill Patrick. But they couldn't find any. In the end, it was they who ate the lamb which was used to kill Patrick.
5. Mary never had the intention of killing her husband. She truly loved him a lot. But she couldn't bear, when her husband told her about an affair he had with another lady. She was totally shocked hearing it and kept denying that it wasnt the truth and must have been a dream. Out of that sudden shock, she had killed her husband. The murder was surely not premeditated. She is responsible for her actions, as she wasn't guilty of what she had done. She destroyed all the evidence and kept giggling in the end, even after Patrick's death.
6. Report
Mary is definitely not the murder of the crime.
There are few evidences which prove it.
A. Patrick was really stressed and refused to go for dinner on that day. Mary and Patrick would generally go out for dinner every Thursday.
B. Patrick drank more than the usual. Probably there was some issue that was bothering.
C. He was definitely not in a good mood, which seems like he was threatened by someone(CRIMINAL probably) as he was a police.
D. Mary wasn't even there in the house and was spotted by Sam at the grocery store.
7. Mary's bed confession
"I think now I need to reveal something I have been hiding for very long. I m ashamed of myself. I killed my husband. It wasn't a murder by someone else. I loved him more than anything else. And when he told me about his affair and the divorce, I couldn't even feel myself. That moment was like death for me. I didn't want to kill him, but in that anger, everything happened. I destroyed all the evidences possible."
Mary had no intention of killing her husband. But neither was she feeling guilty of what she had done. She had no regret and was giggling when the police where eating the lamb.
Danush
ReplyDelete2018103020
1.The title of the story conveys the meaning that doing an action unconsciously without knowing what's about to happen. The killing weapon used here is the Lamb's leg. Patrick's wife slaughters him.
2. The story is being narrated from Mary Maloney's point of view. She is connected to every part in the story. It would have been completely or partially different if the story was narrated from a different point of view.
3.Mary show the general stereotype of a common women that they are soft , innocent , weak , etc. She uses her innocence to convince the police that a pregnant woman is not capable of committing a murder.
4. The irony in the story is the policeman eating the Lamb's leg (murder weapon). After the murder was committed , Mary calls out Patrick and also gives a fake shocking reaction when she comes from the grocery store. The police is not able to find the murderer but destroys the murder weapon.
5. Mary Maloney was not happy with her husband's idea to divorce. She shows mixed emotions in a quick time , and in the heat of the moment she murders her husband which makes us conclude that it is not a premeditated murder. She realised her mistake and to protect her child , she hides all the evidences.
6.
~ Patrick came home very sad and not so good state
~ He was highly drunk
~ They hang out for dinner every Thursday , but Patrick refused that day
~ The murder weapon was not to be found.
~ Mary was dumbfounded when she saw her husband drowned after returning from the grocery store. She called the police at once and co operated throughout the investigation.
7. If Mary felt guilty for the murder she committed her confession would be like
" Multiple emotions were running in my mind. I murdered my husband out of love and affection. I couldn't accept the fact that he wanted to divorce me and he didn't understand my love and affection towards him. So i hit my husband with a Lamb's leg and killed him.
Easwaran S
ReplyDelete2018103532
1)The words “Lamb to the Slaughter” have been used in the Bible as quotes but in Roald Dahl’s story, these words literally mean that the weapon which was used to kill Patrick Maloney was a lamb and it also refers to Patrick Maloney as a lamb. The quote means the slaughter of an innocent and here that innocent person is Patrick Maloney who says the harsh words to his wife Mrs.Maloney even after knowing the circumstances and dies due to his own foolishness.
2) “Lamb to the Slaughter” by Roald Dahl is a third-person narrative told by an anonymous narrator who functions as an observer of the characters.
The third person narrator knows what Mary Maloney thinks and feels, but does not make further introspective comments regarding the other characters. This is why we can say that the narrator has a point of view limited to Mary Maloney’s perspective.
3)I personally feel that women are more sensitive to sudden shocks than men. This served as an advantage to Mrs. Maloney. She acted as if she were in trauma and made the detectives to believed that she was not the murderer.
4)Dahl uses dramatic irony when he has Mrs. Maloney refer to Patrick in the present tense, when in fact he is already dead. “Patrick's decided he's tired and doesn't want to eat out tonight." Mrs Maloney tells Sam. This creates dramatic irony because Mrs. Maloney knows that Patrick is dead, but Sam does not. The reader is left in the suspense of knowing she killed him, and with the chance of someone finding out she is a murderer.
The verbal irony is found in the title of the story. The phrase "Lamb to the Slaughter" suggests an innocent creature about to undergo torture and death. Mary Maloney could represent such a creature, and she would have met a similar fate if she had been found guilty of killing her husband.
Situational irony is represented in the murder weapon and what happens to it, unbeknownst to the people investigating the scene of the crime.
The murder weapon is a frozen leg of lamb. Mary hits her husband with it after mentally "snapping" when he announces to her that he will leave her. The hit kills him instantly. Shortly after, Mary comes up with a way to dispose of the murder weapon: she cooks it. What's more, she feeds it to the policemen who come to investigate the scene.
5)Mary Maloney should not be tried for premeditated since there were signs of her snapping in and out of her insane sate after killing Patrick Maloney. Mary Maloney was in a trace when she saw Mr. Maloney after returning from the kitchen. But after killing him, she regained her conscious. After killing her husband, “her mind became clear all of a sudden.” In addition, when she was about to kill Patrick Maloney, she “simply walked up behind him and without any pause, she swung the big frozen leg of lamb high into the air….”. This shows that she did not have any control over her actions until she heard the loud crash. Further more, after killing her husband, she “came out slowly, feeling cold and surprised, and she stood for a few minutes looking at the body….” This proves that she did not know what she did and it took a while to register what happened, which shows that it was not a planned attack.
6)The points to defend Mary are ,
A : Patrick was seen highly drunk unlike normal.
B : The grocer confirms that she came to buy vegetables and that she looked perfectly normal.
C : They don't have any heavy metal at their place.
D : She doesn't have any personal vengeance and there is no witness of the crime.
7)Mary Maloney's confession would be like "I acted out of heat of passion and fear of losing my husband". When you are scorned by your closest friend or a relative , what you actually feel is anger and as a result you yell at them or act out of heat of passion. This has what happened in Mrs. Maloney's case. I feel that though she would confess the crime,she will not regret it because she can be seen giggling at the end.
R K DHIVAKAR
ReplyDelete(2018103023)
1) The lamb represents any living being that is innocently being led to a bad situation; one which could even end his or her life.In Roald Dahl's short story "Lamb to the Slaughter," the protagonist is a woman whose life gravitates around her husband, a policeman. She admires him, pampers him, is a good housewife and, to top it all, she is heavily pregnant with their first child. The description of this woman suggests that she is vulnerable and innocent. She is dependent on her man. She does not work, for all we know, and her existence is based on the wants and needs of her husband. Still, one night after work, he tells her that he is leaving her, making her an innocent person entering a bad situation.
2)"Lamb to the Slaughter" is told from the point of view of Mary Maloney. This choice to tell the story from the point of view of the murderer is an interesting choice and one that largely defines this story.
3)The male stereotype of women in "Lamb to the Slaughter" portrays females as weak, co-dependent, and submissive individuals that would have embodied the proverbial "barefoot and pregnant" paradigm. It is a clever technique to apply those stereotypes to Mary, in the first place. She was indeed pregnant, she was dependent on her police officer husband as her provider, and she was also submissive to his wants and needs.
4) There are a couple of moments of dramatic irony in "Lamb to the Slaughter." These are cases in which the reader understands more than the characters. The most clear of these occurs near the end of the story. Mary has called the police and the detectives are in her house. As they are eating the leg of lamb, one of the officers says in relation to the murder weapon that it is “probably right under our very noses." This statement is literally true though the officer who says it has no idea what he is saying.
5)Personally, I think that Mary’s whole life revolved around her husband and she loved him very much. Allowing him to leave would have meant accepting that he no longer loved her, whereas by murdering him she could pretend that the conversation between them had never happened. In this way she could maintain her perfect life as the cherished wife, rather than dealing with his abandonment of her. After committing the act, Mary admits that she would be prepared to accept the penalty but fears the consequences for her child, and so she covers up the murder and saves them both.Lamb to the Slaughter' reverses the stereotypical picture of a loving housewife in order to critique social perceptions of women.
6)The points to defend Mary and prove that she is not the murder are
Patrick and Mary go out every Thursday. But on that day they didn't as Patrick wasn't interested and there was something else bothering him. He would have probably been threatened by goons as he was a police. On that day he drank more than usual as he was quite disturbed. Mary wasn't there at the murder scene as she went to the grocery store and the owner Sam had seen her. There is no weapon anywhere in the murder spot.
7)In this story, Mary is the lamb. She is considered weak and helpless. Her husband is divorcing her and destroying her life despite all her work. His career will be left intact while her life is ruined. However, when she kills him, she defeats the “butcher” of her life and takes back control. She isn’t helpless after all, and manages to protect herself and her future.
The story is a delightfully dark one of a woman who steps up and manages to do something she probably didn’t think was possible. Its message is that it’s a dangerous thing to underestimate people, even if you think they are weak “lambs.”
Visshal.A
ReplyDelete2018103625
1) The title 'Lamb to the Slaughter' means that Mary's husband Patrick is going to be killed like how a lamb is being taken to a slaughter house
2) The story is told from Mary's point of view. It is important as it justifies her action of killing her husband
3) Mary behaves like a normal home maker who goes about her duties submissively. This act of hers was totally unexpected.
4) One of the ironies is the frozen lamb's leg becoming a weapon. The second one is she cooking the same weapon being cooked as dinner for the detectives
5) Mary killed her husband because he shocked her by saying that he doesn't want to continue living with her considering the fact that she was pregnant
Mary doesn't feel guilty . She only tries to justify the act of killing him in her mind.
The murder was not premeditated. When Patrick gave her the shocking news, she was dumbfounded. Killing him with the lamb's leg was at the nick of the moment.
She was not caught up in the moment she had a clear mind and was aware of what she was doing
6) • Since Mary's husband was tired, they didn't go out for dinner so she went to the shop to buy some vegetables. The shopkeeper is the alibi.
• He seems to be hit on the head with some heavy metal object but they don't have any heavy metal object.
• She did not intend to kill him as she was carrying his baby
7) In her death bed she confesses that she committed the crime. It was totally unexpected from her husband especially when she was carrying. He seemed to have no feelings for her which made her more upset and led her to act like that
1.Just before getting slaughtered, the lamb wouldn't know what fate has in store for it which can be directly compared to Patrick before being struck by Mary. The other obvious reason is that the murder weapon is a lamb leg and the author has picked it up for a intelligent wordplay.
ReplyDelete2. The complete story has been narrated from Mary's point of view and this adds the tension and thriller element to the story. If the story was being narrated from other characters' perspectives the flow of the story wouldn't be gripping as they aren't the ones affected by the murder directly and the consequences of it. The whole planning out sequences, crucial moments and the subtle ironies wouldn't leave a lasting impact on the readers.
3.Women are generally perceived to be emotionally weak compared to men and when the detectives and the police saw Mary breakdown on seeing Patrick it would have convinced them that Mary wouldn't have been the killer. Moreover the doctor suggested that the blow would have been really hard with a metal piece which would have further distracted them from thinking on lines of Mary. They wouldn't have thought that a pregnant housewife could have possibly planned out a clincial sketch to make her way out of the mess.
4. The whole plotline is an irony, a loving wife killing her own husband in a fit of rage.
Mary serving the lamb to the people investigating her husband's death while they are speculating what the weapon could have been.
5. Mary is shocked after Patrick asks her to abort the baby citing career as a reason. However the heartless insensitive behaviour of Patrick made Mary to act in a fit of rage and take sudden compulsive decisions. The murder doesn't seem to be pre planned and had happened purely due to temporary insanity but that shouldn't free her off from taking responsibility for her actions.
6.
1) Mary was a loving caring wife who was very closely attached to her husband.
2) Mary is pregnant with a child and a child needs a father for emotional and financial support. So such hasty decisions wouldn't have been taken.
3) Mary seems to have been in the grocery shop when the murder happened and the grocer is an alibi.
4) Mary didn't seem to showcase any unusual behaviour and didn't try to flee the scene. She broke down on seeing dead Patrick and looked inconsolable.
5)A pregnant woman should be the last one to suspect looking at the heavy blow endured by Patrick.
6)There are no concrete evidences on the murder spot to identify the murderer. Especially no weapons of any kind were found in the house.
100 convicts can escape but no single innocent man should be wrongly punished. Since there are no proper evidences to prove Mary has committed the crime, she should be let free.
7. When Patrick asked me to abort our baby, I was shell shocked. Hearing this from my beloved husband,it shattered my heart into pieces. I tried to recollect my senses and moved away hoping that I would wake up from this bad dream. The inconsiderate behaviour of Patrick disgusted me and a sudden rage took over me and made me take a decision which I have been contemplating for the rest of my life- I killed him.
Sayf Hussain
ReplyDelete2018103059
Q1) The title of the story 'Lamb to the slaughter' is a well known phrase.The phrase is used when a person is as naive as a lamb,unsuspecting and on his own will walks into a deathtrap which has been carefully laid out for him.The title is suitable for this story as the husband had no idea that he would end up in such a situation on bringing up the issue of divorce.
Q2) The story is told from Mary's point of view as throughout the story we are shown how she thinks and how she reacts to different situations.The point of view of the story is very important as we as readers/viewers always tend to imagine ourselves in the shoes of whosever's point of view the story is told from and more often than not we sympathize with them even if what they did was outrageous.If the story had been presented from the policemans point of view, we would have a completely different opinion on the story.
Q3) In the story the police force investigate Mary as a mere formality and at no point treated her as the suspect cause they felt a woman couldnt have committed this crime.The police infact tried to comfort her first instead of getting the facts from her which gave her lots of room to improvise on her story.
Q4) I couldnt find any irony in the dramatization of the story, but in the actual story written by Roald Dahl, I find it ironic that after killing her husband when she returns from the grocery store she is shocked on seeing her husband lying down in such a state.
Q5) It wasnt Mary's decision to kill her husband instead she loved him dearly.She couldnt take the news that her husband wanted to leave her for someone else,She couldnt imagine a life without him.Furthermore the way her husband broke the news to her pushed her more to take such a decision.Mary got caught up in the moment and did what she thought was her only option.I think Mary is definitely guilty of the crime she committed but looking at it from an emotional point of view I feel Mary tried covering up her murder for her child,She would have felt its better if the child has atleast one parent.
Q6) There is literally no evidence which points to Mary's guilt.The only piece of evidence was the murder weapon(the lamb leg) which the police force ate unknowingly.
Furthermore Mary has a solid alibi as she was as the grocery store and the grocer will vouch for her.
Q7)"At every point in life I did what I thought to be the right decision,But I am not proud of all of my decisions.I would like to get it out of my chest that I am responsible for the death of my ex husband.I know there is no justification to the crime I have committed,But I only did it cause at that point I saw no other option.When he told that he wants to leave me and wants to be with someone else, I was overcome with emotion and made the wrong choice.I hope I will be forgiven."
Mary acted completely out of her mind,She couldnt take the news the right way and eas overcome with emotion.She did what she thought was right and tried to coverup the murder.
But even at the end she shows no guilt of having committed the crime.
S.K.Risheek Rakshit
ReplyDelete2018103580
1.The title ‘lamb to slaughter’ means an innocent lamb which is to be slaughtered without its knowledge ,the same way patrick was murdered in this story.
2.The story is narrated from Mary Maloney’s point of view. This choice to tell the story from the point of view of the murderer is an interesting choice and one that largely defines this story. The reader knows only what she knows. At times, such as the end of the story, this means that the reader knows more than the other characters, especially in relation to the leg of lamb. On the other hand, the reader is not given access to the reasoning behind Patrick’s decision to leave. This makes it far easier for the reader to be on Mary’s side when she makes questionable decisions.
3. Generally women are considered to be a weaker sex.It was this stereotype which helped Mary in manipulating the whole murder. She pretended to be in shock after her husband's murder and it was this emotional drama which made the policemen to not suspect her. They didn't even doubt her once as she was pregnant and felt that she couldn't have murdererd her husband who was a well trained policeman.
4. The first irony of the story is that a lamb's leg turns to be a weapon for murder. Another irony of the story is that the police who was supposed to find who the murderer was, destroys the only evidence.
5.Mary was not satisfied with her husband's decision to divorce her.She could not believe it all of a sudden and being in a state of confusion she murdered her husband.It was not a preplanned murder.Everything happened so quick that she didn’t know what she did.She finally understood her crime and for the sake of her child, she hided all the evidences of the murder.But still she cares for her husband.
6.It should be considered that:
1) Patrick Maloney came home in a tired and depressed state
2) Patrick had a strong drink that day. Usually Patrick doesn't have strong drinks.
3) Patrick and Maloney would go out for dinner every Thursday. But on that day , Patrick refused to go out for dinner with Maloney.
4) Mary Maloney went to grocery shop to buy vegetables that evening and when she returned she found her husband lying on the ground in a collapsed state.
5) Mr and Mrs. Maloney don't use club like things in their home and there no such thing in their home.
The point of discussion regarding the case is that, Patrick might have been threatened by someone that he refused to go out for dinner or he might have been pressured regarding any work in the office. He wasn't behaving normal that day. He was drunk more than what he usually drinks. He was in a stress. He didn't share his feelings to anyone.
The conclusion would be that the death trail on Mary Maloney should be discharged due to lack of evidence and prove her innocent.
7.Mary's confession would be like that she killed her husband Patrick in the fear of losing him. Everything in her life has changed in those few seconds all this occurred as an act of love and affection towards her husband. But she loved him very much.
R.S.Praveen
ReplyDelete2018103577
1)The title 'Lamb to the Slaughter' means the death of the innocent in an unexpected manner.Here,Mr.Patrick Maloney was the lamb,as he had no idea of his wife's anger behind him and was knocked out to death just like lamb is slaughtered in the slaughter house.Also,the fozen lamb leg is the murder weapon hence it can also be interpreted as 'lamb' used to 'slaughter'.
2)The story revolves around Mary's character as only from her point of view we can understand the cause for her actions.She was really upset hearing the news from Patrick and we could understand what would had been in her mind and the way she made herself innocent in the end or else the reader's perspective would have been as the cop trying to solve the murder.Hence,Mary is the centre of the story.
3)A middle-aged woman like Mary need not work much to make herself innocent.Her situation as a widow who's carrying a child is enough to remove the suspicions on her for the crime.Most people stereotypically think that a woman will not have the mental strength to kill a person,especially their husband.If the victim here is the wife,then the first suspicion the police will have is on the husband and they will look for a motive.But,it's not the case for a widow and they feel bad for her loss,instead of looking for her motives.
4) i)The title of the story itself has an irony hidden in it:'Lamb to the slaughter'.Usually,the lamb is slaughtered alive for meat but in the end the frozen lamb leg is used to slaughter,i.e.kill a person.Hence,we can see the irony made by the author in giving the title.
ii)We can also see the other irony in the end when the officer who's enjoying the meal of the lamb makes a comment that the killer would be "probably right under our noses".The irony here is that no only the killer is giving them a feast for dinner but also she serves them the murder weapon,which is also literally under their noses,i.e.they are eating the important evidence for the case.
5)Mary killed her husband because she couldn't digest the fact that her husband is leaving her for another woman despite his wife being six months pregnant.All she had on her mind that night was her child was going to be a boy,they were gonna have a nice dinner with friends.But,hearing the shocking news from Patrick she was just caught up in the moment and couldn't imagine her future with this news.When Patrick was getting ready to leave,all her anger burst out and she took the frozen lamb and hit him right on the back of the head,which means she gave a thought about it(the perfect crime) before killing him and wasn't insane.
6)Mary's murder trail:
Defender:
I.My client,Mrs.Maloney wasn't home at the estimated time stamp of the murder.She was shopping and only on her return she found her husband lying dead.
II.There is no motive for my client to kill Patrick based on recent happenings in the household.
III.She even planned for a dinner that night and her friend can confirm it,which means she wouldn't have planned a murder on the same night.
IV.The murder weapon is still undefined and can't be traced to a housewife,who is also pregnant.
V.The store keeper can verify that my client purchased groceries for dinner well before the murder.
VI.My client loved her husband and there was no kinds of quarrel between them according to their friends
7)Mary's death confession:
"I killed my own husband with a frozen leg of lamb because I couldn't accept him leaving me for another woman.I can't rise a child in a world with his father living with another woman.I may have hurried in this matter but my heart couldn't just take it for another second and I thought he deserved it."
She would have felt sorry for her action but she might have still thought that what she did was justifiable as shown from her perfect planning and relief at the end when she was cleared of suspicion.
Name: Mounika.M
ReplyDeleteRoll no: 2018103565
1."Lamp to the slaughter" means doing something without knowing that something bad is going to happen and act clamly and without fighting against the situation.
2.The story is from Mary Maloney's point of view. Because from her point view only the readers can easily understand her emotions and her situation.
3.Women are weaker than men. Mary Maloney is pregnant and she loved her husband very much so she couldn't be a murderer.
4.Mary Maloney hit her husband with the lamp leg and made it as the dinner for officers and called her husband darling even after his dead.
5.Mary Maloney killed her husband because he told that he want to leave her and marry another women. The murder was not preplanned and she was not responsible for her actions.
6. There was no evidence found against Mary Maloney.
Mary Maloney answered the questions of the policemen without getting angry and hesitating.
Patrick was unusual than other days.
7.Mary Maloney's bed time confessions:
I am not planned to kill my husband but I hit him because of my love on my husband and he told that he will leave me and my unborn child and marry another women. I cannot accept his words.
Name: J.porkodi
ReplyDeleteRoll no: 2018103574
1.Tittle of the story means:if someone does something or goes somewhere like a lamp to the slaughter.They do it without knowing that something bad is going to happen and therefore act calmly and fighting against the situation.
2.Lamp to the slaughter is Mary Maloney's point of view. It is important because the story clearly explain the emotion of her and makes sense to the readers.
3. The police men didn't suspect Mary. because they thought that Mary was innocent and loves him very much.
4.She know that his husband his dea,she called him darling after coming from grocery is one irony. without knowing that the lamp leg was the dinner is also an irony.
5. She killed her husband because he told that he is going to leave her and growing child alone,so she killed him. The murder was not planned.after hearing the statement of the husband,Mary become insane so she is not responsible for her action
6.Suspect for the crime: Mary
Evidences :
Mary was pregnant.In such a situation she will not do so.
Weapon used for the murder was not found.becouse she made the weapon as the dinner for the officers.
Mary answered to the questions of the officers without any hesitation.
There is no strong evidence against her.
7 .Death bed confession would have been,
I killed my husband as he was ready to leave me and My love and affection for him made me not to accept the situation of leaving him.
1) Lamb to the slaughter basically means a scenario in which a person is oblivious to what is going is to happen to them and they would least expect themselves to be in said situation. It means before the event happens there is no indication that it would happen.
ReplyDelete2)I think its told from Mary's point of view, because we see how she deals with her frustrations and maybe even guilt. Her point of view gives the viewers more understanding of her position.
3)Well in the first place the police never suspected it would have been a woman because a woman wouldn't be able to hit a man with such force with a blunt object. More Mary gives a feel of an innocent and loving wife which would make anyone think twice to doubt her.
4)The first thing is even after killing her husband its ironic for her to be shocked when looking at her husband after returning from the grocery shop. The second is that the police were eating the murder weapon while making the comment 'its probably under our noses'.
5)I think Mary killed her husbad out of pure anger. She couldn't bear the fact that her husband would try to leave her after all she has done for him, being a pleasing wife wasn't easy for her but for it to go unnoticed and for her husband to fall for another woman was enough to tip her off. From a stand point she was caught up in the moment, but if you see her behaviour like how she laughs in the end i think she might have been a bit insane but never showed it out to her husband.
6) So first of all the evidence point to that the husband was under heavy depression and he was drinking as soon as he came home. She can be verified to been at the grocery shop as the time of death is very close and will seem there was no way she could have been there when the murder took place. And most of all there is no murder weapon to prove she tried to kill him. So with lack of incriminating evidence there is no way to prove Mary is guilty of murder.
7)"Just think about a life in which you sacrifice everything for your beloved eventhough you know they dont notice but you do it because you love them so much. Its exhausting and frustrating but you continue because you know your beloved will be with you forever. Now picture your beloved leaving for some other woman, thats what happened to me. How dare he leave when i have treated him so well, put so much of my love into everything I did for him. He had the nerve to leave me and my unborn child for some woman he saw. Unacceptable, that man deserved what was coming for him, he deserved death and death was what he got. I don't feel guilty I did what i thought was right, I couldn't let my husband leave for another woman and that is what I did".
2018103071
DeleteDharun M (2018103526)
ReplyDelete1. The title of the story literally means that doing a thing innocently and helplessly without knowing that something bad is going to happen. In this story Patrick's character matches to this phrase.
2.The story is told from Mary Maloney's point of view. It is important because when a story is read, the reader assumes him/herself to be the character on whose point of view the story is written from.
3. The first thing is that she is the wife of Patrick and also the policemen knew her before as a gentle innocent women. Anyone with the alibi created by Mary in this story cannot be suddenly suspected to be a murderer.
4. The topic of the story can also be said as an example of irony because in this story the lamb is not killed but it is used to kill. As all said The giggling of Mary Maloney at the end is an ironic act as she should be in depression and fear.
5. At the moment when Patrick said that he is going to leave her Mary didn't even feel her self and she may be out of control. She may be in the thought of her future that how she was going to live the rest of her life and also her present situation as a pregnant lady may induce her to show all these anger and frustation on Patrick who was the reason for her situation.
6. The following are the evidences which made others think that Mary was innocent,
--> Mary was a kind, gentle and lovable women who loves her husband truly.
--> Mary was not home as she went to buy groceries.
--> And there is no weapon in the home which fits the imagination of Policemen.
--> Mary cooperates to the policemen very well and she was in a high depression.
7. Mary's confession might be like ,"I was in extreme anger, fear or frustation whatever, as my Husband on who I kept all my love said that he is going to leave me. Anyone in that situation couldn't control their emotions. When I killed my husband I was really out of my control. I am still confused to judge my action that it is right or wrong."
In my opinion Mary's perception is that her action was right because in the story she didn't feel guilty, not even in a single situation.
1. I think that the title is best suited for the given story. That's because the frozen lamp leg turned out to be the weapon which the wife used to kill her husband out of the disappointment that her married life was no longer assumed to sustain.
ReplyDelete2. The story is told from the view point of the wife. It revolves completely from her aspect. If the story was narrated from the point of view of any other character, it would be completely different.Just as how what is expressed in a story is important, the same way how the story is narrated and from whose perspective it's said is also very important. Unless it's expressed from the wife's point of view, the story wouldn't be so interesting and so curious regarding the crime with the damn thrilling truth at the end
3. All of us generally believe in physical power. Especially in the given story people will never have an idea if a wife can kill her husband who's a policeman by profession and who's portrayed as a caring wife.
4. The most prominent irony was that the supper was itself the weapon which was being searched by the crew.
The second irony was that a frozen lamp leg was sufficient to kill a man within a few mins maybe as far as the story is concerned.
The third irony would be the wife's sarcastic giggle assuming that she's safe as she has destroyed the evidence of murder.
5. The reason for the murder is a mix of emotions of a pregant lady who loved her husband so much that turned her insane. A large extent of disappointment, shock, bewilderness, insecurity, and her early stage of motherhood resulted in such a wild behaviour.
6. No.1 - There's no proper evidence for the murder.
No.2- Mary was so shocked on realising the death of her beloved husband.
No. 3- Mary was nowhere shown panic during the interrogation.
7. Mary- " I was in no way to be blamed. Anybody in my situation would do such insane act . The moment. I was so insecured when I realized how bad my child and my own future is gonna be. And of course who admits their own mistakes. I suppose no human would ever do that and so I did hide my weapon. I just reacted like a lovable wife and a responsible mother"
Please mention your name. I am unable to give you marks for the post as I don't know who you are
DeleteAkash E
ReplyDelete2018103005
1. The title "Lamb to the slaughter" was chosen very wisely by the author Roald Dahl considering the events happening in the story.In the story a lamb's leg is used to murder a man.This would be a simple explanation to the title of the story.But a more critical explanation would be that a lamb which is led to a slaughterhouse is not aware of what is going to happen next.Similarly the man (lamb) was not aware that he is going to be murdered.As I mentioned before,the author was very clever in choosing the title.
2. The whole story revolves around a woman named "Mary Maloney".The story is narrated from her point of view.The title of the story would be apt only if the story is told from her point of view because we wouldn't know that the lamb was used to kill the husband.If the story is told from any other character's point of view,we wouldn't be able to know that Mary was the murderer and we would get a false conclusion from the story.Only from Mary's point of view we would be able to get the true story.So her point of view is very important.
3. According to the story the detective interrogated the woman politely and the policemen and others had no clue that she would be the murderer.Our stereotypical minds are made to believe that a woman is not capable of murdering someone with such a hard blow to the back of the head.That is why the policemen had little or no clue that she could be the suspect.This stereotype was a great advantage in her story as it helped her escape the crime.
4. a)Mary who was depicted as a woman who loved her husband deeply and truly,after realising that he loved some other woman,hits him with a lamb's leg and murders him.This is an ironical to what we expected.
b)The policemen were discussing that the murder weapon must've been somewhere under their nose.But since the murder weapon being a lamb's leg which was cooked and served to them,it was literally under their noses,inside their mouths.This is a perfect irony used in the story.
5. Mary who was deep in love with her husband Patrick came to know that he is leaving her for some other woman.Patrick who should have conveyed this information politely without hurting her feelings to a greater extent,did not do so.Imagine a woman who was waiting for her husband so long,who kept thinking of him till he reached home,just to hear that he is leaving her for another woman.She went through a mixed emotion of anger, betrayal, confusion, pain which caused her to do such an incident.The murder was definitely not premeditated.It was all in that particular moment.She did not think of the consequences of her action,she did not think of anything else.All she could think was she was betrayed by her husband and she wanted to take revenge.
Continuation :
Delete6. Murder of Mr.Patrick - husband of Miss Maloney.
Suspect : Mary Maloney - Wife of the victim.
Inference from the evidences :
1. Suspect was in the grocery store when the incident happened.(Enquiry from Sam).
2. Murder weapon could not be found.
3. Suspect is a pregnant woman and there is a very little chance that she could have been the murderer.
4. Victim took too much of wine and was upset that evening.There might be a possibility that he was hiding something and some work related enemy could have done this.
5. The suspect did not seem to be hiding something.She genuinely answered to all the questions which were asked to her.
Considering all these points the suspect is free from any sort of crime and therefore all charges on the suspect must be dropped.
7. Death note:
"Here I lie in my death bed thinking of all the good and the bad things I've done in my whole life. I've done a lot of bad things which i still regret till this moment.One of which I haven't confessed anyone yet.This has been bothering me from the day I committed it till now.Now in this death note I'm finally able to reveal my sins to this world.It was me who killed my ex-husband.He confessed that he was going to leave me for another woman and I just lost control of myself and somehow ended up killing him using the leg of the lamb which I served the policemen that day.At that moment all I had was anger and I regretted every single day thinking of what I did.All this guilt and regret just for a 20 minute anger which I should have controlled.Now that I have confessed my sins I'm free to leave this world without any burden".
Mary was insane in that moment and was out of her mind.Whatever she did felt right to her as we could see her giggling at the end without any guilt.
2018103511
ReplyDeleteAkshanaa .M
1. The title the lamb to the slaughter means that someone does something without knowing something bad is going to happen and therefore act calmly without fighting against the situation.
2. It is from Mary's point of view the choice to tell the story from the murderer's point of view is interesting and that largely defines the story.
3 .It portrays females as weak, co- dependent and submissive
Individuals. These very traits rendered Mary as someone who is feeble, susceptible and vulnerable in the eyes of society: a young,
pregnant ,police officer's wife.
4.1) lamb to the slaughter - innocent creature that undergoes torture.( verbal irony).
2)when patrick said," don't make dinner for me .I' m going out" .Mary wants to make him dinner though he said he's leaving her.
3) Murder weapon.
5 . The reason is her dismay and shock at a man who she loved so dearly betraying her and her unborn baby to fend for themselves in the world.
Of course she is guilty that is why she goes to so much trouble to establish an alibi and to dispose the murder weapon.
The murder was not premediated. If all the cops know that she is the murderer then they would arrest her.she
was temporarily insane and not responsible for her actions.
6.points to prove her innocence:
1)she was at the grocery shop at the time of murder.
2)patrick was under depression and had a hard drink.
3) There is no Murder weapon to prove she killed him.
7. Her death note would be she killed her husband because of unconditional love and affection towards him. She could not control her emotions.He betrayed her .she didn't want him to leave her and marry someone else .lack of control over her emotions made this happen.
Sumaiya fathima
ReplyDeleteReg no.2018103607
1. Lamb and slaughter means taking actions in uncontrolled manner not being aware of the consequences.
2. The story is told in Mary's point of view . It clearly illusrates the story of a innocent household wife who is capable of going to any extend when something bad happens to her. Though we can't justify her action but if and only if we see the story in Mary's point of view,we will get to know the intensity of her character.
3.Women are generally considered weak than men. that is the major stereotype considered in this story. As she was pregnant at that time she was treated so gently and she was not suspected by the investigators.
4. The fact that Mary made the investigators to eat the lamb leg which was the murder weapon they were searching for.
Mary giggles inside the room thinking of the fact that it's just a lamb's leg that saved her from lifetime imprisonment
5. Mary killed her husband when she came to know about her husband's decision to divorce her and marry another women. Mary was a normal housewife. For sure her husband's decision would have shaken her . As a result of her emotion, she killed her husband. She was completely responsible for her actions though it was made under emotional influence.If she was guilt she would have surrendered to the police instead of covering the spot.
6.According to the facts stated below Patrick was not killed by Mary.
1.Patrick was completely depressed that evening when he came back from office.
2.Mary went to the grocery store at the time of murder.
3.Mary had made a phone call to her friend informing her not to come to her house since her husband was exhausted.
4.The murdered weapon was not found.
5.It is also stated that the couples won't use club like articles.
From this I conclude that Mary is innocent
7. Mary's confession would be "Though I loved my husband so much he didn't loved me the same I did. I killed him when he decided to leave me and my child and marry another women".
Name: Shakkthi Rajkumar
ReplyDeleteRoll No:2018103589
1. The title of the story literally means a lamb that is being led to its death, with it being completely oblivious to its fate. In this story, it is actually used as a metaphor. Here, the policemen are compared to the lamb. They unwittingly, are responsible for destroying the prime evidence. It is a classic case of the fence destroying the crop, albeit unintentionally.
2. This story is told from Mrs.Mary Maloney Patrick’s point of view. It is important because she is the only person aware of what happened and also that the truth might never ever be brought to light as the prime evidence was destroyed.
3. Men generally take women for granted. They have a notion that women are meek, and therefore weak physically and emotionally. This stereotyping works to Mary’s advantage because of her demeanor and also that people were aware of Mary’s love for her husband. Also as she was pregnant, there was no way somebody would have an iota of doubt on her.
4. “Probably right under our very noses. What do you think Jack?”. This statement is ironical because they are unwittingly destroying the evidence by consuming it. And it was exactly under their very noses ie in their mouths. The second example is that, after she hit him on the head, she slipped back a pace, waiting, and was amused to see him still standing for atleast 4-5 seconds.
5. Mary murdered her husband out of sheer rage. She didn’t want him to desert her as she loved him and was possessive about him. According to my perception, Mary is guilty of premeditated murder. The reason is, if she had attacked him spontaneously on hearing the disclosure, it could have been termed an accident. That she took all the time to go to the kitchen and grab the piece of lamb and attack him with it, shows she did it intentionally. Maybe she was temporarily insane, but she always had the choice of talking him out of his idea, which she didn’t bother to even try.
6. Patrick and Mary are a happy couple. Mary is deeply in love with her husband and adores him. She would do anything to see her husband smile. She is an ideal wife. Mary Maloney always awaits her husband’s arrival from work, eagerly. She is four months pregnant too. She is contented with her married life. On that particular day, Patrick was not his usual self. He was visibly uneasy. He drank more than usual. That something was bothering him was evident from his behaviour. Mary, being the perfect wife, wanted to make him dinner at home, as he was not willing to go on their regular Thursday outing. She put the lamb leg in the oven and went to the grocer to buy some vegetables. When she returned home after a short while, she saw Patrick lying on the floor, emotionless. She ran towards him screaming and understood that he was dead. She immediately called up the cops and told them about the murder. The cops inquired her and also the grocer and are certain that she is innocent. As the murder weapon is missing, the case is under investigation.
7. I loved my husband deeply and was awaiting our child’s arrival. We were a happy couple and I tried my best to be the ideal wife. After he disclosed his intentions, the rage in me started building up. I couldn’t imagine him with another woman. It came to a point where I lost my sanity. I either wanted him to be with me or wanted him dead. As I was aware that I wouldn’t be able to change his mind, I decided to kill him. I came back to my senses, only after I saw him dead. Then I decided to save myself for the sake of my unborn child. I created a narrative to prove my innocence to the world. Also, I cleverly destroyed the prime evidence. I evaded the law for so many years, but all the while, I was pursued by my guilt. I am confessing now because I want to die in peace.
KANNAN.B
ReplyDelete2018103032
The given story is a classical example of the term “CRIME OF PASSION”, which refers to violent crime done as a result of sudden impulse , rather than doing it with intention and preplanned. In this case, the perpetrator usually called as MANSLAUGHTER and not as MURDERER.
1. The title “Lamb to the Slaughter” fits perfectly for this story. Literally, it indicates a scenario when an innocent lamb is brought into the slaughter which doesn’t know what bad is going to happen in near future. In this story, Patrick Maloney being a lamb is slaughtered when he says he gonna leave his wife Mary Maloney. Also we can relate it with Mary, as she loves Patrick so much, but finally she only ended up in killing him. The important wordplay is that the slaughtering weapon being related to Lamb. One more meaning i could match is, the title indicates the conversion of Mary from " LAMB[innocent ] TO THE SLAUGHTER [Manslaughter]".
2. As we can clearly see that, the story is explained from Mary’s point of view. For a story, point of view is so important, as it enables readers understand more things and makes the story interesting. Here, Mary’s point of view does the above things. All other perspectives other than Mary’s would make this story as a simple unsolved murder case. But who knows, if the story explained from Patrick’s view too, we could have known why he wanted to leave such a loving wife.
3. The very common stereotype is that a woman does not possess qualities to kill a person violently. This became an advantage for Mary Maloney, as the police just did a formal enquiry and didn’t even think her as of a murderer.
4. The whole story contains lot of ironies. Mary kills her husband in anger and suddenly with all calm rehearses to say hello to a shopkeeper. Patrick being known for a good detective, didn’t get good detective to solve his murder case. Police who were supposed to find the clues, ends up in eating the main clue.
5. Mary killed her husband as she cant accept losing him. Given the situation, she blindly done that without her consciousness. Nothing was preplanned. Though she did it in a rage, she is completely responsible for her act. We should notice onething that, she was all set for accepting Penalty, if it wasn’t for her child.
6. For all we know, there is literally no evidence for proving Mary’s guilt. Patrick seemed unusual that day and drank too much of whiskey. Mary went to the shop, for which there is clear evidence from the shopkeeper saying she was all normal and happy.There were no different answers from Mary, she told everything clearly to the Police. Patrick, being a good detective, gained lot of enemies. One of them could’ve killed him and escaped. There is no murder weapon and third person’s fingerprint found. All these make Mary Maloney an innocent.
( Even if somehow Mary Maloney is proven guilt, we could call it “Crime of passion” which comes under second degree of murder only, which will have less Punishment than the first degree of murder (Preplanned Murder). She being pregnant will get further reduction in penalty )
7. “ Is Love Blind? Yes, actually mine is, blind enough to kill my own love. My whole love for him got shattered when I came to know he’s leaving. He wanted to go, so I sent him up. It all happened without my consciousness. I hid all this for my child. Now I have confessed, no more secrets, I can die peacefully. Never overthink or overlove”
Name: Krithik Kumar D
ReplyDeleteRoll No: 2018103556
1) The title "Lamb to the Slaughter" means doing or partaking in something innocently without knowledge of a life-
threatening situation uncalled for. R
2) The story is obviously told from Mary Maloney's perspective and this is because only Mary is aware of what
actually happened and the truth would never be revealed as the prime evidence was destroyed.
3) Men in general take women for granted. Men presume women to be weak both emotionally and physically. The stereotyping worked to
Mary's advantage because people knew how much her husband meant to her, also, she was pregnant. All this clearly
worked to her advantage.
4)
When Mary entered the house after returning from the grocery store,after she saw her deceased husband, she gave out a simple and subtle reaction even though one would expect her to panic and weep but she didn't. This is pretty ironic considering the fact that she was the murderer. “Probably right under our very noses. What do you think Jack?”. This statement is obviously ironic as the evidence (the leg of the lamb) was right under their noses when they were having the dinner.
5) To put things into perspective, Mary killing her husband wasn't premeditated at all. She acted out of
uncontrollable Tage as she had no clue what he was going to bring. Even when she was told about what was going
on, she decided to proceed with her day-to-day life. Only when he rejected the food that she made for him, all that
anger stored inside her exploded. She was definitely not temporarily insane. But when she realized what she did committed a crime by killing her husband she was filled with guilt despite the
fact that her husband wanted to leave her. The only reason she felt she had to hide the truth was for the sake of the
child she was carrying in her womb. Had it not been for this, she would have confessed. But, her child's future
outweighed her guilt.
6) There is absolutely no way Mrs. Mary Maloney commited the crime of killing her husband Patrick Maloney. At the time of the incident she was not at the crime scene. Instead she was at the market buying products required to make dinner for the two of them. This alibi is proven both by the shopkeeper and Mrs. Maloney herself. The shopkeeper is sure that there was nothing wrong with her expression. The rest of her alibi seems to match with what happened as well. Mr. Maloney came back tired. So rather than spending their usual Thursday evenings at dinner they decided to cook the lamb they had at home. When she returned back she was shocked to see her husband in the state he was in and called for the police immediately after. On arriving, the detectives could see her in tears and disbelief over the murder of her beloved husband, and there is no reason to be suspecting her.
7)
Before I die, I would like to make a confession to all the people who i know care about me. I'm not who you think I am... I am a murderer.
Seeing his mood I made him a stronger drink than usual, but it still didn't seem enough and something kept bothering him. When I asked him about it, he finally brought up the fact that he was going to divorce me. I was shocked and taken aback. My brain hadn't even processed it properly and offered him dinner as well. Initially he said yes but after five minutes in a more firm tone, he said he was leaving and that he didn't want dinner. Then I don't know what happened but suddenly I was filled rage and the next thing I knew, I had clubbed him hard with the lamb I was holding in my hand. And just like that I was a murderer.
When this happened, I was filled with guilt and sorrow. I was so ready to turn myself into the police but I was pregnant at the time. I didn't know what would happen to my child if I go to jail and I didn't want to take any chances.
I don't expect to be forgiven for this crime, and I am telling all of you this in order to wipe out the burden I have been carrying over the last 50 years, before I breathe my last.
V.Shakthi prarthana
ReplyDelete2018103062.
1.The title "Lamb to the slaughter" means that doing something without knowing the upcoming bad consequences and act calmly without fighting the situation.In this case,Patrick is slaughtered by using the leg of the lamb by Mary Maloney . Since the leg of the lamb is used as a murder weapon it is brought to the slaughter.
2. Here the story is told in Mary's point of view. She expresses her emotions throughout the story and it is very evident from the story. In story telling, the point of view is very important as it is through which the reader gets emotionally involved in the story. The reader sees everything about the story with the eyes of the person in whose perspective the story is narrated. The story has makes different sence in different point of views. If the above story was told in the other characters ' point of view, we would have been differently attached with it. It would make a different sense to us.
3) In general it is believed that women can neither harm their family nor her husband because they have a heart of mother with full of kindness and generosity so they can't harm anyone. Like this the investigators in the story also didn't suspect on Mary for her husband's death.
4. One of the irony in the story is that, when Mary was returning from the grocery store, she prepared her mind and started to pretend she was in shock seeing her husband but it was her who killed him.
Another irony in the story is that, the policemen were looking for the weapon that might have been used to kill Patrick. But they themselves were eating the lamb, which was the weapon used.
5) Mary don't want to lose her husband because she loves him very much when he says "Its over" her heart breaks and after hearing her husband wants to divorce her and wants to start a another life with someone she can't able to bear this and she lost herself. In fear of losing her love she hit him with a lamb's leg, when she can't have a control on herself.So it isn't a preplanned murder . She is in a temporary insane so she isn't responsible for the action done when she isn't herself .
6.there were no evidence for the murder against her.there is evidence that at that time of murder she was in the grocery.
since the lamp leg is at the oven ,it clearly says that she definitely went to the grocery for buying vegetables.she is cooperative to the investigation without any hesitation.whatever she said at the investigation was matching and true.
Name: Aparna S S
ReplyDeleteReg no:2018103008
1) "Lamb to the slaughter"is a perfect title given by Roald Dahl to this story that deals with the murder of a policeman named Patrick. As the lamb would go to the slaughter house without knowing death is awaiting for it , Patrick goes to his house without knowing that death is awaiting for him. And not only this, the weapon was a frozen lamb leg,and hence the title is best opted.
2) This story is narrated from the point of view of Mary Maloney, the wife and the murderer of Patrick. Point of view is an important aspect in every story because the story changes completely if it is told from someone else's point of view. In this story itself, if the narration was in someone else's point of view then it would be different and it is important to choose a better point of view as each point of view will not have the same effect as the other.
3) "Frailty, Thy name is Woman". This perfectly sinks with this story. There always exist a stereotype against woman that she is weak and would not do anything so big such as a murder. In this story too, the police never suspected a woman to be the murderer.Mary perfectly used up this and never made the police to suspect her as the murderer.
4) Mary’s reaction to seeing a worried Patrick is found to be ironic as she was the criminal responsible for his death. Also, Mary holds up a shocked and traumatized expression throughout the incident but at the end giggles as the inspectors get rid of the evidence for her. This is yet another example of ironic behavior that is seen in this story.
5) Mary really loved her husband Patrick. So she couldn't accept the divorce and her husband loving some other woman and hence she took a frozen lamb leg which she thought of making for supper and killed Patrick. But her intention was not to kill him as she loved him . But she didn't know how to stop him from going and hence took this decision. This wasn't a pre-planned one as Patrick told Mary about the divorce which she did not want forand she loved him very much which is seen from her concern when Patrick enters home in a deceased condition. According to me, Mary is responsible for her action as it wasn't accidental but Patrick's death is not what she wished for.
6) There is no evidence that Mary Maloney has committed the crime. Firstly, she wasn't present in the home when the crime occurred and this is perfectly verified with the grocerer Sam. Secondly, there was no sharp cut in Patrick's body and hence he was attacked with a huge club size object which could not be handled by her. And finally, she was very much deceased with her husband's death and was not able to get rid of the shock. Hence, these evidences prove that Mary Maloney was not the murderer.
7) Mary's death bed confession:
" As I'm in my final counts to death , i think that atleast now i would get rid of my sin. Years ago, i killed my ex-husband as he loved someone else and was about to give divorce to me. I never thought of such a thing as i loved him very much. So in a haste i took a frozen lamb leg which i had kept for supper and killed him.The policemen did not suspect me that day and i was free but today i regret what i did and now I'm a bit relieved that I've confeesed what i did and can die with a peaceful heart."
I think that Mary did not do anything intentionally but was forced to do so as she couldn't accept the divorce and her husband loving someone else. She did everything is a haste. But she was able to cover up the entire situation with a deceased face as if she was in a shock with her husband's death. But at the end she giggled which made me think that she did not regret any of her action.
Vignesh p
ReplyDelete2018103080
1) The title 'lamb to the slaughter' is an apt title for the story. This phrase refers to a person who is innocent and not aware of the life threatening danger he or she goin to face. Also the lamb leg plays an important role in the story the author might have chosen this title.
2) the story is on Mary Maloney's point of view.
The point of view for different person may vary according to them. We know the murderer in the story while Mary maloney is the only person who knows the murderer. If the story is on others point of view then we might not known the murderer.
3) women are weaker then men is the stereotype which helped Mary maloney to be unsuspected. The police man didn't even consider the fact than a women would have given the killer blow.
4) Mary maloney's shocked reaction on deceased Patrick is seems to be an irony.
The policemen ate the evidence is also an irony in the Story.
5) Mary maloney loved her husband so much. She couldn't tolerate that her husband leaving her. So she killed Patrick.she felt guilty after killing her husband. She should have thought of the outcome of the action. The murder was clearly not premeditated as she used a lamb leg as a weapon. She is in an temporary insane so she is not responsible for the action.
6) suspect: Mary maloney.
Victim: Patrick.
Evidences for the suspect not involved in the crime.
1) the suspect was not in the home during the murder and she was verified to be at the grocery shop by the shop keeper.
2) there was no heavy weapon in and around the house used by the murder.
3) suspect seemed to be shocked during the whole incident.
4) victim had drunken strong wine which he usually not do. This shows that the victim was stressed.
5) suspect seemed to be cooperative during the whole investigation process.
Conclusion: these evidences concludes that the suspect is not the murderer.
7) "I loved my husband so much. I couldn't not even imagine a life without him. I couldn't tolerate that he will leave me and our child for his own pleasure. So I killed him. But it remains as a guilt in my heart". this might be the confession given by Mary maloney.
NAME : AAKASH.K
ReplyDeleteROLL NUMBER : 2018103502
1.The title "Lamb to the slaughter" means that doing something without knowing the upcoming bad consequences and act calmly without fighting the situation.In this case,Patrick is slaughtered by using the leg of the lamb by Mary Maloney . Since the leg of the lamb is used as a murder weapon it is brought to the slaughter.
2. The story revolves around the point of view of ‘Mary Maloney’ as we are able to see the thoughts and expressions she goes through during the entire incident. Point of view is an important aspect in story telling because it sets the emotions of the reader in a certain path as we tend to think according to point of view we are provided with. For example, if the story were to be narrated from the point of view of the grocer or the policemen or even the doctor, we would have a completely different take of the same incident.
3.The male stereotype of women is portrayed as weak, co-dependent, and submissive individuals.So Mary can't be the accused of this murder .
4. The verbal irony is found in the title of the story. The phrase "Lamb to the Slaughter" suggests an innocent creature about to undergo torture and death. Mary could represent such a creature, and she would have met a similar fate if she had been found guilty of killing her husband.
5.she killed her husband because he told that he is going to leave her and and growing child alone.so she killed him.the murder was not planned.after hearing the statements of the husband ,Mary become insane,i.e. she became unconscious and made the mistake.so she is not responsible for her actions.and also she was not caught at that moment.
6.The points to defend Mary and prove that she is not the murder are
*Patrick and Mary go out every Thursday. But on that day they didn't as Patrick wasn't interested and there was something else bothering him. He would have probably been threatened by goons as he was a police.
*On that day he drank more than usual as he was quite disturbed.
*Mary wasn't there at the murder scene as she went to the grocery store and the owner Sam had seen her.
7.Death bed confession would have been,
“I killed my husband as he was ready to leave me and our unborn child and marry someone.My love and affection for him made me not to accept the situation of leaving him and see him married with someone else.”
Name : Gayathri.M
ReplyDeleteRoll No :2018103535
1.What does the title of the story mean?
Ans.The title of the story means that doing an action or a work without knowing that something worse is gonna happen and therefore to stay calm
2.What point of view is “Lamb to the Slaughter” told from? Why is that important?
Ans. It is Mari's point of view because all the expressions,emotions are from Mary.so it is Mari's point of view.point of view of one of the character in the story is important to tell the story.here Mari's point of view is important because she only there in the starting from the beginning to the end of the story ,others point of view of view will not be sufficient .Patrick point of view will not tell the story clearly after his death.hence Mari's view is important here.
3.How does a stereotype of women subscribed to by men work to Mary's advantage in her story?
Ans.She said that unlike their usual Thursday evenings, where they go out to dinner, Patrick was tired and she decided to cook the lamb at home. So she went to the grocery store to buy the things and was not present at the murder site when it happened. The grocer was also interrogated and it was confirmed that Mary was at the store while it happened.
4.Give two other examples for irony in the story apart from the given example. (Example: 'perfect' wife kills her husband)
Ans.After Mary Maloney realizes that she has killed her husband, her reaction is very calm, considering the circumtances. One might expect her to freak out, to go into hysterics, to weep and sob, to,but she didn't.This is yet another example of ironic behavior that is seen in this short story.
5.Why do you think Mary killed her husband? What is your perception of Mary’s guilt? Was the murder premeditated? Was she caught up in the moment? Or was she temporarily insane, therefore not responsible for her actions?
Ans.The first irony in the story is that while she was returning back from the grocery store she pretended to be surprised seeing her husband dead where it was her who killed her husband.The second irony was that the police kept looking for a weapon that could have been used in the murder but they themselves ate the lamb which was used to kill patrick thus destroying the evidence.
6.Mary is on trial for the murder of her husband. You are a junior to her Defence Attorney and are responsible for advising your supervisor in this case. Based on the evidence in this story, write a report to your supervisor analysing the evidence and determining how the defence should present the case. Make sure to support your assertions with evidence from the text.
Ans.To prove that Patrick was not killedby his wife Mary take the following evidences into account for this case.*On the day of murder Patrick seemed to be in terrible tired.*Patrick had a strong drink which was unusual from his daily one. *Usually on thursdays Mr and Mrs.Maloney go out for dinner,but Mary called and cancelled as she saw Patrick terribly tired after his work.*The weapon with which Patrick was hit was not found within the premises of their house,they could found any weapon like that as per forensics description.
7.Write Mary's death bed confession about the incident. What do you think her perception of events is? Support your opinions with textual evidence.
" All of a sudden , I showed mixed emotions of anger.I killed my husband as I loved him more .My heart broke as he ignored me and told his will of divorce.He didnt understand my unconditional love.I always loved him more than my life.He was ready to leave me and a beautiful child for his own pleasure.Unexpectedly,I couldnt control my emotions and all of a sudden I hit my husband with the lamb's leg and killed him.I deeply regret . At last I can leave knowing that I have confessed "
Keshav M
ReplyDelete2018103038
1) The title is a reference to the idiom 'leading lambs to slaughter' - where an unsuspecting person is led into danger.
In this case, it is both a reference to the murder weapon, and the irony that the stereotypical 'lamb' is the one who performed the slaughter.
2) The story is told from Mary Maloney's view. It is important because we can follow Mary's thoughts as we go along. From her dedication to her husband, to her concern, her disbelief, the single moment of anger, and finally the cold-blooded way in which she covers up her actions.
3) The policemen, seeing her crying, and knowing her to be a dedicated wife, immediately assume that she could never be responsible. Additionally, her calm act with the grocery store is something that tilts the policemen towards assuming that she could not be responsible.
Additionally, they convince themselves that Mary's insistence on the lamb being finished is just the inexplicable actions of a woman in grief. The stereotype here being that women can be irrational in this way and that it is of no concern.
4) a) The title itself is greatly ironic, as explained above.
b) The other irony is the ending, where the policemen speculate that the weapon is on the premises, not knowing that they are holding it in their own hands.
5) Mary killed her husband in a moment of anger. He mentions that he is going out alone (presumably they go out together on Thursdays), which she may have assumed to be him going out to visit his lover (the most probable explanation for it all) and in that moment,
she could not control her anger.
Who knows? She might well have just cooked the lamb otherwise.
There is no such thing as 'temporary' insanity. If getting enraged is defined as insanity, all of us are insane and no one should be convicted of these kind of crimes. She is definitely guilty, though many would sympathise with her situation.
6) It is likely that an autopsy will be performed, considering Maloney's post. However, the time of death cannot be 100% accurately determined. Even if Mary commited the murder, it cannot be conclusively proven.
This would mean that there would be no primary evidence to convict her.
The course of action should be to explain that autopsy will not give a perfect time of death (in case the prosecution brings it up). The grocer's testimony would be very helpful, as he is the only witness, and he believes that Mary is innocent. He may establish Mary's alibi.
It is necessary to bring in character witnesses who could testify about Mary, considering that everyone feels that she was a caring wife and would not have done anything.
Unless someone would expose her husband's cheating, there would be no motive either. The prosecution would have nothing to work with.
And of course, if her husband was meeting someone on that day, it would change everything. So that must be investigated immediately.
7) It is clear that Mary atleast somewhat regrets her action. Immediately after, she thinks that it would be a relief if she were caught. So the deathbed confession is definitely possible.
She would probably explain her sense of betrayal and her anger at her husband she was very dedicated, and would possibly justify it by saying that her husband was not only abandoning her, but also her unborn child.
(sorry for late response)
Gokul.S
ReplyDelete2018103026
1. The title of this story could be best described as sublime or matchless as every single character in the plot was a lamb to the slaughter at some point of time.Figuratively speaking, it means getting yourself into a situation like a fool without thinking of the adverse effects it may bring along.Mary became a lamb to the slaughter when her husband decided to leave her.The policemen became lambs when they destroyed the murder weapon although it was oblivious.Patrick was a lamb for obviously getting slaughtered.And the icing on the cake was that even the murder weapon was a lamb that lead to the confirmation of Patrick’s expiry date.
2. Indeed the story is brought to us from Mary’s frame of reference.This is a judicious choice that makes the story all the more stirring and exciting as she herself is the murderer.But the only con here is the fact that the readers are unaware of Patrick’s side as to why he decided to leave his wife.Points of view are important for any story as an average reader blatantly looks at the story only from that perspective and more often than not sympathise for the associated person.
3. Historically, women are associated with the words gentle, motherly,serene,etc and are always considered to be physically less strong as compared to a man(which is kind of true).All these stereotypes forced the policemen to completely withdraw her from the suspects list.This is a clear template to reassure us that women are unmatchable when it comes to wit.
4. One straightforward irony is the policemen eating the lamb leg which is the murder weapon that they are scavenging after.Now, the fact that a lamb is used as a murder weapon is in itself an irony as a lamb generally stands as a symbol of patience and is always considered to be amenable.
5. Clearly, Mary is chagrined with her husband’s decision to part their lives and move on different tracks.She’s indeed as sick as a parrot and there’s no reason for her to not to be.Also, it wasn’t a preconceived murder as she truly loved her husband.She just wanted to vent out her rage on him and it eventually proved to be fatal.Nevertheless,she is the one solely responsible for the killing and on no grounds can she slip out of that .
6. A- She had a well-crafted, strong and thick alibi that no one whomsoever can suspect upon.She strategically engaged with the shopkeeper in a casual manner.This was her most smartest manoeuvre.
B- Her conduct and cooperation with the investigators was nothing less than perfection and she literally made a fool out of them.
C- Her conversations with the shopkeeper, the lamb in the oven and the pre-murderer story matched beautifully and there was no room for even the slightest element of doubt.
D- The policemen were unable to find the murder weapon which if they did could have been an important breakthrough in the case.
Overall, there wasn’t even a tiny single evidence against her and hence, there is no reason for her to be charged for the allegations.
7. “I think its time for me to perhaps start the last journey of my life and before leaving I would like to take-off this heavy load from my mind.It was me.Yes, it was with with these very hands that I murdered my own husband. I never intended to but I got caught up in the moment and ended up doing the biggest crime of my life..I killed him using the frozen lamb leg and strategically misled the investigators to give my unborn child the happy life that he deserved.At this moment , I’m extremely happy and contended that I was a true,loving mom to my child all my life.This thought of my husband’s murder has been haunting me for decades now and finally I’m going to be relieved of it.I love you Patrick.I really do.”
Shruthi Muthukumar
ReplyDelete2018103592
1. The title metaphorically reveals how the lamb is unaware of its fate of being slaughtered. Here, the lamb symbolizing innocence is compared to Patrick who is not aware of what will happen next. The author uses the concept of foreshadowing right in the title of the story to provoke the interest of readers to find out how the story turns out.
2. The story is told from Mary Maloney’s point of view and the author uses the right proportion of emotions. He starts by describing Mary as a very caring wife, and gradually builds the story. It is important to narrate from her point of view as she is the main protagonist of the story who deals with all emotions including love, hatred, and treachery. Perhaps, she is chosen, as the author feels she might be the only one who could convey all the emotions. Had the story been narrated from the detective’s perspective, it would have got a different touch and the genre of the story would have changed and I feel that’s not what the author intended to say.
3. Women in the past were considered to be emotionally weak, dependent and compliant. It worked with Mary since they didn’t even hesitate to think of her as a murderer. Perhaps, the thought that women weren’t powerful in committing such crimes, or even if they did so, they weren’t smart enough to mask out the evidences, proved to be helpful to her.
4. One of the ironies is how the murder weapon turns to be the supper for the detectives. Another one is, how the close aides of Patrick, whom instead of decoding the case starts to have dinner at Patrick’s house itself.
5. Mary loved her husband deeply and she could not bear the thought of him leaving her for someone else. She felt he was also reciprocating the same feelings with her but was in for a terrible shock as she wasn’t even expecting all this even in the wildest of her dreams. She felt completely stranded and killed Patrick in a fit of rage. The murder was completely instant as she was portrayed gently in the beginning of the story. She didn’t even have a weapon to murder him and used the lamb to hit him, leading to his death unknowingly. She could’ve dealt in a much better way trying to resolve the issue.
(Continued)
Delete6. Mary and Patrick are a lovely couple and she was always very affectionate towards him. This is evident from several of her claims. She was six months pregnant too and was eagerly waiting for Patrick’s arrival to go out as they usually dine out on Thursday evenings. But everything went unusual that day. Patrick had a strong drink and he remained silent during the entire course. He didn’t want to go out and preferred staying indoors, hence, Mary decided to prepare supper for him that night. Mr.Sam, the grocery store owner, was verified to have seen Mary that night at the store. Returning home, she saw Patrick lying dead on the floor, so, the crime would have taken place in between the gap Mary left. On investigating the crime scene, there were no evidences of weapon. The garage was checked for any sort of heavy metal object and none could be spotted. The fingerprint report didn’t find any fingerprints of Mary. Doctors’ report revealed he was hit by a blunt object and Mary being pregnant wouldn’t dare to do such a thing. Since there is no solid evidence against Mary, all charges against her shall be dropped.
7. “As I am approaching death, I would want to confess something that I’ve been carrying with me for more than thirty years. My dear child, I am guilty of your dad’s death. Years ago, one evening, my husband told he would leave me for someone else and asked for a divorce. I felt completely lost and in a fit of mixed emotions, hit him hard with a frozen lamb leading to his death. Patrick was a very nice human but I don’t know why I acted so hastily that day. Fortunately, the detectives didn’t suspect me. People say time heals everything. But even with time, few permanent scars cannot be healed. The death of Patrick had left a huge void in my life. But I’m sure, that, though I failed to be a good wife, I have been a great mother. I am sorry for what I did but all of it was done unwarily in a fit of shock. Having said all this, I can now die peacefully without any guilt of hiding the truth and is ready to join Patrick. “ – Mary Maloney
Varshini Venkatesan
ReplyDelete2018103077
1.• The title “Lamb to the slaughter” precisely means that the lamb is taken to slaughter house to be slaughtered and it doesn’t know its fate before. Here, similarly, Patrick must have informed the shocking news to Mary, without anticipating what would happen then. He is compared to a lamb that is led to a slaughter house and then murdered. Here, this title is chosen because “lamb’s leg” is a murder weapon.
2.• The story is narrated from Mary’s point of view. She is the protagonist and the entire story revolves around her. Someone who is touted to be innocent and caring ends up becoming the unexpected murderer. If other characters in the story had narrated it, they would have different take on situation but only the protagonist knows the original story as she had been present in all incidents and yeah, after all, she murdered Patrick. So, she must know the incident better than the others.
3.• Women are generally considered meek and feeble. All the police men and detectives knew she was caring. So they couldn’t imagine her doing this, that too to an established police officer even in their wildest dreams.Hence, this aided her in cooking up a story very well.
4.• The two ironies are;-
• The reaction of Mary watching Patrick lying dead itself is an irony. She murdered him and staged it as such she was shocked to find him dead.
• At the end, we can see the detectives and the policemen speaking about the murder weapon and that they could find the murderer if they find out the weapon, without realizing that they were eating it. As one of them said, the weapon is lying right under their noses, and indeed, it was, thus, destroying the only possible evidence they had.
(continued)..
Delete5. When Patrick informed Mary about the divorce, she couldn’t accept the fact that he had betrayed her. Out of rage, she killed him. It wasn’t a pre-planned one and she didn’t mean to do it. She was so frustrated that her hit turned out to be hard and it costed his life. Hence, the murder is not premeditated. She was not temporarily insane, she realized what she did then, and tried her best to escape from the situation. She might have taken the blame for the situation if she didn’t have a baby in her womb. She didn’t want the baby also to be punished for the act of her and hence, had to stage the drama so that she wouldn’t be caught.
6.The evidences are :-
• Mary was completely cooperative to all the questions inquired by the detectives. She seemed miserable and was completely in a shock state.
• No murder weapon was found in house.
• It was concluded that the victim was hit hard on back of his head with some metal object. There were no such metal vases in the home. Moreover, a female won’t have enough strength to kill a person with just one hit.
• The suspect was not home when the victim was killed and this was confirmed by the grocery owner Sam.
• The victim was still in his coat, was intoxicated and preferred not to go out as usually they do on Thursday evenings, which indicates that he was disturbed and might have had a bad day at work or must be dealing with some other issues not relating to Mary.
As there are no concrete evidences against Mary, all charges against her should be dropped.
7. “The guilt which I committed makes me feel miserable for the entire life. Hence, I feel it is the right time to confess the truth. I genuinely loved Patrick, he was my life, and then suddenly he informed that he was going to leave me for another girl. I was in a state of denial and first of all, couldn’t accept the fact he could do such a thing. Out of rage, I killed him. He was reluctant to listen and didn’t value me as I did for him. Though, I gotten lucky with the detectives and could escape from the situation, but this guilt of mine killed me every second and wanted to get this sin off my chest. I am sorry for what I did and ask for pardon from lord.”- Mary’s death bed confession.
Mary completely did this out of haste; she thought Patrick belonged only to her and not to anyone else. She might have had confessed the truth if she didn’t have the unborn child in her. She felt it was so selfish of him to leave her midway but we can see her giggling at the end, which seemed she didn’t regret of her actions and hence, felt he deserved it.
Haripriya.K
ReplyDelete2018103538
1) "Lamb to the Slaughter" - The title by itself is a pun. The lambs are generally not aware of the fate they are going to face in the slaughter house and blindly trust the one leading them. Similarly Mr. Maloney here blindly believes his wife to be soft and is oblivious of the impending doom.
Roald Dahl has shown his mastery with his choice of words for the title: the lamb also being the murder weapon to slaughter .
2) The story "Lamb to the Slaughter" is told from Mary Maloney's point of view. Her perspective is important because there is a complete transition of her sketch in the story.
Initially, she was portrayed as a docile, soft, loving pregnant woman longing for her husband to return home and tend to him.
A sudden plot twist occurs and now she is a cold-hearted, husband killing woman who cunningly erases the traces of any murder.
The story from her frame of reference keeps the readers engaged, waiting for her next move.
3)Women are usually perceived to be soft, harmless and are only suited for fixing food, doing house chores and tending to their husbands. They are categorized as house-dwellers who know nothing but the small circle of home, husband and happiness.
As follows,The thought of a loving lady like Mary who is also pregnant with a six month child, being a gruesome killer is easily scratched off by the investigators.
4)The story is filled with ironies.
- The investigators discussing about the murder weapon and how a no-brainer it is to discover since it should be in the premises, whilst eating that very same murder weapon.
("Probably right under our noses")
- Mary giggles at the situational irony present: The lamb which could have lead to her death sentence was being eaten and thus there is no chance of finding the murder weapon.
- Mr. Maloney who was painted by Mary as a fond husband ("She loved intent, far look in his eyes when they rested in her")but rather turned out to be a selfish man who thinks of leaving his wife.
5)Momentary anger, Breaking of trust(Betrayal), Possessiveness and Temporary insanity made Mary to kill her husband. Patrick was the Centre of Mary's universe, however, when Patrick conveyed his thoughts on leaving her, Mary was first shocked( didn't actually believe in his statement), horrified, raged and then snapped. Next were a whirlwind of ghastly events which led to Patrick's fate. This clearly exhibits that the murder was not premeditated.
6)Mary is now a suspect and is facing a trial. The following evidence could be stated to prove her innocent.
i) The state of murder weapon not found. The doctor examines the corpse and concludes the murder weapon to be some sort of 'club'. Since there is no such shaped object in the house and the actual murder weapon is belched off, Mary cannot be titled as the murderer.
ii) Mary having an alibi. Mary goes to the grocery store to cook supper and stays calm. There wasn't even a hint in her face that could prove her guilty.("...acted quite normal...very cheerful...wanted to give him a good supper...peas...cheesecake...impossible that she..."). Mary's demeanor is natural.( She appears grief-stricken).
iii) Patrick's unusual routine of drinking dark amber proves Mary's statement of him appearing really tired and cancelling out Thursday plans.
iv) Patrick, being a detective, could have many foes.
v) Mary being a pregnant woman and she would not want to kill the father of her child. Them being in a middle class, she would surely not eliminate the breadwinner of the family.
Continuation:
Delete7) Mary's confession at Patrick's funeral:
"You are my sunshine. I am energized by your very presence. How could I bring darkness to my world? Was I not satisfactory to your needs? Was I not the perfect wife? The thought of you even leaving me made me deranged thus leading to these unfortunate consequences. I am still dizzy about what happened and it's been a never healing wound of mine. Patrick, oh poor thing, I had to do what's best for our baby. The very presence of mine in this World without you is only because of our Baby. Know that I am a breathing corpse. The very thought of having hurt my dearest prickles me every second.I kamikazed myself by taking your life. Oh dear, here am I, not worthy of your forgiveness, the sinned creature, confessing the fate I brought to you and myself. I love you, forever."
Karthik Srikanth
ReplyDelete2018103035
1) "Lamb to the Slaughter" signifies the fact that the the victim of murder (Patrick Maloney/lamb) was slaughtered when he least expected it and passively went about his ways before the kill.
2) The story is told from Mary Maloney's point of view. As a reader of the story, we look at events from the storyteller's perspective and we read these events from the protagonist's point of view. This is important because we inherently care for, support and sympathize with her. For instance, if we read this from Patrick's perspective or one of the detective's point of view, our whole experience of reading the story would've been drastically different.
3) The stereotype of women by the detectives worked towards Mary's cause for innocence in an immense way. The detectives never really considered her to be the murderer and probably inquired the grocer about her for paperwork purposes. They could never think that a woman, particularly a gentle and soft-spoken one like Mary, could ever possibly kill a senior police detective in his own house.
4) When the police officers theorize that the murder weapon might be in the premises and may even be right under their noses, it is ironic because the weapon, the lamb is quite literally under their noses being eaten by them. Mary calling out Patrick lovingly when she enter the house from the grocer even though she is the murderer also presents an ironic situation in the story.
5)Patrick suddenly fed Mary with a life-changing decision which she inherently couldn't cope with in the best way. She killed him out of sheer shock and an unwillingness to properly process the events being shoved down her throat by her husband of many years. She was clearly caught up in the moment and took the nearest weapon that she could find and killed him. She was most definitely responsible for her actions as she did think, albeit for a less amount of time, before making the decision to kill him.
6) First and foremost, Mary has an alibi, protecting her with respect to the location of and proximity to the crime scene. This is verified by a third person, the grocer who told the detectives that she was cheerful and happy when she came to buy vegetables. Per the detectives' description of how the murder weapon would be, nothing blunt and metal-like was found in the premises. Emotionally, Mary was very genuine when the detectives approached her. She was agitated by the events that had just happened and gently answered all the questions put forth to her. She only wants to find out the culprit who did this to her husband. In fact, she was in such shock that she forgot about the lamb that was being cooked in the oven. Therefore, all charges against Mary must be dropped due to the mere lack of evidence pointing to her direction.
7)"Years ago, when Patrick told me that he wanted to divorce me, that he had fallen out of love with me, it would change my life forever. I picked up the nearest object and drove it to his head, not knowing the consequences that would follow. This was done out of sheer immediate rage and shock. I didn't mean to kill him, I meant only to maim him but fate had other ideas. The naivety in me didn't expect this. I hastily covered it up in font of the detectives but it is time that I owned up to my actions, that I accede to my conscience. Patrick, I'll be joining you soon." Mary didn't regret any of her actions. But she certainly would've liked no to kill Patrick whom she dearly loved. This moral conundrum that lies within her presents a confusing perspective of hers which isn't exactly easy to discern as a reader. Mary didn't react well to what Patrick said and wanted him to know that. Ironically, he didn't live to know it.
Ashwath Narayan KS
ReplyDelete2018103517
1. The title of the story- "the lamb to slaughter" is meaningful and apt. the phrase lamb to slaughter means ignorance and innocence. Generally, the phrase refers to a person who goes unconcernedly and innocently into a life-threatening or dangerous situation like how patrick didnt expect that confessing to his wife will lead to his death. also the title appears meaningful because the meat-the murder weapon is then cooked to destroy all possible evidences.
2. The murder is perfect murder as there are no evidences to hold the killer guilty. the murder weapon used -the lamb leg is itself cooked and fed to the cops. Mary skilfully plans a whole plot which has no loopholes and doesn't hold her guilty on any terms.
3.The male stereotype of viewing women as weak, co-dependent, and submissive individuals works to mary's favour.In the first place. She was indeed pregnant, she was dependent on her police officer husband for income, and she was also submissive to his wants and needs and loved him deeply. this made her not even come up as one of the possible suspects.
4.Dahl uses dramatic irony when he has Patrick say, “Don't make supper for me. I'm going out.” Patrick has already told Mary that he is leaving her, and she still wants to make him dinner. This creates dramatic irony because Patrick doesn't know she is going to kill him, and he won't ever being going out.Another ironic instance is when Mrs. Maloney asks the police to eat the murder weapon. “It'd be a favor to me if you'd eat it up. Then you can go on with your work afterwards.” The creates dramatic irony because the murderer Mary Maloney is asking the police to eat the murder weapon.
5. Mary is a loving wife however news of her husband deciding to part ways destroyed and broke her down. Instictively and unaware of her consequences and not in the best state of mind, she flings the lamb leg only to see that hit and kill her husband. she was caught up in the moment, however she is guilty for taking away human life which is so precious and hence must be punished for the same. her murder must be treated like any other. even in a fit of rage, it is not justified to take away life.
6. " I lie here guilty of killing the man of my dreams, the love of my life. i loved him deeply and nothing ever mattered to me more than spending time and doing work for him. however his decison to leave me especially when i was pregnant broke me down. i never saw that coming. i was shattered and completely iunconcious of my actions i swung the lamb leg and killed him. i was completely out of my senses then but i realised what i had done, my instinct was to save myself and my child. I being a cop's wife definitely knew the consequence of murder and wanted to get it off my shoulder as soon as i could. i crafted a whole scenario of going to the vendor when the murder would have been committed and i cooked supper an called the cops. i cried and wailed to them and fed them the supper which destroyed the murder weapon. i wouldnt have been held guilty because the cops couldnt even suspect me knowing how i was in love with patrick and seeing my pitiable state then however my action horrified me each second,even now."
Raghavaraju kavya sree
ReplyDelete2018103086
1.The title "Lamb to the slaughter "means
innocent being accused . Generally, the phrase refers to a person who goes innocently into a dangerous situation.
2.The story is told from Mary Maloney's point of view.It is important to carry out the story from the character who is lead and who knows the situation completely.The same story might feel different if it was convyed from Patrick or Jack Noon point of view.
3.Women are not emotionally strong as men.
Love,affection and scarifice are the qualities that represent women .They can do anything for their loved one's.Because of those qualities of women policemen didn't enquire her much and they didn't even suspect her for a second .
4.Mary Maloney, giggling at in the room as there will be no evidence left to find the murderer.
Other irony in the story is that, when Mary was returning from the grocery store, she prepared her mind and started to pretend she was in shock seeing her husband but it was her who killed him.
5.When Patrick Maloney said that he was going to leave her as he loves someone else, she didn't have control over herself, and she harldly had any idea of what she is doing. The murder wasn't a pre planned one. Mary was temporarily insane and she is not responsible for her actions. She loved Patrick so much that she couldn't believe that he betrayed her. Thus this frustration made her hit him so hard that killed him. She felt guilty that she herself killed the person she loved.
6.Mary on trail for her husband's murder:
There are no proper evidence to prove that Mary killed Patrick
The facts concerned to this case are as follows:
1) Patrick Maloney came home in a tired and depressed state and consumed more alcohol than in usual
2 Patrick and Maloney would go out for dinner every Thursday. But on that day , Patrick refused to go out for dinner with Maloney.
3) Mary Maloney went to grocery shop to buy vegetables that evening and when she returned she found her husband lying on the ground in a collapsed state.
The point of discussion regarding the case is that, Patrick might have been threatened by someone that he refused to go out for dinner or he might have been pressured regarding any work in the office. He wasn't behaving normal that day. He was drunk more than what he usually drinks. He was in a stress. He didn't share his feelings to anyone.
The conclusion would be that the death trail on Mary Maloney should be discharged due to lack of evidence and prove her innocent.
7) Mary's confession would be that she killed Patrick by hitting him with lamb leg. She killed him because he was to Leave her w and marry someone else leaving Mary and their unborn child. She killed him instantaneously in anger and lack of control over her emotions. She didn't want him to leave her. She loved him.
Name:Leelavathi.S
ReplyDeleteRoll no:2018103041
1)In surface level,the title simply refers that a lamb is slaughted for meat..But,in deep level it refers how a lamb(that leg)is used to kill a man.
2)This story is narrated from a third person point of view..Third person point of view is very effective to a story..bcoz it helps us to move about the plot of the story freely so they are not trapped in one character's point of view..It helps the reader to think in different perspectives..
3)In stereotypes,women are always defined as submissive,caring,soft.In the beggining of the story,Mary also portrait as given above.. Obviously,it became an advantage to her.Bcoz even noone thinksMary as a murderer.
4)The evidence of the murder us eaten by the policemen
The title itself also an irony.."Lamb to the slaughter"..
5)Mary killed her husband bcoz he decided to leave her and her unborned child..
I think she didn't not feel guilty abt her action..She can't tolerate her husband's sudden decision
Mary didn't premeditate the murder.. Actually she is a loving n caring wife only..but her husband's unexpected change made her to murder him
No ,Marry have not caught by the policemen r detectives by behaving a police man's wife after commiting the murder
Yes,Marry was temporarily insane at the moment..
6)The following points defense Mary.
1)First thing,Mary is a loving n caring wife of victim
2)There is no valid reason for Mary to kill her own husband
3)The victim was murdered by a heavy metal ..but there is no evidence against Mary.
7) Mary's bed death confession would be as follows"As many others,I had a good life partner..we lived happily..but on one thursday my life had completely..that evening my husband told me that he had decided to leave me and my unborned child and he wanted to start a new life ..At tat moment I was frightened and filled with horror..It seems to me that my world has stopped all at a sudden..I can't control my emotions..In an insane state,I just murder him with a lamb..I never thought abt the consequences of wat I did..I wish it had been better if tat Thursday never came in my life..
-Mrs.Mary Maloney"
Subha k
ReplyDelete2018103604
1.someone does something...... And it affects someone...... Like a lamb is used to slaught a man.
2.The story "lamb to the slaughter" goes by Mrs. Maloney's point of view. It narrates about why she killed him.... Her feelings for him..... Her pain when he said he is going to leave her....
3.It is known stereotype that women are more sensitive than men..... Everyone knows the love of Mrs. Maloney for her husband.... So, the policemen also thought she shouldn't be a murderer....
4.The murderer evidence was eaten by the police..... She called her husband darling after coming from grocery...
5. She didn't want his husband to leave her..... She can't accept the shock when he says he is going to leave her and going to marry another women.... Because of these reasons she killed her husband.... But she felt herself guilty when she realise her husband's death..
6.*He drank heavily.... He looked unconscious.. *murderer weapon is not found *Mary's pregnancy... So, in this situation why she was going to kill her husband *also, she loves him very much *
7.Mary's confession would be... I killed my husband, because he said he is going to leave me.... I can't accept it.... I love him very much... And also he said he is going to marry another women.... At the moment I can't think about anything.... Because I love him very much I didn't want him leave me.... So! I killed him...
G. Saicharan
ReplyDelete2018103583
1.The title 'Lamb to the Slaughter', mean an innocently and helplessly, without realizing the danger.
2. The point of view is Mary Maloney. It is important because only the reader knows what is going on inside of Mary's head, but not what is going on inside of anybody else's head.
3.The male stereotype of women is portrayed as weak, co-dependent, and submissive individuals.So Mary can't be the accused of this murder .
4. Verbal irony : A lamb is a gentle animal. But in the story, a leg of lamb is used as a weapon.
Dramatic irony : The dramatic irony was when the police officers ate the only evidence; the leg of lamb.
5.In my opinion, I think that Mrs. Maloney is not guilty at all. Because yes, she killed her husband and that is a crime, but the poor woman had reasons for killing him, because he made bad things to her. The murder is not premeditated. She was temporarily insane, therefore not responsible for her actions.
6. Patrick was ignoring Mary, making her feel isolated, alone and hopeless. Patrick was more concerned with his job than with Mary and his child. He stated that "there wouldn't really be any fuss, I hope not anyway. It wouldn't be very good for my job."
Mary Maloney was in a state of desperation. in a state where she had felt her entire world might as well had came crashing down on her without any hesitation. That is what had assisted in driving Mary to do the unthinkable, murder.
7.She killed her husband because of his secondrate behaviour .He has no concern for his wife and child.So she killed him.
Ajay. S
ReplyDelete2018103508
1) The title of the story means that doing an action or a work without knowing that something worse is gonna happen and therefore to stay calm
2) The story is told from the point of view of Mary Maloney. It is important that the story is told from Mary's point of view because this enables the reader to understand why she acts as she does.
3) The male stereotype of women in "Lamb to the Slaughter" portrays females as weak, co-dependent, and submissive individuals that would have embodied the proverbial "barefoot and pregnant" paradigm.
4) The title "Lamb to the Slaughter" is an irony present in the text. Another example for irony is the murder weapon itself which is being eaten by the policemen.
5) When he said that he's gonna leave her and marry another woman, she couldn't bear the shock. She couldn't control her emotions and hit him with the frozen leg of a lamb. the murder wasn't a pre-planned one. she was caught up at the moment.
6) i) On the day of murder patrick looked unusual.
ii) He seemed to be weary and stressed out.
iii) He doesn't want to go out for a dinner with her, as they usually
go out for a dinner on thursdays.
iv) Mary went for the grocery shop to buy potatoes and some
cheese for supper, as they were not going out for a dinner.
v) we she returned from the shop she found her husband dead on
the floor.
vi) There was no evidence for the murder on the spot.
7) Mary's desire to confess is overridden by her fear that her unborn child will die during her execution. In effect, the threat of one death prevents justice.
Vivekraja. R
ReplyDelete2018103083
1.lamp to the slaughter textually means that lamp is going to slaughter house but the the lamp will not know anything about the consequences going to happen.it literally mean doing something without knowing the consequences.
2.it is Mari's point of view because all the expressions,emotions are from Mary.so it is Mari's point of view.point of view of one of the character in the story is important to tell the story.here Mari's point of view is important because she only there in the starting from the beginning to the end of the story ,others point of view of view will not be sufficient .Patrick point of view will not tell the story clearly after his death.hence Mari's view is important here.
3.since Patrick was dead in the first hit of Mary,so police will see for the person who is strong.there is belief that women are not very strong.so the suspecting percentage will less.and also at that time investigation she is crying they will not too much question and they only check the Mari's statement.
4. Eventhough , she know that his husband is dead she called him darling after coming from grocery is one irony.without knowing that the lamp leg was the weapon they are having dinner is also an irony.
5.she killed her husband because he told that he is going to leave her and and growing child alone.so she killed him.the murder was not planned.after hearing the statements of the husband ,Mary become insane,i.e. she became unconscious and made the mistake.so she is not responsible for her actions.and also she was not caught at that moment.
6.a) there were no evidence for the murder against her.
b)there is evidence that at that time of murder she was in the grocery.
c)since the lamp leg is at the oven ,it clearly says that she definitely went to the grocery for buying vegetables.
d)she is cooperative to the investigation without any hesitation.
e)whatever she said at the investigation was matching and true.
7.Mary's confession:
He told me that he is going to me and my child. I loved him very much ,i considered him most valuable than my life.So i can't bear the his leave. So i got anger and i killed him.I missed him in the entire life after his death. I love Patrick. I love you.
name:pravin k.
ReplyDeleteRoll no:2018103050
1.the title of the story means that doing something without knowing the upcoming bad consequences and act calmly without fighting the situation.
2.In story telling the point of view is very important as the story is conveyed through the emotions and feeling of the character and varies from character to character.
3.Stereotype of women subscribed to by men work to Mary's advantage in her story.This makes the story more ambiguous in morality by making the reader associate with the woman more.
4.During the investigation, the police were looking for a weapon that could have been used to kill Patrick. But they couldn't find any. In the end, it was they who ate the lamb which was used to kill Patrick.
5.Mary killed her husband because he shocked her by saying that he doesn't want to continue living with her considering the fact that she was pregnant
Mary doesn't feel guilty . She only tries to justify the act of killing him in her mind.
6.There was no evidence found against Mary Maloney.
Mary Maloney answered the questions of the policemen without getting angry and hesitating.
Patrick was unusual than other days.
7.I killed my husband as he was ready to leave me and our unborn child and marry someone.My love and affection for him made me not to accept the situation of leaving him and see him married with someone else.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete1.The title of the story- "the lamb to slaughter" is meaningful and apt. the phrase lamb to slaughter means ignorance and innocence. Generally, the phrase refers to a person who goes unconcernedly and innocently into a life-threatening or dangerous situation like how patrick didnt expect that confessing to his wife will lead to his death.The title is suitable for this story as the husband had no idea that he would end up dead after asking for a divorce
ReplyDelete2.The story is told from Mary Maloney's point of view. The point of view of the story is very important as we read these events from the protagonist's point of view, we inherently care for, support and sympathize with her. It is important because, If the story had been presented from the policeman's point of view, we would have a completely different opinion on the story.
3.The male stereotype of viewing women as weak,feeble, co-dependent, and submissive individuals works to mary's favour.In the first place. She was indeed pregnant, she was dependent on her police officer husband for income, and she was also submissive to his wants and needs and loved him deeply. this made her not even come up as one of the possible suspects
4.The dramatic irony occurs when she cooks the lamb and serves it to the men who are investigating the case. They fail to realise that the evidence they are looking for is right under their nose.
5.Mary is a loving wife however news of her husband deciding to part ways destroyed and broke her down. Instictively and unaware of her consequences and not in the best state of mind, she flings the lamb leg only to see that hit and kill her husband.yes she was caught up in the moment,but she should be responsible for her actions murder under any circumstacnes is a "murder".
6.Firstly Mary has a strong alibi, protecting from the location of crime scene. The cops also verified this by investigating the grocer, who told the detectives that she was cheerful and happy when she came to buy vegetables. According to the police the murder weapon which would be blunt and metal-like wasnt found in the house. There is literally no evidence which points to Mary's guilt.The only piece of evidence was the murder weapon(the lamb leg) which the police force ate unknowingly.Thus Mary should be cleared of any such charges pressed against her due to complete lack of evidence.
7.I lie here guilty of killing the man of my dreams, the love of my life. i loved him deeply and nothing ever mattered to me more than spending time and doing work for him. but his decison to leave me especially when i was pregnant broke me down. i never saw that coming. i was shattered and completely ,suddenly caught up in the moment i swung the lamb leg and killed him. i was completely out of my senses then but i realised what i had done, my instinct was to save myself and my child. I being a cop's wife definitely knew the consequence of murder and wanted to get it off my shoulder as soon as i could. i crafted a whole scenario of going to the vendor when the murder would have been committed and i cooked supper an called the cops. i cried and wailed to them and fed them the supper which destroyed the murder weapon. i wouldnt have been held guilty because the cops couldnt even suspect me knowing how i was in love with patrick and seeing my pitiable state then however my action horrified me each second,even now.But i felt my child needed atleast one parent,i didnt want to make my child an orphan thats the reason i didnt surrender.