Destiny Poe

English 9 Honors - 3A
2/8/16
FC of Theme Analysis Essay

Backstabbing
Intro- The main characters face many different obstacles throughout the entire
story.During a book the protagonist goes through many obstacles as the story goes on. The
obstacles they go through make the story so much more interesting. Within ROALD DAHL'S ironic
fictional short story LAMB TO THE SLAUGHTER discussing how betrayal can lead to revenge , he shifts from
Mr. and mrs. maloney betraying each other to Mary deceiving the police in order to prove how the feeling of
betrayal within someone can be so strong that they act before thinking to reveal that it really was
rather a shock. All the old love and longing for him welled up inside her (7).
Ass.1(sentence, big box 1, big box 2)-

Mary kills her husband because he was going to leave

her and realizes she could get in big trouble which proves that betrayal can lead to consequences. She was in
shock when her husband betrayed her, so [She swings the]...frozen leg of lamb
[and]...[hits] his head (4).This is an example of situational irony because its something the audience
didnt think would happen. The audience didnt think that she was going to kill him with the lamb; they thought she
was going to cook it for him. Therefore this is an example betrayal because she kills him with the leg of lamb. Some
people think that if someone betrays a person that its okay to betray them back just to get even with them. Mary
starts to wonder about what the penalty of killing her husband is going to be and
believes [It is going to be]..fine[and]... [also] be a relief (5). The author is telling the audience
that she is fine with what the penalty was for killing her husband. She thinks its
okay because he betrayed her and she was just getting even with him by betraying
him.The author used indirect characterization to show the audience how she felt
about what she did and what the cost would be.This represents indirect
characterization because the author is trying to show the audience that mary is fine

with what she did to her husband,what would happen to her and showing that she is
an evil and mean person. The author is indirectly characterizing Mary as a
dynamic character because her actions are the reason for the changes in the story.
Ass.2(sentence, big box1,big box2)-

While bad actions can lead to consequences, Mary deceiving and

betraying the police causes her to act like the death of her husband was a surprise to her. The cops are
searching for the weapon and they still havent noticed ...[the weapon is]...right
under their very noses , so Mary starts to laugh (10). Only the audience knows
why she is laughing so that represents dramatic irony. The author used dramatic
irony to show that the cops are suspicious and she thinks its funny that they are
eating the weapon used to kill her husband.She is betraying the cops by not telling
them the truth about what really happened to her husband. She is also betraying
them because she is not telling what the murder weapon is and why she is laughing.
Mary is acting like she doesnt know what happened to her husband when she calls
the cops, so as soon as they got there [she starts] weeping hysterically. (7). Mary
is putting on a scene for the cops, so that they dont think it was her who killed her
husband which is indirect characterization of Mary.This represents indirect
characterization because the author did not specifically state that she is putting on
a scene. The author used indirect characterization to let the audience infer that she
is betraying the police. Therefore we can infer that she is betraying them by not
telling them what really happened. She is also betraying the cops because she is
making it look like she didnt have anything to do with the death of her husband.