In “Lamb to the Slaughter,” the evidence suggests that Mary Maloney’s murder of her husband was not premeditated. In the very first scene, the reader learns that Mary’s life revolves around her husband. His arrival home is “always a wonderful time of day” for her. Thus when she discovers that he is leaving her, she is necessary distraught. She watches him explain in “puzzled horror,” and her initial reaction is disbelief. She decides to act as if “she had not heard him,” suggesting that she is already distancing herself from reality, from her consciousness. She leaves to make dinner and finds herself looking at the leg of lamb. We have no suggestion of an intent to kill at this point.
When she arrives in the kitchen with the lamb, her husband pushes her further, urging again that she should not make him supper. In this moment, it seems as if she snaps. She hits him on the head with the leg of lamb, and he is dead. Furthermore, the reader is told that the aftermath of her actions—the noise, violence, etcetera—“helped to bring her out of her shock.”
Here we have a picture of a devoted wife who kills her husband without thinking. She is in a state of shock. She intended to cook dinner with the leg of lamb—not utilize it as a murder weapon. Thus, Mary’s actions seem more of a crime of passion rather than a premeditated homicide.
Mary's murder of her husband in Lamb to Slaughter is most certainly a crime of passion. Before her husband reveals that he is leaving her, Mary is very much looking forward to him coming home, as is her ritual. In the introduction, Dahl writes "Now and again she would glance up at the clock, but without anxiety, merely to please herself with the thought that each minute gone by made it nearer the time when he would come." Mary thinks of her husband coming home and is pleased that he will be there soon.
One could argue that this is because she is plotting his murder, however, Dahl makes it clear that this is her daily ritual, when he writes "For her, this was always a blissful time of day," regarding the time when she and her husband enjoyed a drink after he returned home from work. Had this been a day when she was plotting murder, she would not "always" enjoy this part of the day.
The mood shift in the text also reveals that this is a crime of passion. At the beginning, the mood is quite peaceful and relaxed. The room is described as "warm and clean," Mary is described as "curiously tranquil," and her eyes had a "placid look". Dahl also describes the many ways that Mary loves her husband. There is very little evidence to support the idea that this murder was premeditated. After Mary learns of her husbands intentions to leave her, the mood changes drastically to reveal Mary's shock and disbelief. Dahl uses the phrase "dazed horror" to signal the mood shift to the reader.
Once Mr. Maloney reveals that he will be leaving her, Mary enters a state of shock. Even as she goes to retrieve the murder weapon "everything was automatic now-down the steps to the cellar, the light switch, the deep freeze, the hand inside the cabinet taking hold of the first object it met." Clearly, Mary is not thinking of her actions. She is blinded with shock and acting automatically, without thought. Even as she gets the frozen leg of lamb, she is not thinking of murder, she simply thinks "all right then, they would have lamb for supper". Only when her husband rejects her attempts for dinner another time, does she swing the frozen lamb, killing him.
The murder Roald Dahl's classic short story was not premeditated. From the very beginning, the character of Mary is depicted as someone who loves her husband and adoringly dotes on him, albeit in an obedient, self-sacrificing manner. This is evident in the following passage: "Now and again she would glance up at the clock, but without anxiety, merely to please herself with the thought that each minute gone by made it nearer the time when he would come." This is further evident in the ritual of Mary's making their drinks, sitting alongside her husband in matching chairs, and her desire to "luxuriate in the presence of this man, and to feel-almost as a sunbather feels the sun-that warm male glow that came out of him to her when they were alone together." This is love, pure and simple. And it is through such bright, pure emotion that the opposite -- the cold-hearted desire to kill--is made possible. After learning the news, presumably that her husband has been having an affair and will be leaving her, Mary's placid demeanor takes on a darker aspect. She uses those same domestic rituals to plan the "perfect murder".
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. So she lashes out, picking up the nearest blunt object to hand—a leg of lamb—and hitting her husband with it.
Once Mary has committed the murder, she shows herself remarkably adept at covering up her crime. But this isn't a sign that it was premeditated in any way. Just as the murder was improvised, so too is the ensuing cover-up. Mary's entered a different world now, one with completely different rules and standards of behavior. She didn't ask to be part of this world, but she's already shown herself more than capable of living and thriving in it.
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