The title of "Lamb to the Slaughter" leads readers to expect a dramatic or tragic story; lambs, religious connotations aside, are symbolic of innocence, and the title suggests a figurative or literal death of an innocent. However, Dahl does not deliver on this expectation, as Mary's husband Patrick is far from innocent. He announces his intention to leave his six-months-pregnant wife. Policemen, as Patrick is, are expected to be brave and protective, and his betrayal of his loving, vulnerable wife seems unforgivable. The story is essentially a black comedy as the frozen leg of lamb is the weapon Mary uses to kill her husband, for whom readers are not meant to feel sympathy. Compounding the comedy is the incompetence of Patrick's colleagues as they search in vain for, and ultimately consume, the murder weapon.
The title of this story is an allusion to the sacrificial lamb, or Lamb of God, a term from Christianity used to describe Jesus. Specifically, Jesus is called the Lamb of God because he sacrificed himself as atonement for the sins of others.
As a result of this allusion, a potential reader might expect to find a couple of things. Firstly, like Jesus's sacrifice, the reader might expect that this story is one about death. Secondly, they might expect to find a "sin" of some description to feature in this story.
By using this title, Dahl sets the reader up for Patrick's death, the sacrificial lamb, and the "sin" he commits by ending his marriage to Mary. However, by not alluding directly to these events in the title, Dahl effectively build's the reader's anticipation for how the title will apply to the parts of the story.
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