Lamb to the Slaughter

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• havo
• Leerjaar 4

learning goals

• I can analyze a short story.

• I understand and know how to use the correct terminology for the analysis. 

• I can evaluate the setting, characters, plot and topic of a short story and use evidence from the text to support it. 

Read the short story

Roald Dahl

• British author (1916 - 1990)
• Wrote both children's and adult books and stories
• Children's often funny (Charlie and the Chocolate factory, Matilda)
• Adults' often bizar. 

(Setting) What atmosphere is created in the opening scene of the story?

What are your initial impressions of Mary Maloney as a character?

How would you describe Mary at the end of the story?

Round vs flat characters
in Lamb to the Slaughter

Who is the protagonist in "The Lamb to the Slaughter?"

1. Jack Noonan, the detective
2. Mary Maloney
3. Patrick Maloney
4. Sam, the grocer

Who is the antagonist in the story?

1. Mary Maloney
2. Patrick Maloney
3. Jack Noonan
4. the detectives

Write 1 or 2 sentences comparing the characters of Mary and Patrick, use at least 1 linking word.

What does Patrick Maloney tell Mary before she kills him?

1. He does not like her cooking.
2. That he is not happy with his job.
3. That he is leaving her (maybe has an affair)
4. That he wasn't hungry.

What happens to the murder weapon?

1. Mary threw it away.
2. Mary puts it back into the freezer.
3. Jack Noonan found it under the sofa.
4. The detectives ate it.

What is the significance of Patrick's profession and Mary's interaction with the police?

Character analysis: Write down the evidence from the text about Mary's loyalty to her husband (quotes).

Justify the title of the story "Lamb to the Slaughter."

The origin of this phrase occurs in the Bible, both in the book of Isaiah, and the book of Jeremiah. In Jeremiah, it states, “But I was like a gentle lamb led to the slaughter; And I did not know that they had devised plots against me, saying, “Let us destroy the tree with its fruit, And let us cut him off from the land of the living, That his name be remembered no more” (Ch 11, verse 19).

The title "Lamb to the Slaughter" has multiple layers of meaning. On a literal level, a frozen leg of lamb "slaughters" or kills Mr. Malone when his wife Mary whacks him on the head with it, but "lamb to the slaughter" is also a phrase meaning an innocent person who is sacrificed to serve the needs of others.

One could say the innocent Mary, who is likened as the story opens to a gentle, loving Madonna, has been the lamb metaphorically slaughtered to serve her husband's needs. Although she is heavily pregnant, her husband tells her is going to divorce her. This is a blow Mary didn't see coming and could be considered a death knell to all her dreams. He tells her he doesn't expect her to make a fuss but merely to step aside to suit his desire for a new life.

Mr. Malone could also be understood as the lamb to the slaughter as he has absolutely no idea his wife is about to murder him.

Finally, the policeman could be characterized as lambs to the slaughter as they innocently eat the murder evidence when Mary serves them the leg of lamb that she used to murder her husband for dinner. She "plays" them for all they all worth, then laughs when they are gone. The title encompasses the many ways people are used or duped in this story.

Plot

Topic

... is generally 1 word that outlines the main idea being explored in a text 

Examples: love, revenge, family, nature, war

Theme

... is the moral lesson that the author wants the reader to learn. Usually a sentence.

Topic

Fear of death

Love

Friendship

Theme

the fear of death can be a catalyst of change

People will often sacrifice anything for those they love

Friendship can often get people through even the hardest of times

What are some topics of Lamb to the Slaughter?

At the end of the lesson I can:

- Evaluate and analyze a fictional character that I have read about in a short story. 

- Select evidence from the text to support my evaluation. 

Your own analysis

Compare 2 or more characters of your book.

 

Use multiple linking words to do it. 

(Are they the protagonist/antagonist?)

Your own analysis

Are the characters of your story round or flat characters?

Describe the changes they go through if they are round.

Your own analysis

Explain whether one of your characters is good or bad.

Give examples from the text which reflect this.

Hitchcock's Lamb to the Slaughter