Lamb to the Slaughter
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"Lamb to the Slaughter" (1953) is a short story by Roald Dahl. It is a short story in the book Skin which has a series of short stories. It was initially rejected, along with four other stories, by The New Yorker, but was ultimately published in Harper's Magazine in September 1953 [1]. The story was adapted for a memorable episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents originally broadcast on April 13, 1958, one of the 17 AHP episodes directed by Hitchcock himself and subsequently adapted for Dahl's British TV series Tales of the Unexpected.
‘‘Lamb to the Slaughter’’ demonstrates Dahl's ability to reflect aspects of human perversity, cruelty and violence in adult fiction. His presentation features a cynically detached narrator, and elements of black comedy. The horror of this story prefigures the grotesqueness seen in the author's later work for children, including James and the Giant Peach and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The main character, Mary Maloney, has also been noted among one of the most complex characters in short stories, from her drastic change portrayed by Roald Dahl.
Plot summary
Mary Maloney, a pregnant young woman in 20th century England, expects her husband Patrick to return home from his job as a detective for the local police. When he returns, Mary notices that he is strangely aloof and assumes that he was tired from work. After blatantly ignoring her, Patrick finally reveals (to Mary; the information is kept from the reader, although it is insinuated that he wants to leave her) what it is that is making him act strangely.
Seemingly in a trance, Mary fetches a large leg of lamb from the deep-freeze in the cellar to cook for their dinner, apparently trying to restore a sense of normalcy. Then Patrick angrily tells Mary not to make him any dinner, as he is going out. She then strikes Patrick in the back of the head with the frozen lamb leg, killing him. After pacing the room, Mary realizes that she must hide her crime, since she is aware of the punishment she would face and she is scared for her baby and is not sure whether it would live. She prepares the leg of lamb and places it in the oven. Then, after practising a cheerful routine to show the world, she heads out to the store to buy some vegetables for her roast from the grocer so she can form an alibi for the crime. Upon returning, she enters the room with her dead husband lying on the floor and calls the police.
When the police arrive, they ask Mary information and look at the scene. The police, lacking any reason to be suspicious of Mary because Mr. Maloney was actually a policeman too, come to the conclusion that Mary's husband was killed with a large blunt object, likely made of metal. They then search the house and surrounding area for the murderer's weapon. After a fruitless search, the police realize that no one has turned off the oven. Mary offers all the policemen the cooked leg, which the policemen kindly accept. When the lamb is nearly finished, the police facetiously discuss the possibility of the murder weapon's location. One officer says "It's probably right under our very noses". Mary begins to giggle, knowing that the police have just eaten the evidence.