Is Mary Maloney A Sympathetic Character

First and foremost, Mary Maloney had over reacted to her husband's news. This was not the typical overreaction with whining and crying. Mary maloney had killed her husband. In the story Mary maloney receives bad news from her husband. Mary then goes downstairs to grab a leg of lamb for dinner but instead of making it, she smashed it on

I believe Mary Maloney’s actions should be condemned, by the reasoning of her actions as being wicked. Throughout the story Mary has committed homicide, plead not guilty for her husband's death and has given false statements to police officers, which under the Canadian law are all crimes. Regardless of the prior event when Patrick gives shocking news to his wife, which I assume is about leaving her, Mary’s actions are not acceptable. Even after killing Patrick there was a chance Mary could do the right thing and plead guilty, which she did not, making her continue with her bad actions. Overall, I believe Mary’s actions should be condemned because even if life is tragic there is no reason to kill her husband or a human being.

At the beginning of the story, the readers are presented with a strangely content housewife. Mary Maloney’s “curiously peaceful” demeanor and the fact that she was merely satisfying herself with the thinking “each minute that went by made it nearer the time he would come home” suggests that Patrick is the focus of Mary’s life, the fountainhead of joy and purpose. Consequently, Mary developed and maintained a cellophane, fabricated persona, with the center of everything being her

At first glance, the woman on trial today seems caring, but looks can be deceiving. Mrs. Maloney’s demeanor portrays innocence, but this woman is maniacal. I bet the jury is wondering why and how an frail, sweet, and seemingly loving housewife could kill the love of her life. The death of Mr.Maloney only has one logical explanation. The vile housewife went to the store after she killed Patrick, even though she claims she went to the store and then found her husband dead.

In “Lamb to Slaughter” it shows how life was like before she killed Patrick and what she does before he comes home.The police show up at Mary’s door but don’t really suspect her at all,they don’t because she went

Mary replied saying “‘I’ll get it!’ she cried, jumping up, ‘Sit down,’ he said”. I think Mary Maloney didn’t necessarily need to be watching her husbands’ every move, she needed to relax in his presence and not be concerned for him. In this instance she flew out of her chair, I can’t comprehend why she needed to be on top of every one of his needs. Sure, Mary Maloney loved her husband – but there was no urgency to care for every single little thing he ever did or needed, especially at that moment. Mary needed to loosen up around Patrick and not be so star

In “A Lamb to Slaughter”, Mary Malonee killed her husband Patrick Malonee. Her motive behind the crime was because Patrick was leaving her all of the sudden. Patrick Malonee did not treat Mary well at all. He didn’t tell her why he was leaving but in the story there were different possibilities to be inferred such as, Mary being pregnant or Patrick was having an affair. Mary thought of everything to cover up the murder. She was worried about what they would do to her baby if she would have been caught. The story takes place in small town in the 1950’s and back then people weren’t so knowledgeable when it came to things like figuring out those crimes. Mary was underestimated because the police never once thought that it could have been her that

Maloney said to her, but we learn from context clues that it has something to do with him leaving Mrs. Maloney. Whatever was said to Mrs. Maloney was enough to make her snap and murder Mr. Maloney. In the 1960s women were thought to be dependant on men in particular housewives relied on them for money, protection, happiness and love. Mr. Maloney takes that away and causes his wife to resort to murder. After Mary Maloney had murdered her husband she covers it up. Not to save her life but manly because she was scared for what would happen to her unborn child “what were the laws about murderers with unborn children?..Mary Maloney didn’t know. And she certainly wasn’t prepared to take the chance” (155). Looking at the story you could take it that Mary Maloney was a sociopath not only murdering her husband but then covering it up. Any mother would do anything to keep their child safe. This line shows that Mary was driven to cover it up to keep her child safe. Mary Maloney is the average housewife of the story’s day and

Firstly, Mary Maloney’s way of drawing attention away from the crime to herself while still in a manner of not being too suspicious, she draws attention by being very well spoken so she can get the upper hand and the cops will not during the investigation. In the story she asks for a drink for herself and then offers the cop a drink stating “why don’t you have one yourself,” then goes on saying “you must be awfully tired. Please do. You’ve been very good to me.” She does this because she

After being told the news of the divorce her immediate response was whispering, “I’ll fix some supper. ”(Dahl 2) She remains calm being in shock and can’t process that her role in life is being taken away from her. After the of killing her husband, Mary’ mind instantly races to think, “...what about the baby?”(Dahl 2) because she knows what happens to murderers but is focused on her unborn child as a maternal instinct. Mary lived through the role of a housewife consequently after Patrick pretty much takes her life away from her in an instant, it led to this outrageous act of hatred of his ability to take it away from her.

She calls the police after she killed her husband, “Quick! Come quick! Patrick is dead!” (321) This shows that she is assuming the guise of a wife that found her husband dead. Mrs. Maloney persuades the police to eat the leg of lamb,” It’d be a favor to me if you’d eat it up,” She says this because she is a cunning murderer. Mrs. Maloney has changed, yet she acts the same and even fooled the police.

The impact to his skull left Patrick dead, not to mention Mary a murderer. Consequently, Mary was completely fine with facing the death penalty, to her, a life husbandless was not a life she could bear to live. Oh no! Her child, her unborn, innocent baby should never be forced to suffer for her crimes. Once again forced to act quickly, Mary Maloney shoved the leg of lamb into the oven, afterwards she traveled to the local grocery to buy potatoes and a can of peas (more probably to give herself an alibi).

Lamb To The Slaughter is about a wife Mary Maloney, who loves her husband very dearly at first, until she unexpectedly kills Patrick, due to him leaving her for unknown reasons at first, Mary was waiting patiently for her husband.

Mary had all the intention in the world to murder Mr.Maloney. No one hits a person with a solid 9 pound object and expects them to live. And this was not a little tap to the head, it was a full force swing intended to kill Patrick.

In conclusion, Mary Maloney is caring, loyal and clever are accurate and are represented clearly in the story. This short story was interesting because of how this story went along with the plot, and conflicts. Also how Mary Maloney got away with murdering her husband without getting caught was a interesting ending that you would not expect because most story do not really end like this. After reading this story, these traits match Mary’s personality in the story very well, and all three go in order throughout this story. To sum this up these three traits do fit the character Mary Maloney.