Lamb To The Slaughter Essay

Lamb to the Slaughter Essay
In the short story, Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl, Dahl uses the literary
devices of dramatic irony, foreshadowing, and imagery to depict a dark comedy by
grasping the idea of a tragedy becoming humorous.
There are multiple uses and examples of irony throughout this short story that
relate to the idea of a dark comedy. One key quote of dramatic irony comes from the
end of the book stating, “Personally, I think its right here on the premises.” “Probably
right under our very noses. What do you think, Jack?” (pg. 324)This quote here shows
us as that the detectives have no idea that they are actually eating the evidence of the
murder right then and there. We, as the audience, obviously know what is going on and
by Mary Maloney chuckling at that statement shows us that Dahl turned something as
horrible as murder into something that she laughs at in the end referring to the idea of
dark comedy. Verbal irony is also represented in this piece of literature. When she goes
to the market, she talks to the grocer and states, “No, I’ve got meat, thanks. I got a nice
leg of lam, from the freezer.” (pg. 320) This is verbal irony because it shows that what
she is saying is basically telling the grocer what she used for the murder of her
husband. The irony here is amusing, knowing the fact that killed the supposed love of
her life and can so easily lie about it. So again, the verbal irony really catches the tone
of the dark comedy that Dahl is trying to capture here. Both dramatic and verbal irony
relate to each other in the sense that the audience feels the ideas of a tragedy as
something funny therefore, relating back to the overall picture of the piece of literate as
a dark comedy.
Foreshadowing is a device used to give the reader clues as to what is expected
to happen in the story and is a key element when writing about a dark comedy. An
author wants one to feel the crude humor that is going to happen, but to do that, they
must put in ideas beforehand to make it as suspenseful as possible. An example of
foreshadowing the murder that was about to come would be, “She lifted it out, and
looked at it. It was wrapped in paper, so she took off the paper and looked at it again. A
leg of lamb.” (pg. 319) This foreshadows Mary Maloney’s murder of the husband
because nothing was expected to come from her going down to the freezer to get a
piece of meat to cook for dinner. The idea of a “leg of lamb” would never be thought of
as a deadly weapon which is why it is thought of as to be comical, again, going back to
the idea of a dark comedy. A second idea of foreshadowing comes from something one
reads at the beginning of the book, the title. The title “Lamb to the Slaughter” (pg. 317)
basically sums up what is going to happen through the story. As a reader of this story,
one would never expect something as simple as the title to explain and foreshadow so
much of the literature. The great amount of foreshadowing put into this text creates the
mood of satiric humor which is exactly what the author had intended for.
Imagery is a crucial device used by the author to set the scene of this nasty
humor. In just about every scene imagery was used, making it one of the most common
devices in the story. There were a few examples more significant then others such as
when the cops were searching Mary Maloney’s house stating, “She could hear their
footsteps on the gravel outside, and sometimes she saw the flash of a torch through out
a chink in the curtains. It began to get late, nearly nine she noticed by the clock on the
mantel. The four men searching the rooms seemed to be growing weary, a trifle
exasperated.” (pg. 323) This setting here depicts the idea of the worry that Mary
Maloney might have while they are searching her house so she sees that they are
getting exhausted and she decides to take advantage of this. This piece is important
due to the fact that the idea of her thinking she is going to get away with murder shows
the cruelness in her but making it out to be a humorous act. An additional piece of
imagery represented in the text comes from the beginning of the book saying, “The
room was warm and clean, the curtains drawn, the two old table lamps alight- hers and
the one by the empty chair opposite. On the sideboard behind her, two tall glasses,
soda water, whisky. Fresh ice cubes in the Thermos bucket.” (pg. 317) Just by reading
the first three sentences, only describing what is going on in the room, we could infer
that the setting here isn’t happy and pleasant, therefore making it weary and maybe
even having a suspicious vibe. This is very important to making the idea of a strange
environment come through to the reader. There are so many uses of imagery
throughout this piece of writing that make the dark comedy idea clear and fulfilling the
intentions that Dahl had for the crude humor.
Each one of the literary devices stated above contribute to the idea that “Lamb to
the Slaughter” is a dark comedy. Different example support this idea and make it come
clear throughout the short story. Dahl’s success of making this story a dark comedy is
what made the literature such an interesting piece to read.

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What are some examples of dramatic irony used in the story?

How does foreshadowing contribute to the dark comedy tone?

Lamb to the Slaughter Essay

devices of dramatic irony, foreshadowing, and imagery to depict a dark comedy by

grasping the idea of a tragedy becoming humorous.

must put in ideas beforehand to make it as suspenseful as possible. An example of

as a deadly weapon which is why it is thought of as to be comical, again, going back to

intentions that Dahl had for the crude humor.

what made the literature such an interesting piece to read.

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