Lamb to the Slaughter Characters
The main characters in “Lamb to the Slaughter” are Mary Maloney, Patrick Maloney, and Sergeant Jack Noonan.
- Mary Maloney is six months pregnant and devoted to her husband, Patrick. When Patrick announces he is leaving her, however, Mary kills him with a leg of lamb and feeds the murder weapon to the police.
- Patrick Maloney is Mary’s husband and a beat policeman. He tells Mary he is leaving her but will continue to provide for her financially.
- Sergeant Jack Noonan is a policeman at Patrick’s precinct. He answers Mary’s phone call and unknowingly consumes the murder weapon along with his colleagues.
Characters
Mary Maloney
Mary Maloney is the protagonist of the story. She is the quintessential 1950s housewife: a devoted homemaker, pregnant with her first child, who revels in her domestic duties and lives happily with her husband, Patrick Maloney, a police officer. Readers quickly learn that her life is structured around and tailored to the whims of her husband. She loves him dearly, and her world revolves around loving and serving him. She works diligently to cultivate domestic bliss and views the life she and Patrick have built together as one of successful contentment. However, her happiness is shattered when he ends their marriage unexpectedly. Shaken, she begins to make dinner, an attempt to find normalcy and familiarity despite the circumstances.
Choosing the first thing she finds in the cellar freezer, Mary carries a frozen leg of lamb upstairs. In a moment of dazed confusion, she rejects the passivity that so defines her life and strikes her husband in the head, killing him. Her impulsivity quickly subsides, and she begins to formulate a plan to protect her unborn child from the legal consequences of her actions. Even after Patrick’s death, Mary’s actions throughout the remainder of the story reflect his influence. Her decisions are a product of her position: she disguises her misdeed for the sake of her child; chooses an alibi—grocery shopping for a home-cooked meal—which suits her domestic role; and continually refers to herself as Mrs. Patrick Maloney to others and in her internal monologue. Mary intertwines her sense of self with her husband and home; when Patrick disrupts this order, he interrupts her way of understanding herself and the world, leading to drastic action. She is a caricature of the housewives of the 1950s, satirizing their single-minded homemaking and its influence on their personhood. While considering the potential consequences of her actions, Mary muses that the death penalty is preferable to life without her husband, an absurd notion only tempered by the thought of what will become of her unborn child. In short, she caters to the social expectations of the time, a performance she uses to her benefit while arranging circumstances to prove her innocence.
Patrick Maloney
Patrick Maloney is a senior police officer still walking a beat. His less-than-prestigious position—and exasperation with his wife’s nagging focus on it—implies that he is not particularly good at his job. Through Mary’s actions, readers learn that he is a creature of habit whose schedule and preferences determine their lives. Arriving home from another tiring day on the beat, Patrick’s interaction with his wife starkly contrasts with her loving internal monologue. He responds to her adoring ministrations dismissively and impatiently, summarily rejecting her kindness. Unexpectedly, he finishes his first drink in a single swallow, an act that disrupts their domestic habits and foreshadows the cold, callous conversation to come.
Shortly after, he explains to Mary that he intends to leave her and their unborn child, though he will ensure they are adequately cared for. Patrick has only a single moment of expansive dialogue, spoken in the immediate aftermath of his decision to leave Mary. This moment frames him as an uncaring husband with little respect for his six-months-pregnant wife. He seems to dislike her for precisely the reasons she loves him; Mary is the perfect housewife, tailoring her home to suit every whim of her hardworking husband. Yet when she asks to pour him a drink, fetch his slippers, and prepare his dinner, Patrick responds dismissively and disdainfully. Readers notice that he finds her adoration, servility, and dependency grating; his death, ironically, is the catalyst for Mary to (briefly) reject the passivity he so dislikes. Patrick is a more present narrative figure in death than in life. His lifeless body, crumpled awkwardly on the living room floor, is just as important to the narrative as was the living man capable only of responding in cold monosyllables.
Sergeant Jack Noonan
Jack Noonan is an officer at Patrick’s precinct. Alongside his partner, O’Malley, he is the first officer to respond to Mary’s panicked phone call. One of Patrick’s coworkers, Noonan is familiar with the Maloney family and friendly with Mary. He offers her a number of kindnesses, opening his home—and his sister’s home—to her, speaking to her kindly throughout the investigation and allowing her to remain on the scene in an effort to keep her comfortable. Noonan accepts her innocence as a point of fact; his willingness to only see her as a grieving, newly widowed housewife blinds him to her careful manipulation of his kindness. She offers him a drink, which he accepts on the grounds of social expectation. This first professional lapse leads to a second: his inability to see Mary as anything other than an innocent victim results in his consumption of the now-cooked lamb, the destruction of the murder weapon, and the denial of justice to his murdered friend.
O’Malley
O’Malley is one of the police officers that responds to Mary’s tear-stricken call. He is first on scene at the Maloney residence, alongside his partner, Sergeant Jack Noonan. His role in the story is limited; he investigates Patrick’s body, aids in discovering evidence of foul play, and phones the precinct to request backup in the form of a doctor, police photographer, and two detectives. O’Malley’s presence soon fades into the background. He is yet another officer on the scene who will, after an evening of fruitless investigation, unwittingly consume the long-sought murder weapon.
Sam
Sam, a local grocer, appears in the story to corroborate Mary’s quickly constructed alibi. She visits his store shortly after the murder under the guise of purchasing vegetables to prepare a home-cooked meal for her husband. They make small talk, and Sam suggests she purchase cheesecake for dessert, a recommendation he provides on the basis of personal familiarity. It is clear that the couple often frequent his store; he knows them well enough to guess at their tastes, a realization which makes Mary’s successful deception even more compelling. When a detective questions him, Sam’s descriptions of his interactions with Mary that evening are powerful evidence that affirm her innocence. She overhears fragments of his interview spoken in cut-off whispers, describing their conversation as “quite normal” and claiming it was “impossible that she . . .” Sam’s role in the story is to provide a believable alibi for Mary, and he more than delivers.
Expert Q&A
Who are the main characters in "Lamb to the Slaughter"?
The main characters in "Lamb to the Slaughter" are Mary Maloney and her husband, Patrick Maloney. Mary is a devoted, pregnant housewife who appears loving and docile but snaps after Patrick, a police officer, announces he wants a divorce. In a fit of rage, she kills him with a frozen leg of lamb and cleverly disposes of the evidence by feeding it to the investigating officers. The story highlights themes of irony and the thin line between love and hate.
Is Mary Maloney guilty in "Lamb to the Slaughter"?
In "Lamb to the Slaughter," Mary Maloney is guilty in the sense that she did commit the crime of killing her husband. However, the murder was not remotely premeditated, and Mary was in an extraordinarily dissociated and shocked state when she, without even thinking, killed her husband with a leg of lamb.
Discuss Mary Maloney's cool and calculating demeanor in "Lamb to the Slaughter."
In "Lamb to the Slaughter," Mary Maloney is not cool and calculating when it comes to murder. She is, however, cool and calculating when it comes to covering up evidence of her crime and protecting herself and her unborn child.
What is Mary Maloney's reaction to the news in "Lamb to the Slaughter"?
Early in the short story “The Lamb to Slaughter,” Mary Maloney learns that her husband wants to leave her. She reacts to this devastating news with complex and shifting feelings. Initially confused and shocked, she reveals repressed anger by bludgeoning him. Mary then reacts to his death with eerie calmness, perhaps reflecting her own views of his scandalous news.
Do you think Mary Maloney's actions in "Lamb to the Slaughter" are justified?
The justification of Mary Maloney's actions in "Lamb to the Slaughter" is subjective. Some may empathize with her emotional turmoil after her husband's betrayal while pregnant, seeing her act as a crime of passion, albeit indefensible. Others argue that murder is never justified, regardless of circumstances, emphasizing that she not only killed her husband but also cunningly covered up the crime. Ultimately, opinions vary, and the key is how one defends their stance.
What are three character traits of Mary Maloney in "Lamb to the Slaughter"?
Mary Maloney in "Lamb to the Slaughter" is characterized by several traits. She is submissive, as shown by her deference to her husband and contentment in his presence. She is also clever, demonstrated by her quick thinking and ability to cover up the murder. Lastly, she is terrified, driven by fear of abandonment and destitution, which leads her to commit the drastic act of killing her husband.
How is the character of Mary Maloney portrayed in Roald Dahl's "Lamb to the Slaughter"?
Mary Maloney in "Lamb to the Slaughter" is initially portrayed as a devoted, gentle wife, embodying domestic bliss and care. However, her character dramatically shifts when her husband announces he wants a divorce. Shocked and nauseated, Mary reveals a cunning side by killing him with a frozen leg of lamb. She cleverly covers up the crime, using her domestic role to deceive the police. Her transformation illustrates the theme that appearances can be deceiving.
Why is Mary Maloney considered the protagonist in "Lamb to the Slaughter"?
Mary Maloney is the protagonist in "Lamb to the Slaughter" because she is the main character around whom the story revolves. Her actions drive the plot, particularly her decision to kill her husband with a frozen leg of lamb, creating the story's suspense. The antagonist is Sergeant Jack Noonan, who seeks to uncover the truth about the murder, while Mary aims to keep it hidden, highlighting the central conflict.
Dahl's Description of Mary and Her Environment in "Lamb to the Slaughter"
In Roald Dahl's "Lamb to the Slaughter," Mary Maloney is initially portrayed as a devoted and affectionate wife, whose life revolves around her husband, Patrick. Her meticulous attention to domestic details and anticipation of his return highlight her loving nature. However, after Patrick announces he is leaving her, Mary's character dramatically shifts. She kills him with a leg of lamb and cleverly conceals her crime by serving the cooked weapon to the investigating officers. This transformation from a doting wife to a cunning murderer underscores the theme of betrayal and revenge.
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