Student Question

What would Mary Maloney's diary entry look like on the night of her husband's murder?

Quick answer:

Mary Maloney's diary entry might reflect her lack of guilt about her husband's murder, as suggested by her calm disposal of the evidence and her giggling at the end. She may feel justified in her actions, believing her husband deserved it. Alternatively, the giggling could indicate an emotional breakdown after the initial shock and stress of covering up the crime, revealing her underlying turmoil.

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I cannot actually write the diary entry for you, but I hope these ideas will help you.

In my opinion, Mary Maloney's entry would not show any great amount of guilt. I think that we can see this from how calmly she gets rid of the leg of lamb and from the fact that she starts to giggle at the end of the story. I think she feels that her husband deserved what he got.

You could also argue, though, that she will sort of break down once she gets over the initial need to get away with the crime. You can argue that her giggling shows that she is starting to do this. After all, she has had a huge shock and must be emotionally drained.

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