Lamb To The Slaughter by Road Dahl. Characterization The main character this short story is Mary Maloney.

She is a six month pregnant and wife to the Patrick Maloney. Mary is a stereotype, serving her husband and loving it. But when, Patrick dumps her, she becomes scoundrel. Mary is a loving and caring person. The minor character in this story is Jack Noonan. He is a detective and friend to Mary and Patrick. He is not alert on what happening surrounding him. He also easy to get persuade. Besides the two characters is Patrick. He is a detective and husband who betray his wife. He wants to end his marriage with Mary and finally he got murder by his own wife. Theme In this story, the writer explores the theme of devotion. Mary devoted to her husband. Everyday, she eagerly awaits her husband arrival from work. She will prepare everything, two tall glasses, soda water, whisky, ice cubes, lighting subdued enough to be restful but cheerful at a same time. Until the day Patrick announces that he wants to end their marriage, in shock with that news, Mary kills her husband. Moral Values The moral value that contained in this story is we should think twice before doing something. In this story, without thinking wisely about the consequence she might face, Mary kills her husband. After than, she realizes that she must hide the crime not so much for her own sake but for her unborn babys. Besides that, we should alert on what happened around us. As a police detective, Mr. Noonan should pay more attention on what happened and anything that he did not expected.

Personal Response Honestly, I can say that this story is quite interesting infect I do love Road Dahls works. The story language is just simple and easy to understanding. It also makes me thinks, why so sudden Mary, a six month pregnant mother willing to kill her own husband. The after doing some research on internet, I knew her husband wants to end their marriage. The story also reminds me that as a human being, we can act without control. Therefore, it is important for us to think wisely and not act in hurry to avoid from any problems especially in daily activities that we do. I also like the main character, Mary Maloney. She is a loyal wife, devoted to her husband until Patrick told her to end their marriage. She is also a caring mother to be. In my life, I can practice all the good qualities in her and do not do the bad things she did. This story contain the suspend element as I do love murder and suspend story because it make my brain working. Other than that, by reading this story, it teaches me to alert on surrounding and expect the unexpected things.