Lamb to the Slaughter

Analyzing

5. The fact that Mary Maloney wants to do something for his tired and depressed looking husband and the fact that she knows when Patrick Maloney was going to come shows that she actually had respect for him and loved him. Also the reaction of Mary Maloney when her husband told her that his leaving her also showed how shocking it was for her and how much she loved him. There were phrases such as 'almost as a sunbather feels the sun' and 'she couldn’t feel her feet touching the floor'

6. Patrick Maloney was going to tell his wife that he is going to leave her. This might be because Patrick is in a love affair with another woman. Since Patrick Maloney mentioned words such as "I'll give you the money…" and " I wouldn't be good for my job", he is trying to divorce.

7. The part of this book when Mary Maloney listens to the conversation that 4 policemen are eating the murder weapon or the leg of lamb is very ironic. The policemen were supposed to find the murder weapon instead they were eating the weapon and getting rid of it.

Extending

8. Personally, I find Mary's calmness and care in working out her alibi after the crime is believable because since Mary Maloney was so acting well when she went to the grocer, it made the policemen believe that she could have never done the crime. After the detective went to the grocer, he believed that it was impossible that she committed the crime because the grocer seeing how happy she was to give Patrick Maloney a good supper.