There is nothing more I want than to bring this cold-hearted murderer to justice and bring peace of mind to sweet Mrs. I couldn’t help but feel guilty that after what would have been the biggest day of her life that she made me dinner but she insisted that it was a way of keeping her mind off it. She even went out of her way to make me a lovely roast leg of lamb for dinner. Before I left she asked me to stay for a drink, the least I could do was keep her company in this time of great despair. Mary requested that we come back again tomorrow, the day proved to be too draining for her, understandably of course. We extensively searched the premises for a weapon, but 3 hours had past without a trace. We have concluded that a blow to the head from a blunt instrument, most likely made of steel, killed Patrick. The only information we have thus far is that of what we have gathered from the doctors and forensic specialists who have examined the body.
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The poor thing said she wouldn’t sleep a wink until she finds out who murdered him. I urged her to stay at her sisters’ house tonight but she insisted on staying throughout the investigation. She is expecting a child in just 3 months, I cannot even begin to imagine the pain she is feeling right now. Maloney, coming home to find her husband dead, I can see the pain in her eyes. One of the best men we had on the force and a very honourable man, it’s an absolute shame. Question 2: Write a diary entry as if you’re Jack Noonan (a colleague of Patrick’s) on the day of the murder. One of the policeman remarks that the evidence they are seeking is probably “right under their noses” right as they are eating the very evidence they seek! The final type of irony that is used is dramatic irony, because the reader knows that the leg of lamb was used as a murder weapon, but the police unwittingly eat the evidence when the killer serves the roast leg of lamb to them.
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Mary loses her innocence when she takes his life and has to then try to cover up her crime and atone for her actions. Mary suggests that her husband has not been the best partner for her, so it is also ironic that he decides to leave her. The lamb has been used throughout literary history to represent innocence and the slaughter to represent the moment when that is lost. However, figuratively, the phrase alludes to the loss of innocence that occurs when people reach certain stages of life. Mary clubs Patrick over the head with the leg of lamb – so she literally “slaughters” him with the lamb. At this point it is obvious that there are problems in the marriage. Shortly after, Patrick tells Mary that he is leaving her. She tells him that she has made a leg of lamb for dinner, but he doesn’t care.
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At the beginning of the story, the main character Mary Maloney is trying to make dinner for her husband Patrick. The irony in the title of Roald Dahl’s story “Lamb to the Slaughter” relates to the tension between the literal and figurative meanings of the phrase “Lamb to the Slaughter”. Question 2 (Synthesise): Write a diary entry as if you’re Jack Noonan (a colleague of Patrick’s) on the day of the murder. (Approx. Question 1: How does Roald Dahl use the language device, irony in the title of Lamb to the Slaughter?