Plot
What is Mary Maloney doing when the story begins?
Waiting for her husband to come home.
Theme is the main idea behind the story that gives it meaning and purpose. What is this story's theme?
a. love
b. betrayal
c. survival
How does Mary feel about Patrick at the very beginning of the story?
She loves him very much.
Why does Mary kill Patrick?
Anger/an emotional reaction to his betrayal.
What do the police think was the cause of death for Patrick?
What shocking news does Patrick Maloney give Mary?
That he is leaving her.
Looks can be deceiving.
No, it was a crime of passion.
What about Patrick's behavior tells us how he feels about Mary, before he delivers his big news to her?
He is short and impatient with her, which tells us he is disconnected.
Why does Patrick call the delivery of his news "bad timing"?
It is bad timing because Mary is pregnant.
What object does Mary use to kill Patrick?
A leg of lamb.
Which type of irony supports the theme of this story?
a. situational-when the opposite of what you expect to happen, happens.
b. verbal-saying one thing but meaning the opposite.
c. dramatic-when the reader/audience knows more than the characters.
What is dramatic?
How do the detectives feel about Mary?
They see her as a grieving pregnant wife.
What was the news that Patrick delivered to Mary?
He was leaving her.
What does the following quote tell us about Mary?
"She loved to luxuriate in the presence of this man, and to feel—almost as a sunbather feels the sun—that warm male glow that came out of him to her when they were alone together."
She loves and admires her husband and he makes her feel warm.
How does Mary get rid of the murder weapon?
She cooks it.
In what way does the theme, "Justice is not always served" apply to the story?
Answers may vary.
What can we infer about Mary’s intelligence?
She is quick-thinking and manipulative
What is the final straw for Mary that finally causes her to lash out?
Patrick tells her not to make him dinner, and that he is going out.
What is the tone of the following text? How are we meant to feel?
"He had now become absolutely motionless, and he kept his head down so that the light from the lamp beside him fell across the upper part of his face, leaving the chin and mouth in shadow. She noticed there was a little muscle moving near the corner of his left eye."
Uncomfortable and foreboding.
To create an alibi.
What message might Dahl (the author) be suggesting about revenge?
answers may vary
Why does Mary feed the detectives the lamb?
To destroy the evidence
What does this quote tell us about Mary's mental status during and after the murder? Would she be considered "in her right mine"?
"It was extraordinary, now, how clear her mind became all of a sudden."
Answers may vary.