Lamb to the Slaughter Essay In the short story, Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl, Dahl uses the

literary devices of dramatic irony, foreshadowing, and imagery to depict a dark comedy by grasping the idea of a tragedy becoming humorous. There are multiple uses and examples of irony throughout this short story that relate to the idea of a dark comedy. One key quote of dramatic irony comes from the end of the book stating, Personally, I think its right here on the premises. Probably right under our very noses. What do you think, Jack? (pg. 324)This quote here shows us as that the detectives have no idea that they are actually eating the evidence of the murder right then and there. We, as the audience, obviously know what is going on and by Mary Maloney chuckling at that statement shows us that Dahl turned something as horrible as murder into something that she laughs at in the end referring to the idea of dark comedy. Verbal irony is also represented in this piece of literature. When she goes to the market, she talks to the grocer and states, No, Ive got meat, thanks. I got a nice leg of lam, from the freezer. (pg. 320) This is verbal irony because it shows that what she is saying is basically telling the grocer what she used for the murder of her husband. The irony here is amusing, knowing the fact that killed the supposed love of her life and can so easily lie about it. So again, the verbal irony really catches the tone of the dark comedy that Dahl is trying to capture here. Both dramatic and verbal irony relate to each other in the sense that the audience feels the ideas of a tragedy as something funny therefore, relating back to the overall picture of the piece of literate as a dark comedy.

Foreshadowing is a device used to give the reader clues as to what is expected to happen in the story and is a key element when writing about a dark comedy. An author wants one to feel the crude humor that is going to happen, but to do that, they must put in ideas beforehand to make it as suspenseful as possible. An example of foreshadowing the murder that was about to come would be, She lifted it out, and looked at it. It was wrapped in paper, so she took off the paper and looked at it again. A leg of lamb. (pg. 319) This foreshadows Mary Maloneys murder of the husband because nothing was expected to come from her going down to the freezer to get a piece of meat to cook for dinner. The idea of a leg of lamb would never be thought of as a deadly weapon which is why it is thought of as to be comical, again, going back to the idea of a dark comedy. A second idea of foreshadowing comes from something one reads at the beginning of the book, the title. The title Lamb to the Slaughter (pg. 317) basically sums up what is going to happen through the story. As a reader of this story, one would never expect something as simple as the title to explain and foreshadow so much of the literature. The great amount of foreshadowing put into this text creates the mood of satiric humor which is exactly what the author had intended for. Imagery is a crucial device used by the author to set the scene of this nasty humor. In just about every scene imagery was used, making it one of the most common devices in the story. There were a few examples more significant then others such as when the cops were searching Mary Maloneys house stating, She could hear their footsteps on the gravel outside, and sometimes she saw the flash of a torch through out a chink in the curtains. It began to get late, nearly nine she noticed by the clock on the mantel. The four men searching the rooms seemed to be growing weary, a trifle

exasperated. (pg. 323) This setting here depicts the idea of the worry that Mary Maloney might have while they are searching her house so she sees that they are getting exhausted and she decides to take advantage of this. This piece is important due to the fact that the idea of her thinking she is going to get away with murder shows the cruelness in her but making it out to be a humorous act. An additional piece of imagery represented in the text comes from the beginning of the book saying, The room was warm and clean, the curtains drawn, the two old table lamps alight- hers and the one by the empty chair opposite. On the sideboard behind her, two tall glasses, soda water, whisky. Fresh ice cubes in the Thermos bucket. (pg. 317) Just by reading the first three sentences, only describing what is going on in the room, we could infer that the setting here isnt happy and pleasant, therefore making it weary and maybe even having a suspicious vibe. This is very important to making the idea of a strange environment come through to the reader. There are so many uses of imagery throughout this piece of writing that make the dark comedy idea clear and fulfilling the intentions that Dahl had for the crude humor. Each one of the literary devices stated above contribute to the idea that Lamb to the Slaughter is a dark comedy. Different example support this idea and make it come clear throughout the short story. Dahls success of making this story a dark comedy is what made the literature such an interesting piece to read.