Structure

The short story “Lamb to the Slaughter” by Roald Dahl is structured around a single event: upon hearing that her husband probably demands a divorce, the wife kills him. The…

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Beginning

The beginning of the short story – or the exposition – introduces readers to the context of the story and the main character.

The room was warm and clean, the curtains drawn, the two table lamps alight – hers and the one by the empty chair opposite. On the sideboard behind her, two tall glasses, s…

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Middle

The rising action presents the increasingly tensed atmosphere in the couple’s living-room. Patrick drinks more than usual, probably because he wants to gather the courage to tell his wife that he wants a divorce. Note, however, that nothing explicit is told about his confession:

“This is going to be a bit of a shock to you, I’m afraid,” he said. “But I’ve thought about it a good deal and I’ve decided the only thing to do is tell you right away. I hope you won’t blame me too much.”
And he told her. It didn’t take long, four or five minutes at most, and she say very still through it all, watching him with a kind of dazed horror as he went further and further away from her with each word.

The c…

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Ending

The ending of the story presents yet another spur-of-the-moment decision taken by Mary. She invites the policemen to dinner, insisting that her late husband would not have wanted for the food to go to waste:

“Well,” she said. “Here you all are, and good friends of dear Patrick’s too, and helping to catch the man who killed him. You must be terrible hungry by now because it’s long past your suppertime, and I know Patrick would never forgive me, God bless his soul, if I allowed you to remain in his house without offering you decent hospitality…