Perspectives

To better understand Roald Dahl’s style and the context in which he has written “Lamb to the Slaughter”, we recommend you put the text into perspective.

Literary period

Roald Dahl is a writer who belongs to the Modernist Literary period. The genres he explored in his writing are horror, fantasy, mystery, children’s literature or adults’ literature. In the case of “Lamb to the Slaughter”, Dahl explored the mystery genre, which he combined with elements of black humour. As specific elements of the genre, note the use of irony, trickery and the idea of the perfect crime. Keep in mind that a Modernist feature in the story is the socio-cultural and historical context when the action is placed: most probably in the 1950s, in America, immediately after the Second World War and during the Baby Boom period.

Works with the same theme

The ...