The Lamb

Her finder du hjælp til at analysere “The Lamb” af Andrea Carter. Novellen indgik i den skriftlige eksamen i Engelsk A på STX den 25. maj 2021. Ud over hjælp til analysen finder du også et summary og hjælp til fortolkningen. Du kan også bruge vores arbejdsspørgsmål som udgangspunkt for din egen analyse. Endelig har vi også udarbejdet hints til den konkrete opgaveformulering.

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Symbols

The lamb is an important symbol in the story, as underlined by the title. The narrator still remembers Ruth as the 15- year-old girl holding the lamb. This suggests that the lamb is supposed to represent Ruth. Like the “corned beef” (l. 98) simile, it is supposed to highlight Ruth being a victim.

It is worth noting that the sacrificial lamb is a biblical symbol, which refers to a person sacrificed for the common good. (Like Jesus was sacrificed for mankind). In this case, the narrator offers up Ruth to be “sacrificed” by lying to Dee, so that the narrator will be accepted by the others. Knowing that she cannot have both social acceptance and Ruth’s friendship, the narrator chooses to sacrifice Ruth.

Ruth’s eventual suicide also strengthens the biblical symbol. The lamb symbolizes innocence (just like Jesus was innocent when he died for our sins). This highlights the fact that Ruth is the only innocent party in this tragedy.