Structure

The short story “The Landlady” by Roald Dahl has a linear plot structure. The story begins with Billy arriving in town and asking around for accommodations (ll. 1-12). The plot then proceeds chronologically, following Billy to the boarding house where he checks in.

There are several foreshadowing elements in the story. One of them is Billy being frightened by boarding houses (ll. 86-88). The landlady opening the door very suddenly before Billy finishes ringing the bell(ll. 113-123) suggests that she might have been watching him from inside. These instances foreshadow that something is about to go wrong. The little dog sleeping unmoving in front of the fire (l. 262) foreshadows Billy’s eventual realization that both the parrot and the dachshun...