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Similes
Key Examples in Lamb to the Slaughter
Situational Irony
Explanation and Analysis—Patrick’s Murder:
The situational irony at the heart of “Lamb to the Slaughter” is the fact that Mary, a docile housewife who loves her husband Patrick deeply, brutally kills him in a fit of rage. Readers do not see this coming, especially after passages like the following from the beginning of the story:
[Mary] loved [Patrick] for the way he sat loosely in a chair, for the way he came in a door, or moved slowly across the room with long strides. She loved the intent, far look in his eyes when they rested on her, the funny shape of the mouth, and especially the way he remained silent about his tiredness, sitting still with himself until the whiskey had taken some of it away.
Related Themes:
