The necklace:

Mathilde Loisel: The character of Madame Loisel is that of a young woman of lesser social status, who comes from
a similarly simple family. As a result, she is rendered unable to marry "beyond her station" and find a husband worthy
of a large dowry. Therefore, she marries a man of her same status; a clerk who, despite of not having much, is quite
content with his life.
The fatal flaw of Madame Loisel is her excessive sense of entitlement. One thing is to want good things for ourselves,
and to wish for a better life. Another thing is to hope for the best. However, to detest your life and wish to have
another touches on ungratefulness. Madame wanted so much for herself that she despised the little that kept her at
least at minimal comfort.
When she has the chance to attend a ball, she begrudges her lack of luxurious clothes and jewels, and her husband
proposes that she goes to a rich friend to borrow her jewels. Madame Loisel obviously chooses the most extravagant
looking necklace, which shows her state of mind: She wants to dazzle, be showy, extravagant, and call the attention
of others.
Sadly, Madame loses the necklace and her pride is so big that she refuses to admit it to her friend. Instead, she and
her husband work hard to replace the piece, losing everything they had. When she comes to find out that the
necklace was fake, and that she essentially wasted her life over nothing goes to show the irony of her own life. She
whined and complained over nothing. She wanted things for her that would have been tantamount to nothing but
flash and looks. All of this basically shows that this woman was empty, shallow, and too egotistical for her own good.

How do Madame Loisel's perspective and attitude about life change over the ten years she spent
repaying her debt?
Madame Matilda Loisel, the main character in Guy De Maupassant's short story, "The Necklace," is a
dynamic character whose attitude and perspective about life goes through changes over the ten years
she spent repaying her debt.
In the beginning of the story, Madame Loisel is obsessed with status and money. She is dissatisfied with
her station in life. She was born into a family of low status. She takes a husband who is a lowly clerk, and
she is dissatisfied with the modest home she lives in.
Madame Loisel's husband tries to make her happy by securing an invitation to an exclusive party, but she
is still dissatisfied. She has no fine dress to wear and no jewels. Her husband gives her four hundred
francs for a dress and suggests she see her childhood friend Madame Forestier for some jewels. She
borrows a diamond necklace and has the time of her life at the ball. She is charming, admired, and
dances well into the night.
Tragically, she loses Madame Forestier's necklace on the way home. She and her husband are bound by
pride and duty and come up with a plan to replace the necklace rather than admit its loss. They buy a
look-alike necklace for thirty-four thousand francs, and it takes them ten years to pay off the debt.
In that ten years, Madame Loisel goes through many changes. Some are physical, and some are changes
in her character. It seems even her ambitions have changed, and by the end of the story, she seems
resigned to her meager lot in life.

How is the story "The Necklace" by Guy de Maupassant ironic?

The irony in "The Necklace" is based on the fact that Madame Loisel and her husband spend ten years of
toil and privation paying for a necklace which turns out to be a cheap imitation. The critical point in the
story is reached when Madame Forestier tells Madame Loisel:
"Oh, my poor Mathilde! But mine was imitation. It was worth at the very most five hundred francs! . . . "
It is not only Mathilde Loisel who is shocked, but the reader as well. The reader as been led to believe
that the borrowed necklace was genuine and that it was worth approximately 36,000 francs.
This type of irony is called situational irony. It involves an incongruity between what is expected and
what actually occurs. Irony is usually like a bad joke. It would be funny if it were not so painful. Mathilde
paid a fearful price for the few moments of triumph she enjoyed at the Minister's ball. But no reader
would feel like laughing at her and her poor husband. The reader feels pity for both.
No doubt in addition to feeling mortified at the realization that she had wasted ten years of her life and
sacrificed her beauty for a trifle, Mathilde Loisel must remember the night of the ball and wonder how
many of the partners she danced with were aware that her necklace was nothing but an imitation. She is
not only mortified about the present when her friend reveals the truth about the imitation necklace, but
she must also feel mortified in retrospect at the realization that many of the important men and women
must have known she was an imposter.

What is the theme of "The Necklace," by Guy de Maupassant?

The theme of "The Necklace," by Guy de Maupassant is most likely "honesty is the best policy." So many
problems in the lives of the Loisels could have been avoided if Mme. Loisel had simply visited Mme.
Forrestier the day after the party and explained what happened.
The Loisels were not wealthy, though Mme. Loisel believed she belonged in a higher social class. "She
was simple since she could not be adorned; but she was unhappy as though kept out of her own class."
She did have a wealthy friend in Mme. Forrestier, though, and Mme. Forrestier agreed to loan Mme.
Loisel jewels to wear for the fancy party the Loisels would be attending. Unfortunately, Mme. Loisel lost
the borrowed necklace after the party.
Instead of admitting the accident to her friend, Mme. Loisel and her husband decided to replace the
necklace and return the new one as if it was the original. However, the Loisels did not have the money
required to buy a replacement. The next ten years of the Loisel's lives were negatively impacted by this
one event: they borrowed and promised to repay loans from everyone they knew, they worked hard, and
lived meagerly. Overtime, they adjusted. "Mme. Loisel learned the horrible life of the needy," and in the
end, it can be said that she created her own misery.
As the story concludes, the old friends are reunited. Mme. Loisel finally admits the truth to Mme.
Forrestier, Unfortunately, the truth does not set Mme. Loisel free. Instead, it brings her more frustration
and unhappiness than she could have imagined, because Mme. Forrestier admits that her original
necklace was a fake! Oh, my poor Mathilde. But mine were false. At most they were worth five hundred
francs!
Therefore, the theme of this story is "honesty is the best policy." Had the Loisels owned up to the truth
to begin with, they would have saved themselves much pain and suffering.

As the story begins, why is Madame Loisel unhappy with her life in "The Necklace?"

Madame Loisel is unhappy with her life because she was born poor when she feels as if she should have
been rich. Madame Loisel is a middle class woman, who for some reason feels that she should have been
a wealthy woman. She was born as if by a slip of fate into a family of clerks instead of the upper
society.
Nothing is ever good enough for Mathilde. She isn't satisfied with a husband who is a clerk and got her
an invitation to a ball, because she doesn't have a dress that she believes in good enough to wear to the
event. She believes doesn't have a jewel that is good enough, so she borrows one from a friend who is
of a higher class than she is.
Mathilde wants people to envy her. She wants to be looked at. During the ball, it is as if by buying a
dress she cant afford and borrowing a jewel, she also borrows a life. People look at her. She is
beautiful. It is the one thing she does have. So when she is dressed up and has what looks like a pretty
necklace, she is the light of the ball.
The necklace turns out to be a fake, just like Mathilde. She is nothing but imagebeauty on the outside,
nothing real on the inside. When it is real and she destroys her beauty to replace it, it is ironic. It all
could have been avoided if she had just had the character to tell her friend the truth that she lost it.
What metaphors are there in "The Necklace" by Guy De Maupassant?
There are small and large metaphors in The Necklace.
When Madame Loisel goes to the ball, she is quite above herself with happiness. (She isnt literally
over herself. She enjoys herself so much that she is drunk with pleasure.)
After the necklace is lost, her husband looks at the agonising face of the future, a vivid image, but
definitely a metaphor, since the future has no face.
There are other small metaphors that are figures of speechpart metaphor, part tradition, like speaking
of the whole tribe of money-lenders, which refers to the Jewish moneylenders.
The larger metaphor in this classic story, though, is the necklace itself. It is also a symbol for the realities
of value, and how what you think matters often doesnt, and how you often dont value the things that
matter most.

What could the necklace in the short story "The Necklace" symbolize?
The necklace, beautiful but worthless, represents the power of perception and the split between
appearances and reality. Mathilde borrows the necklace because she wants to give the appearance of
being wealthy; Madame Forestier does not tell her up front that the necklace is fake, perhaps because
she, too, wants to give the illusion of being wealthier than she actually is. Because Mathilde is so envious
of Madame Forestier and believes her to be wealthy, she never doubts the necklaces authenticityshe
expects diamonds, so diamonds are what she perceives. She enters willingly and unknowingly into this
deception, and her complete belief in her borrowed wealth allows her to convey an appearance of
wealth to others. Because she believes herself rich for one night, she becomes rich in others eyes. The
fact that the necklace is at the center of the deception that leads to Mathildes downfall suggests that
only trouble can come from denying the reality of ones situation.

The road not taken and the two brothers:

How are the road not taken and the two brothers linked?
In both texts, the theme of exploring new things in life is present. In both the texts, there were two paths
given: a simple calm and tranquil path while the other a difficult yet rewarding path. In the story of the
two brothers, the older brother decided to stay behind instead of going with the younger brother to find
happiness on top of the mountain. The younger brother went ahead and found happiness which
ended in six years. When they met again, the older brother had a quiet life while the younger brother
had a new experience, being king. Despite losing his throne to another ruler, the younger brother
enjoyed his life and had memories of his experiences while the older brother has nothing. This is present
in the poem Road Not Taken in the form of two roads. One of the roads is a tranquil grassy road which
many people go down which represents a calm and simple life. The older brother in the story of the
brothers had went down this path. The other road is one where less people go through but is much
more rewarding. There are many new experiences in this road but many people refuse to go due to fear
as demonstrated by the older brother. The younger brother went down this path and was rewarded with
a new set of memories and a unique experience.
Taking the road less traveled comes with many benefits. In the story The Two Brothers by Leo Tolstoy,
two brothers encounter a stone with a quest written on it. The prize for fulfill the quest was happiness.
The stone symbolized the journey that would come which is the road that most people would not take
since it had many dangers. According to this story, if one takes a more risky path then they are benefited
with more memories and experiences than they would have had. The younger brother received the gift
of happiness while the older brother lived an average life. The younger brother who went on the quest
of the stone said, I may have nothing now, but I shall always have something to remember, while you
have no memories at all. This shows that the brother had the positive influence of receiving experiences
and the relief of saying that he took the risk. Similarly, in Robert Frosts poem The Road Not Taken a
traveler is evinced who is stuck with two diverged roads. In the long run, he takes the road in which he
claims was less traveled by and says, And that has made all the difference. Although he took the road
that he was unsure of what was to come, he proceeded through the path. He chose a road knowing that
he would not come back to the other one and in the end decided that he took the path that made the
most benefits to his life.
There are a lot values that both of the texts share. One of them being not being able to turn back after
you make your choice. In the poem The Road Not Taken, it shows a traveler standing in a road. The
road diverges into 2 different direction and if you go towards that road, you may never go back. In the
story The Two Brothers, it shows how the two brothers take a different road to reach their happiness.
These two texts show the value of never going back once you make your choice. The traveler can
connect to the two brothers since they all chose ONE road to go towards to reach their goal.

How is the poem The Road Not Taken Similar to the Two Brothers?

The poem The Road Not Taken is similar to the the story The Two Brothers because both texts shows
the same value and belief. That value is, once you make a decision you can never turn back and change
it. In the poem , the traveler was deciding which road to choose to travel through the forest. In the end,
the traveler decision was made and he chose the road that was less traveled by. When the traveler made
his final decision to take that certain road, he/she can't turn back and change it. In other words, think of
the forest as a persons future, and there are two options of what he wants to become. If he decides to
pick the option to become a businessman he cant turn back and pick a different profession. This value is
also shown in The Two Brothers when the younger brother chose to complete the task written on the
stone, and became a king. Thats because when he chose that road to become king he couldn't turn back
and reverse. In the end, the younger brothers choice lead him to having nothing but experience and
memories and that cant be undone.

The Homecoming:
1. What did Phatik and his friends decide to do?
Phatik Chakravati was a typical naughty village boy about fourteen years old. He was the ring
leader of his gang. He never went to school but spent the whole day flying kites, swimming in the river
and playing mischief. He was inventive and full of ideas. One day a new mischief got into his head. There
was a heavy log lying on the mud flat of the river waiting to be shaped into to mast for a boat. Phatik and
his friends decided that they should shift the log by force from its place and roll it away. The owner of
the log would be angry and surprised and they would enjoy all the fun. Thus Phatik and his friends
decided to perform a new mischief.

2. How did Makhan spoil the fun?

Phatik and his friends decided to perform a new mischief. They decided that they should shift the
log by force from its place and roll it away. The owner of the log would be angry and surprised and they
would enjoy all the fun. But the fun was spoiled before it started, as Phatiks brother Makhan went
against this plan. He decides not to allow them to roll the log way. So he quietly sat down on the log
without uttering word. This made everybody puzzled for a moment. Phatik asked him to get up. But
Makhan sat more confidently and appeared like a young philosopher meditating. Now it was the
question of Phatiks dignity before his gang and so he ordered the gangs to roll the log along with
Makhan. As the log moved, Makhan fell into mud. So he quarreled with Phatik and went home crying. All
in this way Makhan spoiled the fun.

3. Who arrived at Phatiks house?

 Bishambar brother of Phatiks mother or his maternal uncle came to Phatik house. Bishambar had
gone away soon after the marriage of Phatiks mother and his sister and he also started business at
Bombay. Bishambar now come back to Calcutta and was visiting his sister after a long period.

4. Why did Phatik go to Calcutta?

Phatik Chakravati was a typical naughty village boy about fourteen years old. He never went to
school but spent the whole day flying kites and making mischief. He was a perpetual nuisance and his
widow mother did not know how to manage him. He was lazy, disobedient and wild, so not studying
properly. Once his maternal uncle Bishambar visited his sister after a long. He volunteered to take Phatik
to Calcutta where he would be educated. Phatiks mother readily agreed and Phatik also was excited to
go. So he readily went to Calcutta expecting a new exiting life there.

5. Why was Phatik unwelcome to his aunt?

When Phatik and his uncle reached Calcutta, Phatik made the acquaintance of his aunt for the first
time. His aunt was not all happy to see him. For her, Phatik was an unnecessary addition of her family
because she had already three children who were quite unmanageable. To bring a village boy of 14 was
very much upsetting to her. So Phatik was unwelcome to his aunt.

6. Why was Phatik unhappy in Calcutta?

Phatik was sent to Calcutta by his mother. She hoped that the boy would get good education and
be happy there. Phatik too expected to have an exciting life but his aunt did not show him any love. She
was rude with and found fault with him. He was despised and insulted every now and then his cousins
also made fun of him. He was the most backward boy in the whole school. He was beaten unmercifully
by the teacher day after day. He could not make any friends. He longed for his village where he was a
ring leader and where he had enjoyed life. The house became a prison for him. He wanted to run away
to his village. The whole his life was miserable and unhappy in Calcutta.

7. What happened to Phatik at school?

Phatik was the most backward and the dullest boys in his school. He remained silent when the
teacher asked him a question, and like an ass patiently suffered all the blows that came down on his
back. One day, he lost his lesson book. It was impossible to prepare lesson without it. Day by day he was
beaten unmercifully by the teacher. His conditions became so miserable that even his cousins were
ashamed of him. He was insulted by his classmates. These all the troubled faced by Phatik when he was
at school.

8. Why did Phatik run away?

Phatik was sent to Calcutta by his mother. She hoped that the boy would get good education and
be happy there. Phatik too expected to have an exciting life but his aunt did not show him any love. She
was rude with and found fault with him. He was despised and insulted every now and then his cousins
also made fun of him. His life at school was no better. He was the most backward boy in the whole
school. The house became a prison for him. The whole his life was miserable and unhappy in Calcutta.
Now He longed for his village where he was a ring leader and where he had enjoyed life. He also
remembered his mother. One day he fell sick and he feared that in such condition, he would be nuisance
to his aunt. So he ran away from home.

9. Who come to see Phatik?

Phatik was very unhappy at his uncles house in Calcutta. He received no love and affection. His
aunt found fault with him and insulted him. Once in the state of malarial fever, He ran away from home.
He was brought back in serious condition. The boy told his uncle that he wanted to go home to his
mother. His uncle assured him that he would send him when holidays would come. In his delirium he
kept on asking his uncle if holidays had come. Finally his mother was sent for she arrived just in times to
see her son die. His mother came to see her son dying.

10. What do you think happened to Phatik?

The Home Coming is a touching story of a boy of fourteen years. Back in village he was happy and
free. He played his boyish pranks and has the fun common to his age but life last all its charms when he
was sent to Calcutta. Instead of love he received contraption, insult and beating. This made the boy
unhappy and adversely affected his progress in school; the unloved boy fell sick and died.
According to me Phatik was transplanted from village life which was full of mischief and pleasure to a
life to city where he had no one to love and give affection to him. He realized the values of home and
love because of neglect from his uncles family and separation from his mother. During his illness this
wild boy turned mature and understands what is home.

The open window:

Vera: The author describes Vera as being self-possessed. This would be about the same as
being poised, relaxed, self-assured, self-confident, and sophisticated. The author emphasizes these
qualities to prepare the reader and Framton Nuttel for a shock when she fakes a look of dazed horror
while staring out the open window.
The girl is obviously intelligent, imaginative, and creative. She is shrewd about judging people. She
is cautious, as she shows by questioning Framton Nuttel before telling him her story about the hunters
being accidentally killed three years ago while walking on the moor.
We can assume that Vera is bored and restless. As a young girl in Victorian times she has no freedom.
She cannot go hunting with the men because that just wasn't done. She seems like an avid reader. Since
she is bored and restless in her confinement in this big old house, she probably favors escapist-type
reading about travel and adventure. She must have gotten that story about the man being pursued by
pariah dogs from a book.
One of her outstanding character traits is that she is mischievous. She keeps this trait a deep secret and
pretends to be a polite, well-bred, conventional young lady. But underneath her self-possessed exterior,
she is a young rebel.
Saki needed someone to tell Framton a wild story about how three men were killed by being sucked into
a bog while out hunting, and how Mrs. Sappleton, who lost her mind when that tragedy occurred, is still
waiting for them to return home for tea after three years. Saki decided to have an adolescent girl tell the
visitor the story. Framton is an ideal victim, or "patsy," because he is a complete stranger to the region
and therefore will accept Vera's story at face value.
Vera is just young enough to want to engage in such mischief and just old enough to be convincing. She
is described as being very "self-possessed." Being a Victorian girl, she has very little freedom. She is
bored with hearing the same stories about shooting birds and bored with her aunt's conversation, which
centers on the activities and interests of the three men in her life. Vera must spend a great deal of her
time reading, since there is little else for her to do. Because the men dominate the household, it would
seem that the library must contain many books on travel and adventure that would interest men. No
doubt Vera has read many of these books and feels even more bored with her life because of the
contrast between her reading material and her dull existence. Poor Framton Nuttel will become the
victim of this girl's frustrations.
When the men return from shooting and Mr. Sappleton asks his wife, "Who was that who bolted out as
we came up?", the self-possessed Vera comes up with an explanation she must have taken straight out
of a book about adventures in India.
"He was once hunted into a cemetery somewhere on the banks of the Ganges by a pack of pariah dogs,
and had to spend the night in a newly dug grave with the creatures snarling and grinning and foaming
just above him. Enough to make anyone lose their nerve."
Vera is a character created to fit the plot of "The Open Window." She is smart, imaginative, self-
possessed, bored with life, entering a stage of teenage rebelliousness, addicted to escapist reading, and
secretly wishing she could create a little uproar in this stereotypical English country manor.

Why is Frampton there and what does it tell you about his character?
Framton Nuttel is calling on the Sappletons because he feels more or less compelled to do so by his
sister. He is shy, retiring, diffident, reclusive, introverted. He doesn't want to be calling on the Sappletons,
and he doesn't want to use all the other letters of introduction his sister foisted on him. His original
notion about spending time in the country may have involved living quietly in a little cottage and taking
long walks by himself.

Explain the title of the story "The Open Window.

The title seems to emphasize the importance of the open window in the story. It also sets a somewhat
ominous tone. It suggests that something or other is going to cause trouble from the outside. Something
is going to have to come in through that open window or the title wouldn't have been used for the story.
Vera takes advantage of the fact that there is a big French window standing wide open rather late on a
not very warm day. The fact that Mr. Sappleton wore his white waterproof coat when he went hunting
shows that the weather is overcast and threatening to rain. Vera gets Framton Nuttel's attention focused
on the open window when she tells him her ghost story. The mischievous girl knows that her aunt will be
sitting and looking towards the open window while she waits for her men to return for tea.
The open window plays a prominent role in the story. It creates a reason to explain that the hunters are
accustomed to leaving and departing through that window, so Framton will understand that the "ghosts"
are heading straight towards him rather than entering through a side-door or backdoor in their wet
clothes and muddy boots.
The title focuses the reader's attention on the open window and gives it special and perhaps ominous
significance. It dominates the setting in which the entire story takes place. Readers will remember the
sight which caused Framton Nuttel to panic and flee from the house. The French window standing open
gives Vera the inspiration for her ghost story. She hints that if the three hunters were actually to return,
as she claims her aunt has expected them to do for the past three years, they would have to enter
through that window directly into the living room. This would be unusual behavior because, even if the
men had only been gone for one day, as the aunt believes, they would have muddy boots and probably
enter through a side door into a little pantry or some such room where they could remove their boots.
Saki had to establish that the men were used to entering the living room directly from outdoors and that
Vera's aunt didn't mind having the carpeting tracked with mud. The open door also serves as a constant
reminder of the notion that Vera is attempting to implant in the mind of the guest Framton Nuttel. She
wants him to believe Mrs. Sappleton lost her mind three years ago when the hunters were sucked into a
bog and that her demented aunt has left that window open for the past three years expecting her men
to return for tea. It is essential to Vera's ghost story that her aunt should not contradict her when she
makes an appearance. Vera knows her aunt will say something about the open door and explain the men
will be entering through it when they return, but this will not contradict Vera's story that her aunt
believes the men have only been gone for one day rather than for three years.
Saki had to establish that the three men would enter as usual through the open window. That was what
frightened Framton. Both Vera and her aunt call his attention to the door and explain why it is standing
open in November. The window had to be standing open in order to call attention to it as a mode of
ingress and egress. Otherwise, it could have been closed but not locked. If the window were closed, the
big pane of glass would obscure the vision of the three approaching hunters armed with guns. The
contrast between the darkness outdoors and lights indoors would make it nearly impossible to see
anything outside. The vision Framton sees is essential to the story.

"Romance at short notice was her speciality." Justify this observation about Vera.

Vera can be described as a fun-loving and adventurous girl who is very inventive and shrewd. She uses
her ability to think on her feet to be a ruthless prankster. Shes not just a terrific story-teller but is also a
great actress. She will concoct stories according to the available situations, and then she will narrate
them with such believable earnestness that nobody can doubt what she says.

The word romance used in the quote is meant to describe Veras ability to come up with fictitious
stories and narrate them in an interesting and convincing manner.

Framton Nuttel is a nerve patient and has been in the countryside on his doctors advice. He is on a
formal visit to Mrs. Sappletons house. His sister had advised him to interact with neighbors instead of
locking himself up in his room. His sister used to be Mrs. Sappletons neighbor before she had moved to
some other place some four years ago. Nuttel knows nothing about Vera's aunt.

These are few of the facts Vera learns during her brief interaction with Nuttel. She must have found him
to be a gullible person, because when she spots the open window facing the lawn, immediately she is
ready with a story to amuse herself at the cost of Nuttels gullibility.

Using all her skills of an adept actress and a convincing story-teller, Vera begins narrating her invented
story about her aunt, Mrs. Sappleton:

Her great tragedy happened just three years agothat would be since your sister's time."

Nuttel is convinced that Mrs. Sappletons husband and her two brothers had died tragically by drowning
in a treacherous piece of bog. Since then, she has been out of her senses. She keeps the widow open,
believing they will be back home any time.

Things turn out as Vera had wished. When three men and the dog are seen through the open window
walking towards the house, Nuttel is shocked and scared. Believing that hes watching real ghosts
walking towards him, he bolts out of the house.

Vera must have been celebrating the success of her prank. But then again, she does so in her unique
style. Neither does she burst into laughter nor does she reveal to others what has actually happened.
Instead, she wears an expression of pity and seriousness in her face.

When her aunt expresses disappointment over the way Nuttel had left without a word of goodby or
apology, Vera comes up with another story. She says:

"I expect it was the spanielhe told me he had a horror of dogs. He was once hunted into a cemetery
somewhere on the banks of the Ganges by a pack of pariah dogs, and had to spend the night in a newly
dug grave with the creatures snarling and grinning and foaming just above him. Enough to make anyone
lose their nerve."

Quite convincingly, she says this in her uniquely calm, consistent and credible tone.

Thus, we see that the final statement of the story aptly describes Vera:

Romance at short notice was her speciality.

In Saki's "The Open Window," how does Vera's fabricated story influence Mr. Nuttel to believe her?
Vera's fabricated story convinces Mr. Nuttel that she is telling the truth for three main reasons. First, he
doesn't personally or casually know the men involved in Vera's story, so there is no prior knowledge from
which Mr. Nuttel can draw a conclusion that she is lying. In fact, Vera makes sure that he doesn't know
the men before she tells the story by asking him, "Do you know many of the people round here?" Then
she rephrases the question to make sure Mr. Nuttel doesn't know the family well by asking, "Then you
know practically nothing about my aunt?" Once both questions are answered negatively, then Vera can
tell her fictional tale without being discovered as a liar or a prankster.
Next, Vera is a great actress and convinces him through her body language and facial expressions that
she actually believes that the men approaching the house are supernatural. The following passage
describes her well-played acting skills:
"The child was staring out through the open window with dazed horror in her eyes. In a chill shock of
nameless fear Framton swung round in his seat and looked in the same direction."
Since the passage says that Framton swings around to see what the child is looking at, it can then be
inferred that Vera's acting skills are very convincing.
Finally, the fabricated story is a believable one. In fact, Vera doesn't tell the story of an unlikely tragedy at
all. It is entirely possible for men to become trapped in swamps while hunting and fall victims to a fatal
accident.
"In crossing the moor to their favorite snipe-shooting ground, they were all three engulfed in a
treacherous piece of bog. . . Their bodies were never recovered."
Therefore, Vera's story is believable because Mr. Nuttel doesn't know the men about whom the story is
told, Vera is a convincing actress, and the tale of the tragedy is plausible. Mr. Nuttel proves Vera has
convinced him when he runs out the door after seeing the men who he believes are ghosts coming
towards the house.

How does Saki provide imagery in the story "The Open Window"?
Most of the imagery Saki provides in "The Open Window" is in straight prose description. There are
three especially striking images in the story. The description of the first two is understood to be from
Framton Nuttel's point of view. These first two follow from Mrs. Sappleton's announcement that she
sees the three hunters returning towards the open window. Nuttel turns to look at Vera to show he
understands that her poor aunt is having an hallucination. But he is shocked to see Vera putting on an act
for his benefit:
The child was staring out through the open window with a dazed horror in her eyes.
He immediately turns to look in the same direction, and:
In the deepening twilight three figures were walking across the lawn towards the window, they all
carried guns under their arms, and one of them was additionally burdened with a white coat hung over
his shoulders. A tired brown spaniel kept close at their heels.
This is the image that Vera has set Nuttel up to react to with terror. We can imagine how spooky it would
look to see the three men in "the deepening twilight" and all carrying guns. These two images--Vera's
"dazed horror" and the three hunters--lead to Framton's flight, which is understood to be seen from the
omniscient narrator's point of view.
Framton grabbed wildly at his stick and hat; the hall door, the gravel drive, and the front gate were dimly
noted stages in his headlong retreat. A cyclist coming along the road had to run into the hedge to avoid
imminent collision.

What are examples of foreshadowing in "The Open Window" by Saki?

In Saki's "The Open Window," there is foreshadowingdefined as clues that suggest events that have yet
to occursoon after Vera enters the room where Framton Nuttel awaits her aunt. Nuttel is unsure if
such a visit with a stranger will do much for a nerve cure for him. When she asks Framton Nuttel if he
knows the people from the area and if he knows much about her aunt, Nuttel answers "Hardly a soul."
At the time that Vera, "the very self-possessed young lady of fifteen," asks Nuttel if he knows anyone
from the area and if he is acquainted with her aunt, Mrs. Stappleton, she wants to determine to what
lengths her "[R]omance at short notice" can go. Therefore, after Nuttel replies that he knows almost no
one in the area, Vera realizes that she can give full rein to her imagination and take advantage of
the nervous little man across from her. Cleverly, she proceeds to weave a tale that has some veracity
mixed in with fictitious tragic events.
Knowing that Mr. Stappleton and his wife's brothers will soon return from their outing, Vera tells Nuttel
that he has arrived, coincidentally, on the "tragic anniversary" of the disappearance of Mr. Stappleton
and Mrs. Stappleton's two young brothers, who went hunting but never returned. She weaves a horrific
tale of their apparent deaths that Mrs. Stappleton is unable to accept. Instead, Vera claims Mrs.
Stappleton continues to hope they will return. Using this backstory, Vera devises an explanation for why
the window is open: "each evening the window is kept open until dusk" in the hope that the men will
return through it.
As she expresses her pity for her "poor, dear aunt," Vera tells Nuttel that her aunt often relates how
Ronnie, her youngest brother would sing, "Bertie, why do you bound?" She adds,
I almost get a creepy feeling that they will walk in through that window
and then stops abruptly as Mrs. Stappleton finally enters the room. As Nuttel explains why he has come,
Vera's aunt stifles a yawn. Then, she abruptly interrupts, "Here, they are at last!" adding that "they" are
just in time for tea. When a voice chants, "I said Bertie, why do bound?" Vera feigns a "dazed horror" and
a terrified Framton Nuttel rushes out of the house.

In "The Open Window," what causes Framton to leave the house?

Framton Nuttel is a stranger to the country and the Sappleton house. He has a letter of introduction from
his sister so he can make acquaintances in the area. While waiting for Mrs. Sappleton, her niece Vera
tells him a very creepy story about how her uncles were lost in a bog while hunting three years ago. She
claims that her aunt leaves the French doors open just in case they ever come home. This sad tale is
spun to make it seem as if the tragedy still haunts the house and Mrs. Sappleton's heart. Vera is a clever
story-teller, though. She sets Framton up for the scare of his life by telling him about what the men were
wearing when they left, as well as what Ronnie usually sings on his way back from hunting.
"Poor dear aunt, she has often told me how they went out, her husband with his white waterproof coat
over his arm, and Ronnie, her youngest brother, singing, 'Bertie, why do you bound?' as he always did to
tease her. . ."
These clues are exactly what sets Framton on the run from the house. When he sees the men coming
and hears Ronnie actually singing the song, he takes flight. Vera set Framton up by providing him with
specific details to what she witnesses every time the men go hunting; and when Framton hears the song,
the text says, "Framton grabbed wildly at his stick and hat; the hall door, the gravel drive, and the front
gate were dimly noted stages in his headlong retreat." Therefore, Framton leaves the Sappleton's house
after being duped into believing a ghost story told by a young girl.

The road not taken:

1.Describe the two roads that the author comes across.
Ans. The author comes across a fork in his travel. He stands and looks at the both roads which are
equally lay with grass. One was much traveled and the other was less traveled.

2. Which road does the speaker choose? Why?

Ans. The speaker has chosen the road less traveled. Because there may be two reasons. One is that he
has left the other road for another day anticipating that he may come back in future and the other is that
he wants to prove his adventurous nature and to show the world that his brave decision has led to the
success attained by him.

3.Which road would you choose? why?

Ans. I would choose the road less travelled. Because, the entire wold is running on a theme 'me'. If I
follow somebody's footsteps,I cannot be identified as an individual.The life is too short ,whether you
choose or do not choose,you must die.I don't want to die as unrecognized fearing the short ditches on
my way.
'Face the problem, become tough, reach destination' is my philosophy.

4. Does the poet seem happy about his decision?

Ans. No, He is not happy about his decision. Because the title is "The Road not taken" not "The Road Less
Traveled". Though the last word of the poem 'difference' suggests a positive note/ expression, the word
is said with deep grief, according to the word 'sigh' used in the first line of the stanza.

Why does Robert Frost use the word "sigh" in the poem, "The Road Not Taken"?
In the poem, Frost uses the wordin the final stanzaas follows:
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
In context, the word is used both as a verb and as a noun. It is obvious that the speaker, at some future
date, will reflect on the decision he made when encountering the fork in the road. He will then, he
assumes, emit a sigh when he mentions the two diverging roads and the fact that he "took the one less
traveled."

It is clear the "sigh" is an expression of regret. The regret would stem from the fact that the speaker will
never know what difference the other road might have made. He will always wonder what the outcome
would have been if he had chosen differently. He does not regret making the choice he did.

The fact that the poem is titled "The Road Not Taken" further supports this idea. The emphasis is NOT on
the road which the speaker actually took, but on the other. Further emphasis for this lies in the evocative
line:
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
It is obvious the speaker will forever question what would be different if he had taken the other route.
This line clearly emphasizes, through the exclamation, that he will always be haunted by this thought
since he assumed, at the time, that he would have an opportunity to take this alternative route at some
other time. He clearly never had the opportunity to do so and will, therefore, always wonder about it,
expressing a sigh when he does so.

What does the phrase "ages and ages" mean in the poem "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost?
This phrase comes at the beginning of the last stanza of the poem:
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence
The poet has told us that he encountered two roads a metaphor, for two important decisions to make
and that he chose the less popular one, the one less traveled by. Now, in this conclusion, he
anticipates a time in the distant future so distant that it is ages away from the present moment
when he will tell others the story of the two roads. Many years will have passed. The poet will have had
many more experiences by then. Hes not even sure at this point where he would be living, in this future
time: it will just be somewhere. Perhaps all of his actions between now and then will have radiated
from this one choice he made, which will by then be in the distant past. Even as he makes this decision
of which path to follow, he sees this encounter as being one of the most important choices in his
lifetime; perhaps, even the most important choice. And this is why he already expects to want to tell
people about it, later.

What the meaning of the "yellow wood" in Robert Frost's poem "The Road Not Taken"?
The yellow wood in Robert Frosts poem The Road Not Taken provides details about its setting and
tone. The setting for a number of Frosts poems, including this one, is the state of New Hampshire.
During the New England autumn, the leaves on the trees turn colors, including yellow. In this poem, the
yellow wood speaks to the time of year and the type of day it is. The traveler comes upon the
divergence in the path on an autumn morning when the golden sun is shining through the leaves. Some
of the autumn leaves fell off the trees onto the paths below, which speaks to the movement of time.
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
The color yellow is associated with thoughtfulness and intellect. The travelers decision weighs heavily
upon him; he thinks deeply about which path to take.
Autumn symbolizes the passage of time as the year moves into its barren seasons. Although the traveler
says he will keep the unclaimed path for another day, he seems to know he will not be back, and he will
look upon the scene retrospectively. Those symbolic yellow woods will return to him in the autumn of
his lifehis golden years.

What does "trodden black" suggest in Frost's "The Road Not Taken"?
The speaker is walking in what he describes as "a yellow wood." This means it is fall and the leaves on
the deciduous trees have all turned yellow. The leaves on both roads are still partly yellow but partly
brown from being trodden on by walkers. Since it is still morning, the leaves have yet to turn completely
black from the dirt left by passing feet.
The two diverging roads and the trees all adorned with yellow leaves are part of a metaphor. The speaker
is evidently trying to make an important decision about where he will go in life. The fact that the yellow
leaves have not yet turned black suggests the speaker still has time to make his important decision. Still,
time is of the essence.

What impact did the path chosen by the speaker in "The Road Not Taken" make on his life?
"The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost is an ambiguous poem that can be interpreted in several different
ways. Depending on one's approach to the poem, the impact of choosing the "road less traveled by" can
be positive, negative, or negligible.
One common way of interpreting the poem is as a celebration of individualism and non-conformity. Frost
wrote the poem in 1915, and since then many readers have felt that the poem encourages them to strike
out off the beaten path and choose a way that suits them, not the way that most people are taking. With
such an interpretation, the "sigh" of the speaker "ages and ages hence" is a sigh of contentment for a
fulfilled life, and that fulfillment is interpreted to be what the speaker calls "all the difference." That is,
the speaker sighs in contentment because the choice to follow his own path leads to fulfillment--more
than would have been realized if the more traveled road had been chosen. Thus the impact of the choice
in this case is positive.
Another way, equally valid, of interpreting the poem is to understand the poem as being about how
irreversible decisions are. With this approach, readers focus on the fact that the speaker "doubted if I
should ever come back." Once a decision is reached, it is momentous, and there's no going back. In this
interpretation, one could see how the "sigh" of the speaker could be one of regret. In his old age, the
speaker may wish he had pursued a different path in life, but that one significant decision in his youth set
him on a direction that could not be undone. In this case, the impact of the road chosen is negative.
Finally, the third interpretation, and actually Frost's intent, is that the poem is a tongue-in-cheek jab at
indecisive people who make too much of any single decision. Some people deliberate too long over the
minutest choices, believing each one to be a life-altering action. In this case, the poem seeks to point
out, through melodramatic irony ("Oh, I kept the first for another day!"), that a small decision is really
just that--not something that one will reminisce about "ages and ages hence." Or if the person does
attribute such undeserved importance to a single choice, it will be because the person tends toward
hyperbole. In this case, "all the difference" is to be taken as verbal irony, meaning the opposite. In fact,
the decision is not consequential, and the impact on the speaker's life is negligible.

How is Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken" a metaphor for life?
Many people have interpreted Robert Frost's famous poem "The Road Not Taken" as a metaphor, or
extended comparison, for life. In the poem, a man who is out taking a walk in the morning comes across
a road that diverges, and he must decide which way to go. One path seems "less traveled by," although
not significantly so. The man debates a long time about which way to go, knowing that he won't get a
chance to try the other way once he makes his decision, and finally chooses the less traveled way. Then
he imagines a point in the future when he will tell "with a sigh" that choosing the less traveled way "has
made all the difference."
The process described in the poem is a lot like life. We start out in the "morning," or in our youth taking
the standard path that our culture offers us. Then there comes a point where a significant choice looms
ahead. It could be whether to go to college and where, or what profession to pursue, or what friends to
associate with, or whom to marry. To follow the analogy of the poem, the decision is made on the basis
of doing something that not everyone else has chosen. This reflects making a decision that is right for
one's personal preferences and talents--not just pursuing what everyone else seems to be pursuing. In
this sense, one makes an individualistic, non-conformist choice. It's a choice that can't be undone--once
a person heads down a certain path in life, it's often hard, if not impossible, to go back and start over.
What is the outcome, then? Later in life, the person looks back and sighs, realizing that the choice to
follow his own path has "made all the difference," hopefully in a good sense--that it has produced a
positive outcome and satisfaction by the time one reaches old age. Thus the poem can be interpreted as
an extended metaphor for a significant decision that influences a person's life.
How does the phrase long I stood (line 3) characterize the speakers deliberations when choosing
which road to take?
First, it's clear that the line "long I stood" suggests that the poet thought carefully about his decision.
Let's examine it in more detail. The first stanza of the poem poses a problem:
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
The problem is, of course, which road to take? But this is not a problem of finding his way, exactly;
presented with two routes, equally beautiful, which offers the greater pleasure? The poet is "sorry I
could not travel both / And be one traveller"that is, he is sorry he cannot somehow split himself into
two and travel both roads simultaneously. There is only one of him. He has to choose.
Part of the power of the poem is its immediacy. The reader can easily visualize the "yellow wood" and
the forked path. When the poet cranes his neck to look "as far as I could," it is as if we are looking with
him. When he stands there deciding, we wait with him. In fact, the next two stanzas can be understood
as what the poet is thinking about during this moment when "long I stood" trying to decide. If we
understand the roads as different paths in life, the poet's problem becomes more urgent. In traveling
one path, he forsakes the other; he thinks that maybe he can travel the other one later, but "knowing
how way leads on to way, / I doubted if I should ever come back." He makes his choice: the path that
appears less travelled.
The poem is less clear about the result of this choice, or if the poet's deliberation in making the choice
was the right thing. For one thing, in the final stanza, he says, "I shall be telling this with a sigh,"
suggesting that perhaps he now regrets his choice. Secondly, the title of the poem, "The Road Not
Taken," could mean that in choosing one road over the other, the poet has missed out on opportunities
that he regrets. It's entirely possible that when the poet "stood long" to make his choice, he made the
wrong one.

Explain the phrase "bent in the undergrowth" in Frost's "The Road not Taken."
This phrase appears at the end of the first stanza of the poem. It represents the point where the speaker
can no longer see where the first road he looks down will lead. We can visualize the speaker, who is
standing at a crossroads in the woods, being able to see down this road a bit. Then it bends and is so
overgrown that he can't make out where it is heading. He looks at it for a long time.
This "bent" that obscures where the road leads represents the fact that we can only see into the future
to a limited extent. If the fork in the road symbolizes a place where we have to make a choice in life, the
poem tells us that to a large extent, we have to make our choice through a leap of faith. We choose one
path but are not sure where another path might have taken us. The speaker will decide on the other
path, the road less traveled, but will never be entirely certain it was the best route to take.
The poem teaches us that in life we have to make decisions without knowing exactly what the outcome
will be--but there is no other way to live unless we want to stand paralyzed forever at a fork in the road.

In "The Road Not Taken," what does the traveler do when faced with a fork in the road?
When faced with a fork in the road, the traveler "look[s] down one as far as [he] could / To where it bent
in the undergrowth" (lines 4-5). First, he checks one road out, noting that he cannot see very far down its
path. Then, he decides to "[take] the other, as just as fair,/ And having perhaps the better claim,/
Because it was grassy and wanted wear" (6-8). So, he takes the second of the two roads, sort of
arbitrarily. It seemed a little nicer, perhaps, because it was grassy, but he notes that "the passing there/
Had worn them really about the same,/ And both that morning equally lay/ In leaves no step had
trodden black" (9-12). In other words, the same number of people have traveled each road because they
were "worn [...] about the same" and "equally lay" in leaves that had not been walked on that day.
He does, say, however, that when he is older, reminiscing about his life, he is going to tell people that
"[he] took the [road] less traveled by/ And that has made all the difference" (19-20). So, although he
takes a road that has been no less traveled (because they are equally traveled), he is going to tell people
that one was less traveled and that he chose that one. In other words, he is going to lie. Why? Because
we all want to believe that we make unique choices that ultimately have value and shape our lives and
give them meaning and direction. In the end, Frost seems to be saying that there really aren't unique
choices but it is human nature to say that we have made them anyway.

The lamb to the slaughter:

Mary Maloney: Mary Maloney is the main character of the story, a character that Dahl takes pains to
establish carefully at the beginning of this masterful short story. Mary is clearly a devoted wife to her
husband, Patrick. Dahl takes time to explain her care and love for her husband - her desire for everything
to be ready for Patrick's return, her selflesness (in spite of being pregnant) in waiting on him and so on.
What this carefully constructed portrait clearly does not prepare us for is the situational irony that
comes when Mary kills her husband, her ability to plan the "perfect murder" and likewise her "giggle" at
the end of the story, which rather disturbingly suggests a darker side to human nature that is in us all,
even the most "perfect" of people. Mary is a completely devoted wife. She adores Patrick and waits on
him like a maid. She is doting, attentive, and effusive. This may be why Patrick decides to leave. We are
never given a reason. He may have been having an affair as well. The author never makes this clear. As
for Mary, she feels completely comfortable and satisfied with her life with Patrick. She is six months
pregnant and it would appear that she has complete faith that their future family will be a happy one as
well. She is so happy, dependent upon, and we might even say addicted to Patrick that when he informs
her he is leaving, she cannot handle it.
The author doesn't give a word-for-word dialogue of how Patrick tells Mary he is leaving her. But by the
end of it, she knows the marriage is over and there is no hope of reconciliation. She is stunned and then
reacts quickly. In her shock (or conscious reaction), she kills him. Immediately after this, she becomes a
clear-thinking detective, determined not to be caught. She carries out her plan to perfection. When the
detectives eat the evidence, she laughs in the other room. The seemingly perfect, devoted wife reveals a
sinister side in this last line. She is a much more complicated and mysterious character than the opening
paragraphs would suggest.

In "Lamb to the Slaughter" by Roald Dahl, how is motivation used?

I believe that this question is asking about character motivation and what motivates that particular
character to act. Mary Maloney is a good character to use regarding motivation. When readers are first
introduced to Mary, she exists to serve her husband. She is patiently waiting for him to get home, and
once Patrick gets home, Mary flutters around the house getting him food and drink so that he can relax
after his day of work.

She wasnt really watching him, but she knew what he had done because she heard the ice cubes falling
back against the bottom of the empty glass when he lowered his arm. He paused a moment, leaning
forward in the chair, then he got up and went slowly over to fetch himself another.

Ill get it! she cried, jumping up.

I assume that her motivation at this point is true love. Maybe complete infatuation, but the end result is
the same. She is motivated to do whatever it takes to keep Patrick happy. When he announces that he is
leaving her, that motivation ends. Soon after, Mary kills Patrick.

Then Mary's motivation shifts to protecting her unborn child. The text tells readers that she is completely
willing to take on the punishment for her actions, but she is not willing to risk the life of her baby.

As the wife of a detective, she knew quite well what the penalty would be. That was fine. It made no
difference to her. In fact, it would be a relief. On the other hand, what about the child? What were the
laws about murderers with unborn children? Did they kill them both--mother and child? Or did they wait
until the tenth month? What did they do?

Mary Maloney didnt know. And she certainly wasnt prepared to take a chance.

Protecting her child is Mary's motivation. It is what causes her to plan out an alibi for the murder and get
away with her actions.

Justify the title of the story "Lamb to the Slaughter."

The title of "Lamb to the Slaughter" is rather ingenious because it has so many possible meanings. "Lamb
to the Slaughter" is more than a double-entendre; it might be called a "quadruple-entendre." A frozen
leg of lamb is used by Mary Maloney to "slaughter" her husband. That weapon once belonged to a real
lamb that was "slaughtered" in order to be used as food. Patrick is the one who is "slaughtered" in the
story. He is an easy victim of his enraged wife because, like a lamb going to the slaughter, he is
completely unsuspecting. Mary, who does the slaughtering in the story, behaves very much like a meek
lamb until her husband shatters her illusions by telling her that he wants out of their marriage. The
police who arrive on the scene do not suspect Mary because they have always considered her a very
meek, mild, gentle, patient woman, not unlike a lamb. The whole story is based on the fact that the
murder weapon is never found because no one would ever think of a murderer using a frozen leg of
lamb for the "slaughter."

How would you describe Mary Maloney's behavior before and after the murder in "Lamb to the
Slaughter"?
Before committing the murder, Mary behaves in the same way that she would on any other evening. She
prepares the home for her husband's arrival by lighting the lamps and then preparing the glasses for
their drinks. When Patrick arrives at the house, she removes his coat and fixes them both a drink.
After the murder, Mary washes her hands, "fixes" her make-up and puts the lamb in the oven before
going to the grocery store. There, she buys some vegetables before coming home and reporting her
husband's death to the police. When the police arrive, she answers some questions while they look
around for the murder weapon. In the middle of the search, she feeds them the leg of lamb she used to
murder Patrick.
What is significant about Mary's behavior before and after the murder is that she never deviates from
her domestic role. Before the murder, she focuses on the well-being of her husband. After murdering
him, she continues as normal, buying items from the store and then feeding the police officers at her
home. It is, perhaps, this continuity in her behavior that allows her to get away with her crime.

What are the instances of black comedy in the story "Lamb to the Slaughter" by Roald Dahl?
There are several instances of black comedy in Roald Dahl's "Lamb to the Slaughter." When Mary
commits the murder of her husband, for example, her reaction makes light of the violence which has just
occurred:

All right, she told herself. So I've killed him.

Next, after committing the murder, Mary tries to make herself appear as normal as possible. She washes
her hands, for example, fixes her make-up and practices her smile in the mirror. This scene is humorous
because Mary does all of these things while there is a dead body lying next to her.

Finally, Dahl uses black comedy to add humour to the final scene in the story in which the police
detectives are discussing the murder weapon. They have no idea that they are, in fact, eating the
weapon which killed their colleague, Patrick Maloney. The sense of comedy is further reinforced by the
image of Mary laughing in the other room.

Could you give an explanation for the title of the story "Lamb to the Slaughter" by Roald Dahl?
The more times that I am forced to consider the title of this story, the more I think it is the perfect title.

First, Mary is initially presented to the reader as a lamb. A lamb is typically docile, meek, and mild. Mary
is waiting in the front room for Patrick to come home. Once Patrick is home, she attends to his every
need and then quietly sits near him. She is perfectly content to bask in his glorious manliness.

She loved to luxuriate in the presence of this man, and to feel almost as a sunbather feels the sun
that warm male glow that came out of him to her when they were alone together.

She is the lamb and Patrick is the protector. That is until Patrick decides to metaphorically slaughter
Mary. He tells her that he is leaving her, and she is left completely devastated and broken. She is a
slaughtered lamb.

Mary goes to get dinner started in a daze. She's practically a walking zombie. Then Patrick announces
that he is going out to dinner. That's when the title of the story shifts meanings. Mary is now the lamb
coming to do the slaughtering. She is not the lamb to be slaughtered anymore. She is the lamb to the
slaughter of Patrick. What's even better is that she brings an actual lamb to the slaughter. Her murder
weapon of choice is a leg of lamb.

At that point, Mary Maloney simply walked up behind him and without any pause she swung the big
frozen leg of lamb high in the air and brought it down as hard as she could on the back of his head.

What is the purpose of Marys conversation with Sam, the grocer, in "Lamb to the Slaughter" by Roald
Dahl?
The purpose of Mary's visit to the grocery store and conversation with Sam is to establish a credible alibi
for herself.

Within the previous hour, Mary's husband told Mary that he was leaving her. Shortly after, Mary clubbed
him to death with a frozen leg of lamb. The text says that she is ready and willing to take the
punishment for herself, but Mary is not willing to risk her unborn child.

What does the domestic setting contribute to the story "Lamb to the Slaughter?"
The domestic setting of Roald Dahl's short story "Lamb to the Slaughter" presents a scenario in which
gender roles thrive within their socially-specific parameters. The setting also gives us a glimpse into the
lives of the Maloney's and shows us that Mary is invested in her lifestyle to a fault, particularly when she
realizes that life as she knows it may never be the same again. Additionally, the setting represents
everything that is important to Mary, thus driving her to make the ultimate choice to preserve what she
treasures most.

Within the story's setting, the characters play their gender-based and family roles on a daily basis: Patrick
embodies the role of "the man of the house." He is a provider, head of household, husband, and future
father. He also epitomizes manliness: He is a strong and seemingly dedicated police officer - a protector
of the safety and security of the people. Therefore, the setting contributes in many ways. First, it mirrors
the state of mind of Mary Maloney; it embodies safety, love, and marital bliss. Second, it is the most
important thing to Mary Maloney: It is her home, her fortress. Third, it is the scenery where the
Maloney's get to display their socially-expected roles to perfection: He, as the head of household, and
she as the angel of such household. The threat against such a setting of bliss and perfection means life or
death to Mary. It is not surprising that she makes the choices that she makes.

How does this short story represent dramatic, situational, and verbal irony?
"Lamb to the Slaughter" definitely has all three of those types of irony. The verbal irony might be the
least prevalent, so I'll start there. One of the last things the investigating officers say is about the murder
weapon.

"Personally, I think the weapon is somewhere near the house."

"It's probably right under our noses. What do you think, Jack?"

The line is ironic, because the murder weapon really is right under their noses. They are eating the
weapon as they speak.

Another example of verbal irony is when Mary says the following line:

I know that Patrick would never forgive me if I let you stay in the house without offering you anything to
eat.

It's ironic, because Patrick can't forgive her either way any more. He's dead.

The dramatic irony of the story is also the part where the officers are eating the lamb. Dramatic irony
occurs when the audience knows something that all or most of the characters do not know. In this case,
the reader knows that the lamb is the murder weapon. The police do not; therefore, they go about
happily eating it.

Situational irony is when something happens that is the opposite of what the reader would normally
expect to happen. I can think of two clear examples of situational irony in the story. The first is that
Mary Maloney clubs her husband to death with a chunk of meat. The story opens with her being the
perfect doting wife. She's practically a member of the Stepford Wives Club. It is completely unexpected
that she would kill her husband. The second major piece of situational irony is how Mary deals with the
murder. She is cool, calm, and collected. She goes about setting an alibi and getting rid of the murder
weapon. That one really took me by surprise.