'Lamb of the Slaughter': Mary Maloney Character Analysis

Throughout the short story “Lamb of the Slaughter,” Mary Maloney is explained with characteristics similar to the characteristics of a psychopath. According to dictionary.com a psychopath is explained, “a person with a psychopathic personality, which manifests as amoral and antisocial behavior, lack of ability to love or establish meaningful personal relationships, extreme egocentricity, failure to learn from experience, etc” (dictionary.com). Mary Maloney’s psychopathic characteristics include need for stimulation/boredom, lack of remorse, manipulative, pathological lying, and failure to accept responsibility for own actions. As the story progresses each characteristic becomes clearer until the point of Mrs. Maloney’s characteristics finally show that she is a psychopath. Even after, giving these characteristics, many would be able to argue that the Mrs. Maloney committed the murder in the heat of the moment due to the husbands hinting to Mrs. Maloney a divorce. The first characteristic that becomes clear in the story would be the need for stimulation/boredom. The narrator explains Mrs. Maloney as a lonely wife when the narrator states, “Mary Maloney was waiting for her husband to come home from work” (Dahl 1). The narrator then goes on to explain Mary waiting for her husband to arrive home when the narrator states, “When the clock said ten minutes …show more content…
Mind you, she wasn't expecting to find anything. She was just going home with the vegetables. Mrs. Patrick Maloney going home with the vegetables on Thursday evening to cook supper for her husband.” (Dahl