Roald Dahl: Lamb to the Slaughter, the Cruel World of Adults

In Roald Dahl's short story "Lamb to the Slaughter," the prolific writer of children's stories preludes his work in such classics as James and the Giant Peach and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by writing about the violent and irrational world of adults. While he would go on to chronicle child characters who can get along despite the seeming insanity of their elders, this early short story demonstrates that the at times comic absurdity of adults would be a preoccupation of Dahl's.

In "Lamb to the Slaughter," readers encounter the story of the annoying husband of Mary Maloney, who upon coming home from work tells his wife in a detached tone that he is planning to leave her. While at first the husband seems to be the most absur

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