Lamb to the Slaughter: How Did Social Roles Allow Mrs. Maloney to Get Away with Murder

Amber Lopez Mr. Lopez AP English III February 4, 2013 Snapped How Mrs. Mal 1y got away with murder In the short story Lamb to the slaughter by Roald Dahl, Mrs. Maloney gets away with kill her save and nobody really suspects her of doing so because shes a woman. The setting and conviction period of the story plays a large quality because this is still an date of reference when men and women had gender roles. Mrs. Maloney isnt a suspect to her husbands murder because she had an alibi and one of the main reasons was she had the gender role of the typical house wife.In the story the detctives do not suspect Mrs. Maloney of killing her husband because her gender roles as a woman are creation fragile, reserved, incapable of doing anything that needs physical force, does nonentity but cook, clean, take care of the house, tend to her husband, and above all she is expectant which helps her get away with murdering her husband. Mrs. Maloney is the typical house wife that always tends to her husbands all(prenominal) need. When she kills her husband and the detectives come to her house to investigate his murder they do not expect her to have done such a thing.The detectives believed that her husband was accomplish behind the head with a heavy blunt object and her gender role being a woman let alone a expectant woman help her get away with murder. Since shes a pregnant woman her gender role helps her seem fragile and weak incapable(p) of carrying a heavy object and exerting enough force to kill someone, so thats one of the reasons she gets away with murder. Another reason Mrs. Maloney gets away with killing her husband is that she basically worshipped him, she lived for him. Mrs.Maloney did everything she possibly could make her husband a keen man, the way it should be in those times. In the story it shows how much Mrs. Maloney love her husband, and how she enjoyed being a house wife. The police officers and detectives notice that Mrs. Maloney seemed to be su ffer over her husbands death, and they didnt know about Mr. Maloneys intentions on leaving Mrs. Maloney, so it makes her olfactory sensation less suspicous. Last but not least Mrs. Maloney was a skilful woman, and created an alibi. Men in those times thought women were dumb, and they were also supposed to be virtuous and innocent.So when the detectives questioned her she had the perfect alibi. To men a woman could have neer been able to do such a thing because they were too innocent, and since they were considered dumb they knew she wouldve been caught if they would have killed someone. In Conclusion, the gender roles of women played a large role in the story because it hepled Mrs. Maloney get away with murdering her husband. The detectives obviously had stereotypes about her being the typical house wife and she played along, so Mr. Maloneys murderer go forth remain a mystery. DUN DUN DUN