Which word best describes mrs. patrick? a) dependent b) expressive c) intelligent d) isolated

A) dependent

Explanation:

"Lamb to the Slaughter" (1953) is a short story by by Roald Dahl (1916-1990).

The story is narrated in third person omniscient point of view.

Mary Maloney (Mrs. Patrick) is narrated as six-month pregnant wife. She is waiting for her husband to come home from his job as a local police detective. When he returns, she busies herself in bringing dinner for him, but Mr. Patrick indirectly tells her that he is about to leave her. This sudden discovery shocks her and she kills her husband with a frozen lamb leg. Next she goes to grocery shop, buys some items, informs police about the murder, cooks the lamb's leg (murder weapon) and makes them eat it.

Mary Maloney is over-dependent on her husband. At this stage (six months) of her pregnancy she needs her husband's support the most. In order to keep him happy she does everything even beyond her present condition. Her over-dependency on her husband shocks her the most, because if she had any alternative, she might have coped with this shock (her husband leaving her). Although she acts intelligently by avoiding any suspicion and cooking the murder weapon, but this intelligence is not part of her character. It was temporary and out of necessity to save her born-to-be child from the consequences.

She expressed her anger by taking the most serious action, but again this expression was out of a huge shock and not constant part of her character. Had it been constant part of her character, she would have been mentally ready to listen such a thing from her husband any time in their married life.

Yes, she was isolated but dependency is the most prominent characteristic of her personality. Moreover, before the murder, there seems no such evidence that she was isolated by her husband because in such a case she would have been accepting her husband's action, and this would not have shocked her that much.

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