Lamb to the Slaughter

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Lamb to the Slaughter EssayIn the short story, Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl, Dahl uses the literarydevices of dramatic irony, foreshadowing, and imagery to depict a dark comedy bygrasping the idea of a tragedy becoming humorous.There are multiple uses and examples of irony throughout this short story thatrelate to the idea of a dark comedy. One key quote of dramatic irony comes from theend of the book stating, ³Personally, I think its right here on the premises.´ ³Probablyright under our very noses. What do you think, Jack?´ (pg. 324)This quote here showsus as that the detectives have no idea that they are actually eating the evidence of themurder right then and there. We, as the audience, obviously know what is going on andby Mary Maloney chuckling at that statement shows us that Dahl turned something ashorrible as murder into something that she laughs at in the end referring to the idea of dark comedy. Verbal irony is also represented in this piece of literature. When she goesto the market, she talks to the grocer and states, ³No, I¶ve got meat, thanks. I got a niceleg of lam, from the freezer.´ (pg. 320) This is verbal irony because it shows that whatshe is saying is basically telling the grocer what she used for the murder of her husband. The irony here is amusing, knowing the fact that killed the supposed love of her life and can so easily lie about it. So again, the verbal irony really catches the toneof the dark comedy that Dahl is trying to capture here. Both dramatic and verbal ironyrelate to each other in the sense that the audience feels the ideas of a tragedy assomething funny therefore, relating back to the overall picture of the piece of literate asa dark
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