3. Speak on the means of creating suspense and its role.

Lamb to the Slaughter

Mr. Loveday’s Little Outing

Summary of the story:

The story is written by Roald Dahl and tells us about a young woman who killed her husband because of the egoism and betrayal he showed while telling Mary about leaving her because of going to the other woman.

The story is written by Evelyn Waugh and tells us about the man who was sent to the asylum by his family and who tried to find support in his daughter, but she decided to help not his father but the man who committed a crime.

Narration:

Both the stories are told from the 3^rd person narration which helps us to be more objective and make right conclusions.

Development (body):

Suspense is shown in the stories with the help of different devices.

In this story we can observe skilful sustention of suspense. The action in the story is highly suspenseful from the very beginning. We can see it in the conversation between the wife and the husband when we are surprised by the coolness of their relationship. She is in deep love with her husband, is committed to him and his wishes, is so caring but it comes to us a great surprise when she, having known the truth, comes to the kitchen as if under hypnosis, takes the lamb and kills him with it. The reader is really startled and puzzled by the unexpected turn of events. When Mary becomes frightened before hearing bad news we understand that something bad is going to happen. Mary kills her husband and we can understand her in some way, that he betrays her while she is pregnant, she devoted her life to him; but we can understand the husband who didn’t expect his wife to attack him behind his back. The plot thickens when she tries to create an alibi. But it arouses an even greater interest in the reader. I suppose there is withholding information in the text which is that the reason for the husband’s leaving Mary is not important. In fact the author didn’t want us to justify anybody, we should just look at it from both sides. Nevertheless the author continues to play with the reader’s expectations and finally the climax comes as a complete surprise for us, when we find out her being so egoistic and calculating. And her feeding the husband’s friends with the lamb, a murder weapon, is a real twist-in-the-tale.

Since the very beginning the author keeps the reader in suspense and it seems that something bad is constantly going to happen. The author raises certain expectations in us when we find out that Lord Moping is in the asylum because he can’t live that life his wife lives. She does everything to prolong his staying there, but soon his daughter comes to see him. Father found in her the only chance for getting help as he is tired of pretending a fool.

Nevertheless the plot thickens and the tension rises as the plot moves on. Lady Moping finds Mr. Loveday a nice man and was oppressed by a sense of injustice that such a kind man was in the asylum. She talked to the man and asked him whether he would like to enjoy a little outing. He agrees and I suppose here comes the point of no return as it is obvious that he is going to commit a crime again, the author gave a hint at some future events.

Nevertheless surprise in the ending is high. And a feeling of tense excitement is created when we realize he did it again. Here we can say that the story is a deep psychological analysis as to my mind Mr. Loveday could have committed this crime because 35 years ago he didn’t do it and was sent to the asylum by mistake. And it’s not surprisingly that during these years he could come to the thought of committing it in reality.

Conclusion (summing up and personal impression):

The author shows his ability to keep the reader in suspense and skillfully uses the techniques of suspense and surprise in the story. Suspense in this story is created with the following means:

• Letting the readers know that something bad is going to happen;

• Withholding information.

Suspense in this story is created with the following means:

• Letting the readers know that something bad is going to happen;

• Having otherwise unrelated characters be at the same place at the same time;

• Withholding information.