First, she seems like a typical house-wife longing for her husband to return, but something is odd about this particular day; "There was a slow smiling air about her, and about everything she did...was curiously tranquil...the eyes, with their new placid look, seemed larger, and darker than before" (108). It was almost as if she is expecting something unusual to happen, and that she is preparing for that specific moment. In addition, her actions change from being a wife-pleasing-husband,

to a self-conscious woman that knew all of a sudden, exactly what to do, as if she had been prepared for months. Also, in the beginning of the story she is described as a inoffensive, harmless person, but immediately after her husband reveals his burden, she becomes unstable and almost naturally she hits her husband. She "...simply walked up behind him and without any pause she swung the big frozen leg of lamb...and brought it down as hard as she could..." (111). And as strange as it looks, she goes somewhat through a metamorphoses, from being a content house-wife, to a maniac, possessed woman, to the point of killing her husband.

Finally, her personality creates in her a dynamic characterization, and as the reader observes it when she is talking to the shopkeeper, by saying something very odd: "'I got a nice leg of lamb from the freezer...I don't much like cooking it frozen...but I'm taking a chance on it this time. You think it'll

Some common words found in the essay are:
Roald Dahl, Lamb Slaughter, Mary Maloney, Essay Characterization, lamb slaughter, husband reveals, roald dahl, dynamic character, indirect characterization, leg lamb,
Approximate Word count = 637
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)