They both became involved in their
partner's deaths, because they had been cruel with them; they touched the
bottom of the situation. Mr. Maloney was cruel leaving Mary while being
pregnant, and Mr. Foster torturing his wife with her pathological fear.
Both women planned it instantly. Mary
Maloney planned an alibi and had a murder weapon, but Mrs. Foster apparently
did nothing. She only deduced that her husband had stuck on the elevator, so
she took that opportunity to have her revenge. She didn’t have to plan an
alibi, because in theory, she didn’t knew about Mr. Foster being stuck on the
elevator, since she was in Paris with her grandchildren.
2. Which
story did you find more morbid? Why?
Lamb to the slaughter, Because you know
that there is no way they can find proves against her- you know all the
process, you know the alibi, and you just know that there is no way they could
blame her, which is disturbing, such as the fact that she gets an enjoyment
with what she has done (you can see she is giggling when she hears the
conversation of the policemen). The other one isn't so morbid, because you
don’t know if the husband got stuck by accident, or if it was planned by Mrs.
Foster. You don’t know if she is going to get rid of being she the main
suspect, so that makes it less morbid, although the idea of leaving her husband
starve to death on an elevator, is also disturbing.
3. Are
both story endings predictable?
No. You can predict that they are going to
have their revenge – but you can never guess how. I would never predict the black
humorous ending of lamb to the slaughter – Mary Maloney giggling as he heard
the conversation of policemen. Also, you can't predict that she is going to
kill him with the leg of a lam. That is ridiculous when you read it, but then
the cleverness of Mary is shown when she deletes the evidence serving it at the
policemen, and thinking of an alibi so quickly. It is almost the perfect
crime.
On the right way to heaven, you don’t know
what she hears that makes her change her mind, not until the end. You would
never think that her husband was stuck on the elevator since she heard those
noises on the other side of the door, and it’s never said in the story – you
have to deduce it at the end.
The only thing you can predict is that they
are going to have their revenge, but never how it will be.
4. Did
women win?
Yes, because both have an alibi. Mary
Maloney has eliminated the evidence, had a witness, and a very trustful alibi. Mrs.
Foster also won, because the only thing she did was to decide that her husband
could go the club alone, and no one could say that she knew he was stuck on the
elevator. Also because her alibi was to write letters to him every week,
although she knew he was supposed to be death.
5. Do
you sympathize with any of these two ladies?
I don’t sympathize with them because they
murdered a person, -although Mrs. Foster did it on and indirect way-; they were
not in their senses. Maybe at the beginning, when you notice the cruel
attitude of their husbands among them, you can sympathize with them, but then
they get revenge and are satisfied with that. In conclusion, I don't sympathize
them because they got satisfaction killing a person – although at some point
they deserved it.
6. Is
it OK for both of them to get away with their crimes?
There is a balance. The men made them suffer,
were cruel, in different ways. The policeman told Mary he wanted the divorce,
all at once, and she also killed him I all at once. Mr. Foster tortured Mrs.,
Foster constantly, he made her suffer slowly, and she also made him suffer,
leaving him alone stuck on the elevator, starving for death. They are guilty,
but their husbands decided their destiny by torturing them – by being cruel and
heartless.
