Theme Notebook

Aug 16, 2010

Betrayal Scars the Soul

     In the story 'Lamb to the Slaughter', by Roald Dahl, 'betrayal scars the soul' is a key theme. Meaning that if one is betrayed, it is a hard labor to get over. When Patrick came back from work and told Mary that he was leaving her; despite all the love that Mary had for him. Mary was outraged and killed Patrick with a frozen lamb leg. When Patrick left Mary she could never quite get over why he would leave and this left a hole in her heart. Who would earn money for her and who wil she cater to. When she tried to go back to her normal life, it was a difficult process because she was going to live a life without a husband. She will never be able to properly raise the baby, because she can not take care of a kid and raise money by herself. Altogether, it would be impossible for Mary to be a mother as well as a money earner due to the effects of Patricks betrayal.

     In this article "Assassination and revenge", the Sikh people felt betrayed as well. When the Indians were living normally, the Sikhs came and murdered their prime minister, Indira Ghandi. The people who murdered her were, what she thought to be, the guards in front of her house. The leading to this death was because the Sikhs were seeking vengeance for the invasion of their holiest shrine in Amritsar. Many of the Sikh people were captured and they were outraged. The Sikhs also thought that they were discriminated against by the Hindu population and tension has been rising causing the attack. "Even though they got there revenge though, they will still never recover from the everlasting hate that has been passed back and forth." as stated.

     "Betrayal scars the soul" mean that if wrong has truly been dealt to you, than it may be impossible to overcome, even through a large scale of time. This applies to Mary Maloney because even though she tries to recreate her normal life, it can never be fully possible. As for the Sikh people, they may have gotten vengeance, but they will never be able to eliminate the heat that they share with the Hindus. No matter how hard someone tries, if they have truly been hurt, it can never be fixed.