Introduction
It is quite common for initial literary works and their further film adaptations to have a number of differences in plots and characters’ behaviors. Such a situation refers to the short story “Lamb to the Slaughter” by Roald Dahl and the short film Lamb to the Slaughter by Alfred Hitchcock. While the two artworks cover the same event, the differences that the film version by Alfred Hitchcock contains make it more suspenseful and intriguing, while the way Mary Maloney is depicted does not cause sympathy for her.
Scripts
To begin with, it is necessary to indicate that the general plot is similar in both versions. The way Mary punishes her husband and then covers her crime are quite similar, but the changes Hitchcock introduces to the plot allow for the better inclusion of the audience in the story’s events. For instance, while the readers are not entirely informed of the news the husband brings to Mary, they can understand that they are about the couple’s future divorce (Dahl 34). At the same time, in the movie, the viewers are present in the whole conversation and hear everything that the man says while being able to accurately evaluate his words and Mary’s following actions (Lamb to the Slaughter 00:03:55-00:04:20). Further, it is essential to notice that the movie director decided to add more communication between the wife and the husband, allowing them to argue and defend their decisions.
The Main Character
Further, it is also possible to discuss how the actions and behaviors of Mary from the text and the movie are similar and different. Overall, in both versions, the wife is portrayed as a gentle, caring, loving, and quite soft person – in the movie, these characteristics can be seen even in the way the actress moves and speaks. Further, her reaction to the murder is quite similar as well – Mary perceives it coldly and begins to think how to pretend innocent. As for the differences, as mentioned above, the wife tries to argue with her husband in the film – even though she is shocked by the news, she tries to express her opinion and even threatens (Lamb to the Slaughter 00:03:55-00:04:20). In the short story, the narrator tells that Mary does not even believe the man, pretends like she did not hear him, and never tries to impact his decision. Finally, at the end of Dahl’s story, Mary is described as giggling, allowing readers to pity her (Dahl 131). At the same time, in the final scenes of the movie, the viewers see her laughing almost like a maniac.
General Impression of the Two Stories
Overall, it is possible to say that the text by Roald Dahl and the short film by Alfred Hitchcock should be treated as two different and independent artworks. Both Dahl and Hitchcock managed to see, interpret, and show the story in their own way, allowing their audiences to compare and contrast them and decide which interpretation suited them more. In the movie, the character is more of a cold and calculating female who seems to have been planning the murder for some time. However, the short story is more direct and structured, with Mary Maloney being a victim of circumstances whom the viewer wants to sympathize with. Overall, precisely the latter is the reason why I find Dahl’s version to be more believable and prefer it over the movie.
Conclusion
To draw a conclusion, one may say that the short story and the film are indeed two masterpieces that offer varying perspectives on a woman and the terrifying situation she gets in. The differences between several scenes and the behavior of the main character create dissimilar atmospheres – in the text, it is more sympathetic, while in the movie, it is more intriguing and suspenseful. Therefore, while the readers empathize with the female, the viewers can feel that this murder is not entirely unplanned, meaning that Mary from the movie does not necessarily deserve sympathy.
Works Cited
Dahl, Roald. “Lamb to the Slaughter.” Commonlit, 1953, Web.
Lamb to the Slaughter. Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, 1958.