Lamb to the slaughter

Today we read a short story called “Lamb to the slaughter” by Roald Dahl. The whole class then wrote some questions each, and I’ve picked two of them to answer in this blogpost. Roald Dahl is a British novelist and short story writer. He was born in Wales and had Norwegian parents. In addition to “lamb to the slaughter”, he has also written “Charlie and the chocolate factory” and “the BFG”.

When was this short story written and what would be the penalty for killing if she was caught?
-    The short story was posted by Harper’s Magazine in September 1953, after being rejected by The New Yorker. If Mary Maloney were to be caught for the murder of her husband, she would have been sentenced to death. Death penalty was not suspended until 1965 in England.

What could the husband be telling his wife that was so bad she had to kill him?
-    It does not say in the story what Mr. Maloney tells his wife when he comes home. But from the way Mary Maloney act and from her thoughts, we can presume it’s something along the line of him leaving her. Maybe even for someone else.