The
two lead characters in the story are Mary and Patrick Maloney, a married couple who are not very
high up the social ladder since they are a single income family with Patrick being the
breadwinner and Mary a housewife. They probably live in a middle class neighbourhood
since, Patrick works for the Metropolitan police, he is entitled to a number of social benefits
such as subsidised accommodation, medical benefits and so forth.
The story's
primary focus is Mary. Dahl's physical description of her in her pregnant state with the focus
on her mouth and her eyes, accentuates how innocent and harmless she appears. It is the type of
mouth one would expect to never utter a vindictive or disgusting word, and eyes which convey
innocence and trust, like those of a young child:
Her
mouth and her eyes, with their new calm look, seemed larger and darker than
before.
There is, however, a slight hint
of some malevolence in the description of her eyes as being 'darker
than before.' This, up to now, suppressed element of her nature, later shockingly comes to the
fore when she murders Patrick, creates an alibi, has the investigators eat the evidence, and
then giggles about it.
Mary is clearly a devoted, loving wife, who literally
spends more than a fair portion of her day anticipating and preparing for her husband's arrival
from work. She obviously dotes on him and has adopted a servile attitude. There is no mention of
her having friends or family in the story, so her world naturally revolves around Patrick. He
seems to provide meaning to her existence so she most probably is obsessive about him. It is
clear that Mary lives quite a mundane life and she has developed an almost monotonous routine in
preparing for her husband's daily arrival home. The author makes this quite clear:
When the clock said ten minutes to five, she began to listen, and a
few moments later, punctually as always, she heard the car tires on
the stones outside, the car door closing, footsteps passing the window, the key turning in the
lock.For her, this was always a wonderful time of
day.
it is pertinently clear that she
admired Patrick and had great affection for him and she at pains to ensure that he is satisfied,
as Dahl illustrates:
... she was satisfied to sit
quietly, enjoying his company after the long hours alone in the house. She loved the warmth that
came out of him when they were alone together. She loved the shape of his mouth, and she
especially liked the way he didn't complain about being tired.
Patrick Maloney's insensitive, abrupt and brusque manner towards Mary's kindness
immediately makes him an unlikable character. He is a policeman stationed at the local office
and he is clearly not in an affable mood. Mary intimates that he is dissatisfied with his
current position when she comments:
"I think it's a
shame, ... that when someone's been a policeman as long as you have, he still has to walk around
all day long."
Patrick probably sought some kind of
promotion which he hasn't received and he has to remain on the beat - a mind-numbing and
frustrating position to be in. He is exhausted at the end of the day, for he has had to walk the
same area he patrols. He has most probably become exasperated with this routine and the routine
at home that he has gone to seek, and found, some excitement.
When Patrick
tells Mary about his decision to leave, one assumes that he might have become involved in an
extra-marital affair. Mary, like his job, has become too routine, too dull and he wanted out.
His offhanded and uncaring manner informs of a cold and heartless individual.
"And I know it's a tough time to be telling you this, but there
simply wasn't any other way. Of course, I'll give you money and see that you're taken care of.
But there really shouldn't be any problem. I hope not, in any case. It wouldn't be very good for
my job."
Patrick clearly cares more about his
mundane job than he does about his wife and unborn child. This makes the reader feel that he
deserves his come-uppance when Mary retaliates (probably in a moment of temporary insanity) and
kills him.
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