The Landlady Literary Devices Essay Example

The short story, “The Landlady,” is a story which takes place in Swindon. It is about a seventeen-year-old boy named Billy Weaver who originally thought to head to “Bell & Dragon;” nevertheless, he comes across a place called “Bread & Breakfast.” Billy meets a mysterious, old lady inside who behaves strangely. The lady, also known as “The Landlady,” ends up killing Billy Weaver by making him drink a poisoned tea. Besides, she had been killing other men in the past, too. In his short story, “The Landlady,” author Roald Dahl implies similes, indirect characterization, and foreshadowing to create a suspenseful story.

One simile from the story states, “Each word was like a large black eye staring at him through the glass” (Dahl). Dahl chose the figurative language of simile for this sentence to compare the words on the “Bed & Breakfast” sign to large eyes staring at him. This means that the Bed & Breakfast sign appealed to Billy profoundly. This plays a critical role to the plot of the story, since Billy Weaver’s choice to go into “Bread & Breakfast” has resulted in his death. Another simile writes, “His skin was just like a baby’s” (Dahl). This simile means that Mr. Temple’s skin was attractive and perfect, just like a baby’s. Moreover, Dahl chose the figurative language of simile for this sentence to show us that The Landlady has a charming opinion of Mr. Temple. This would make us think that The Landlady is talking weirdly, considering her old age. Finally, the last simile addressed is, “But this dame was a like a jack-in-the-box” (Dahl). Dahl chose the figurative language of simile for this sentence to compare the promptness of The Landlady opening the door to the toy suddenly popping up in a jack-in-the-box. This simile shows us that The Landlady was particularly waiting for someone eagerly because she opened the door instantly. This is important because it is true in the story how she wanted somebody to kill. In brief, the three examples of simile create suspense in the story by developing the deepness and description of the characters and plot through making comparisons.

One way indirect characterization is shown in the story is, “‘It's all ready for you, my dear,’ she said” (Dahl). Dahl chose the literary device of indirect characterization in this sentence for the readers to infer The Landlady’s character through her dialogue. Thus, the readers would think that she is acting like she had been waiting for this moment since forever because she says that the room is all ready right after she opens the door. Because of the tone The Landlady says this in, it represents indirect characterization, since we can predict her personality. The second way Dahl illustrates indirect characterization is, “I see someone standing there who is just exactly right.” She was halfway up the stairs, and she paused with one hand on the stair-rail, turning her head and smiling down at him with pale lips. “Like you,” she added, and her blue eyes travelled slowly all the way down the length of Billy's body, to his feet, and then up again” (Dahl). Dahl chose the literary device of indirect characterization in this sentence for the readers to infer that Billy Weaver is not thinking about his decision to continue inside the house even after The Landlady was acting oddly. His actions imply that he is not so clever. Finally, indirect characterization is shown “‘Not in the least,’ she said. ‘I stuff all my little pets myself when they pass away. Will you have another cup of tea’” (Dahl)? Dahl chose the literary device of indirect characterization in this sentence for the readers to think that The Landlady is weird and odd. Because of this action of hers, the readers would get to know the cruel side of her personality. To conclude, the three examples of indirect characterization create suspense in the story by slowly revealing a character’s personality in a way that makes us want to read more, therefore creating suspense.

The first way Dahl demonstrates foreshadowing is through the portion, “Holding her teacup high in one hand, inclining her head slightly to the left, she looked up at him out of the corners of her eyes and gave him another gentle little smile. ‘No, my dear,’ she said. ‘Only you’” (Dahl). Dahl chose the literary device of foreshadowing in this sentence for us to predict that The Landlady would kill Billy Weaver. For example, her body language and the last dialogue of hers would hint it to us without Dahl directly coming out and saying it. The second foreshadowing Dahl accomplishes is, “She was holding it well out in front of her, and rather high up, as though the tray were a pair of reins on a frisky horse” (Dahl). Dahl chose the literary device of foreshadowing in this sentence for us to predict that there is something unusual about the tea, since The Landlady is weirdly holding it high up. Hence, this foreshadowing led us to thinking that Billy Weaver would soon die. Last but not least, the final part where Dahl shows foreshadowing to build suspense states, “‘I’m almost positive I’ve heard those names before somewhere. Isn’t that queer? Maybe it was in the newspapers. They weren’t famous in any way, were they? I mean famous cricketers or footballers or something like that’” (Dahl). Dahl chose the literary device of foreshadowing in this sentence for us to assume that those people are the ones The Landlady killed in the past. This is because generally when news comes out in the newspaper about certain people, it means that a significant event has occurred. As a result, this is an indication that the ones Billy Weaver recognized were the people who The Landlady killed. Overall, the three examples of foreshadowing create suspense in the story by making the readers anticipate what would happen next in the story through the clues that the foreshadowing revealed.

In conclusion, “The Landlady” written by Roald Dahl, contains literary devices which grab the readers’ attention. Even though the interesting plot twist at the end drops the jaws of readers, the literary elements of this short story play the most prominent role of making it outstandingly suspenseful. All in all, through similes, indirect characterization, and foreshadowing in Roald Dahl’s “The Landlady,” Dahl develops a suspenseful story.