3 -- Escapist + Interpretive Literature

After two days (and two ex of interpretive lit) I gave students the story "Lamb to the Slaughter." 

www.classicshorts.com/stories/lamb.html

I read the first page (it's short too) aloud and then told them to finish and complete a theme analysis worksheet. One of my (many) curriculum coordinators was part of a PA reading council; one of their studies found that reading to students, even those in sr high, was a benefit and fostered better understanding.  So, I did that often.

The plot of "Lamb" involves a loving, pregnant wife who kills her husband (the implication is that he's cheating) with a frozen leg of lamb, and then tries to get away with it. In the end, she convinces detectives, who are looking for the murder weapon, to sit and eat the now cooked lamb. One of them says, "It's (the weapon) probably right here under our noses."  The wife hears this and giggles, end of story.

Students are usually surprised by the difficulty of completing the analysis sheet. The story seems less taxing than the first two ("Regret" & "Use of Force"). I direct attention to me in front, and ask for answers to the worksheet. Obviously, the external conflict pits the wife vs her husband, and the wife vs the detectives. Most students then say the internal conflict has to be the wife vs herself (yes, I always wrote it that way). So I asked them to think for a minute and then decide if the wife really was in conflict about the murder --- "Did she think of turning herself in?"   "Did she feel anguish for her husband?"  So, she has no internal conflict. 

At this point, I begin a discussion about escapist and interpretive literature, using popular movies as examples --- Batman, James Bond, Indiana Jones --- maybe show the first few minutes of "Temple of Doom." The goal obviously is to emphasize the black & white/good vs evil nature of escapist films. We'd discuss why these films are so popular when everyone knows the ending (James Bond is going to get the girl and defeat the bad guy). They require no thinking, and the protagonists make us feel better about ourselves with sympathetic heroes whose victories we can share. The ending is optimistic. Suspense and irony are the key literary elements. If there is a theme, it is one of good triumphing over bad. Escapist movies, though wildly popular, rarely win academy awards. Those Oscars go to films that are more difficult to watch, sometimes making us cringe. We don't enjoy seeing the protagonist humiliated, with a life spiraling downward.

We should now be nearing the end of the class. Returning to the theme analysis worksheet, I suggest that students finish the sheet by writing that the main conflict is external, and the theme is the (ironic) victory of good vs bad.

If there is time, you might discuss irony, but I think that's best left for another day when you can call on "Lamb to the Slaughter" for examples of the literary device.

Again, I may be gliding over this too quickly, and there may be places where I should go into more detail. I'll be happy to answer any questions in greater detail.