3. The Landlady By Roald Dahl

(1) Book Cover

Though a short story, the effect that Roald Dahl has made in this chilling tale is fantastic in producing an eerie paranoia for the reader. The protagonist Billy stays at a Boarding House with a suggestion that the Landlady poisons him by putting cyanide in his tea. This shown as the tea taste of almonds:

“Not in the least,” she said. “I stuff all my little pets myself when they pass away. Will you have another cup of tea?” “No, thank you,” Billy said. The tea tasted faintly of bitter almonds, and he didn’t much care for it." (5)

For those who don't know, if anything tastes like almond, apart from almonds of course, it can suggest cyanide poisoning, with victims of this poison tending to smell of almonds: 'In murder mysteries, the detective usually diagnoses cyanide poisoning by the scent of bitter almonds' (Lutz). Placing this in the story in such a light tone subtly and cleverly communicates the dangers of the Landlady.

Further suggestions of food and poison can be seen through the rest of the short story, where Dahl has focused on the use of senses as a way of portraying the foreshadow of Billy's fate at the boarding house:

"Billy started sipping his tea. She did the same. For half a minute or so, neither of them spoke. But Billy knew that she was looking at him. […] he caught a whiff of a peculiar smell that seemed to emanate directly from her person. It was not in the least unpleasant, and it reminded him – well, he wasn’t quite sure what it reminded him of. Pickled walnuts? New leather? Or was it the corridors of a hospital? “Mr Mulholland was a great one for his tea,” she said at length.” (4)

(2) Cyanide Teacup

Peculiar about this description is Billy's lack of reaction to the strange comparisons he makes to the smell of the bed and breakfast, referring to hospitalized smells and leather, suggesting to the Landlady's hobby in taxidermy, but also her more sinister motives. The feeling of her watching over him as he drinks his tea, the taste of his tea and chilling warmth of the fireplace further this foreboding.



Overall, the text is valuable in presenting an effective form of foreshadowing, but with a tantalisingly sinister open ending. The reader can feel the eeriness of the boarding-house, as well as several the visible suggestions of what could later become of Billy.

Film

Although its effects and acting are a bit dated, I found a ITV film of the short story it is still a good watch to understand the interaction between Billy and the Landlady. 

Works Cited:
(1) Goddard, Tasha. The Land Lady - Patternmash Project. 2015. England. TashaGoddard, http://www.tashagoddard.com/2015/02/02/the-landlady-patternmash-project/.Accessed February 2017.
(2) BeatUpCreations. Cyanide Poison Altered Vintage Tea Cup. n/a. United States. Etsy. https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/502072707/cyanide-poison-altered-vintage-tea-cup?ga_order=most_relevant&ga_search_type=all&ga_view_type=gallery&ga_search_query=cyanide%20tea&ref=sr_gallery_1. Accessed February 2017.
Dahl, Roald. The Land Lady. 1959. England. Reprinted: David Highham Associates. https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/sites/teacheng/files/landlady_text.pdf. Accessed February 2017. 
Lutz, Diana. Beware the smell of bitter almonds: why do many food plants contain cyanide? 2010. Washington University, St. Louis: The Source. https://source.wustl.edu/2010/07/beware-the-smell-of-bitter-almonds/. Accessed February 2017.