Bohlen congratulates Knipe on his work, and gives Knipe some time off. Thank you! !” “This is serious! resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel. The landlady is motherly, caring.... safe, and hospitable, and yet, she is anything but. As a first timer, he has a tendency to become intrigued easily and a want to experience more. “She should rot in hell!” “Wait a second,” the nurse said. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of "The Landlady" and Other Short Stories by Roald Dahl. Oswald probably ends up sleeping with the man's leprous daughter, contracting her disease as well. In Roald Dahl's "The Landlady," the conflict is both man vs. himself and man vs. man, or, in this case, man vs. very creepy old lady who kills handsome young men and stuffs them like trophies. “It was a landlady who poisoned you?” “Yes!!! !” Billy exclaimed loudly. Suddenly, Billy realized the true nature of the landlady. "It Let me call the police right away. The landlady asks Weaver if he signed the register, adding that she checks the log to help her remember the names of Mr. Mulholland and Mr. Temple. Taken from his The Complete Short Stories collection the story is narrated in the third person by an unnamed narrator and after reading the story the reader realises that Dahl may be exploring the theme of appearance. “You were just poisoned with potassium cyanide. The poison had been inside him for twenty minutes now, so he was taking in incredibly loud breaths. She was a terrible, old witch, killing and stuffing her poor, unfortunate victims. Mr. Weaver!” the landlady replied with a sinister smile. 2. Then he stood up, closed his suitcase, and exited the room. “Are you sure you wouldn’t like more tea?” “No, thank you. She quickly muttered to the lady behind the desk to get the police station on the phone. I’ll pack my things and leave in the dead of night. On the way to the hospital, Billy passed out and didn’t recover until ten hours later. About fifteen minutes later, the landlady walked up the stairs and peeked into Billy’s room. He stops at the boarding house of an old woman, and realizes that her interest in taxidermy may extend to humans. Don't judge based on the appearance of things. In "Beware of the Dog," Peter Williamson, a young pilot, is forced to crash-land after he loses a leg. eNotes.com will help you with any book or any question. The basic theme of the story is that a young man who is about to experience independence for the first time is embarking on his first important business trip. Dahl's early stories center around Royal Air Force pilots and focus on several dark aspects of World War II, depicting young men entering the battlefield and experiencing loss of limbs, friends, and sanity.