Characterization of The Landlady

(by Ronny Gumilar, Hendri Sukma I., Bayu Tri Azie)

In this paper, we will analyze the characters in short story called landlady by Roald Dahl. Before that, we will summarize the story first. The short story “The Landlady” by Roald Dahl is a great example of a horror story that you don’t realize that this is a horror story until very end.

“The landlady” is a story about a young man called Billy Weaver who travelled from London to Bath in a business trip aiming to work. He was recommended by a porter in the train station to stay in The Bell and Dragon as a cheap hotel. On his way, he was hypnotized by a bed and breakfast sign in a boardinghouse. He pressed the doorbell, and before he could lift his finger from the bell-button, the door opened and a middle-aged landlady appeared. She treated him generously, giving him a floor of his own to stay on, and charging him much less than he expected. She was somehow creepy, which Billy didn't notice at all. In the inn's guestbook, he sees that only two other guests have stayed there-one older, the other younger, and both having arrived earlier than 2 years prior.
Billy finds the names vaguely familiar from the newspaper, and on further reflection recalls that they "were both famous for the same thing. (Going missing) The landlady makes a comment about one of the two boys in past tense, to which Billy comments that they must have only left recently. The landlady replies that both of the guests are still residing at the inn. Billy then notices that the dog by the fireplace and the parrot he had noticed earlier were stuffed as he looks closer and touches the dog to examine it. She then tells him, "I stuff all my pets myself," and offers him more tea. Billy refuses because the tea "tasted faintly of bitter almonds" (a characteristic of cyanide). The author ends the story at its climax; the reader infers what happens to Billy Weaver from the hints provided in the story.

And then, we will analyze the characters using several methods like a Type of character who’s become the major character, and who will be the minor character. And we also will analyze about their physical appearance, Personality, motivation, relationships, and conflict like this below:

1. In the Landlady short story, there are 6 characters in this story :

• Billy Weavers
• The landlady
• Mr. Greenslade
• Porter
• Christopher Mulholland 
• Gregory W. Temple

There are two Major character in the story, the first one is Billy Weaver as the Protagonist character because he plays a large role in the outcome of the story. And the second major character are the Landlady itself as the antagonis, these characters are important because they are not the pleasant person as they appear to be and are in fact ruthless murderers. These two characters are also a major character because they played an important role in the story’s progression.

The first evidence indicates Bill weaver is the main character because Billy Weaver is introduced right at the beginning of the story, and we learn the following about him immediately:

"Billy was seventeen years old. He was wearing a new navy-blue overcoat, a new brown trilby hat, and a new brown suit, and he was feeling fine. He walked briskly down the street. He was trying to do everything briskly these days. Briskness, he had decided, was the one common characteristic of all successful businessmen. The big shots up at the Head Office were absolutely fantastically brisk all the time. They were amazing."

"He had never been to Bath before. He didn't know anyone who lived there. But Mr Greenslade at the Head Office in London had told him it was a splendid town. 'Find your own lodgings,' he had said, 'and then go along and report to the Branch Manager as soon as you've got yourself settled.'"

Those quotations are the first personal description from the short story, and usually explained about the main character from the story. And for antagonis character in this story is the landlady itself is middle aged with a friendly and welcoming manner; but she does have a sinister motive to Billy. According to that, we know that she is the antagonis in this story.

Now, after we analyze the major character, we will analyze the minor character. There are 2 kinds of minor character :

1. Stock character = If the reader can imagine the flat characters actions beforehand, they are called as stock characters, stock characters are used for comic & Satirical Effects. They generally exaggerated. In Landlady there are 4 stock characters, The Porter, Mr. Greensdale, Christopher Mullholand, and Gregory W. Temple. They all are stock characters because their role in the story are not really influentual to the story such as the porter:

“Excuse me,” he said, “but is there a fairly cheap hotel not too far away from here?”

“Try the Bell and Dragon,” the porter answered, pointing down the road. “They might take you in. It’s about a quarter of a mile along on the other side.” 

Billy thanked him and picked up his suitcase and set out to walk the quarter-mile to The Bell and Dragon.

As we can see the porter role in the story only give suggestion to Billy to go to The bell and Dragon. After that he never appear again in the story.

2. Foil Character = Characters paired and intentionally set off against other characters to contrast their development of qualities. But we assumed that there no Foil character in this short story.

4 Type of Characters

In analyzing character, we could know there are 4 type characters that we could identified in this story.

• Flat character ; only one or two distinguishing traits; not fully develope.
• Round Character ; Fully developed character ; reader may feel they exist in life.
• Dynamic : Grows and progress to a higher level of understanding
• Static : Remain unchanged throughout the story Characterization

However, we only found 3 type characters in this story; they are a Round character, Flat character, and Dynamic character.

1. The type character of Landlady is a Round character as the story goes we all know the real intention of the landlady to the boy. From hearth warmed old woman into a cold blooded psychophat murderer.
2. Billy Weaver is Static Character because from the beginning his character did’nt change. He still an innocent young man.
3. And the Porter, mr. Greenslade, Christopher Mulholland, and Gregory W. Temple. They are included in Flat character, because they appeared only once or two time in the story and their characters are not fully develope.

• Physical Appereance

1. Billy Weaver’s Physical appearence : In this short story Billy Weaver describd as a tall, handsome, young man with beutifull looking Teeth.

“But they were incredibly handsome, both of them, I can promise you that. They were tall and young and handsome, my dear, just exactly like you.” 

“in fact I’m sure he was, and his teeth weren’t quite so white. You have the most beautiful teeth, Mr. Weaver, did you know that?” 

2. The landlady’s physical appereance : In this short story described as a quite old woman, and has very warming smile . Her eyes color are blue and has round shaped face. These are several phsical description about Landlady :

"She was about forty-five or fifty years old, and the moment she saw him she gave him a warm welcoming smile."

"She had a round pink face and very gentle blue eyes."

“She seemed terribly nice. She looked exactly like the mother of one's best school-friend welcoming her into the house to stay for the Christmas holidays”

"He noticed that she had small, white, quickly moving hands and red finger-nail."

With this appearance no one will suspect her as as psychopath murder. It proved with 2 victim that she killed and no one know about her act.

• Personality

1. Billy Weaver’s personality described as a pretty much a model citizen. At age seventeen, Billy is doing well, industrious, smart, thrifty, and not tied down by a family. He wanted to show that he independence young man. It described with the way he dresses in a rather old fashioned way, despite his young age. :

“He was trying to do everything briskly these days. Briskness, he had decided, was the one common characteristic of all successful businessmen”

“He had never been to Bath before. He didn’t know anyone who lived there”

“He was wearing a new navy-blue overcoat, a new brown trilby hat, and a new brown suit”

2. The Landlady’s personality described as a Good person with blue gantle eyes. However, we thought that there is something mysterious with the landlady.

"She seemed terribly nice. She looked exactly like the mother of one's best school-friend welcoming her into the house to stay for the Christmas holidays.“

“Seventeen!” she cried. “Oh, it’s the perfect age! Mr. Mulholland was also seventeen. But I think he was a trifle shorter than you are; in fact I’m sure he was, and his teeth weren’t quite so white. You have the most beautiful teeth, Mr. Weaver, did you know that?” 

In evidence above indicated that there is something odd and myterious about it. We discover that the landlady seem to have been expecting him, though this chances of this being true might seem impossible.

"He pressed the bell. Far away in a back room he heard it ringing, and then at once.

it must have been at once because he hadn’t even had time to take his finger from the bell-button

the door swung open and a woman was standing there."

“I saw the notice in the window,” he said, holding himself back.

“Yes, I know.”

“I was wondering about a room.”

“It's all ready for you, my dear,” she said. She had a round pink face and very gentle blue eyes.

“Thank you,” Billy said. “Thank you ever so much.” He noticed that the bedspread had been taken off the bed, and that the bedclothes had been neatly turned back on one side, all ready for someone to get in.

“I’m so glad you appeared,” she said, looking earnestly into his face. “I was beginning to get worried.”

• Motivation

1. The Billy Weaver’s motive in this short story is to seek a job and become sucesseful bussinesman. So, he left his family and started his carrier in new place.

“Billy thanked him and picked up his suitcase and set out to walk the quarter-mile to The Bell and Dragon. He had never been to Bath before.

He didn’t know anyone who lived there. But Mr. Greenslade at the head office in London had told him it was a splendid town”.

2. The Landlady’s motive is still unclear when the story began. Why she act kindly to the man that she never know before. She gave a cheap charge to the boy, at the end of the story we know that the landlady real motive is to make Billy as one of her art collection.

• Relationships

• Relationships between the two major character at first story we made to assumed that Billy and the Landlady is just only the hotel visitor and the owner of the hotel in which Billy will stay at night. Whereas in the end of the story we all starting to know the relation between Billy and Landlady become Victim and the murderer.