Question 4: Is The Landlady a continuation of the tradition of stories about women as witches, and which teach mistrust and caution.
A theme in the story The Landlady by Roald Dahl is “witchcraft”, it also, however, contains lessons relevant to today that are more important than they have ever been. The Landlady is not a witch by definition but she is very strange and some of her actions seem to be impossible, this gives the reader a creepy, mysterious, impression of her which can be associated with witches. “he pressed the bell …at once … the door swung open”. While this story does continue the tradition of women as witches I don’t think that that is the point Roald Dahl was making. The main point of the story is to warn people against the danger of trusting strangers who appear to be “slightly off their rocker”, I think Roal Dahl was also emphasizing the power of common sense over all other intentions. It couldn’t be a good idea to enter a boarding house with no guests, people don’t want to stay with the Landlady for a reason. Billy was impelled to the door against his common sense. “Billy decided that he would walk on and take a look at The Bell and Dragon … he turned to go … the next thing he knew, he was actually moving … to the front door”.
Question 2: What advice would Billy give to other executives?
If Billy lived through his stay at the bed and breakfast his advice to other executives would be to either to stay at the bed and breakfast or to keep away from it, it depends on the last part of his stay. The bed and breakfast might be a really good place for young businesses to stay if they are short of money, “it was fantastically cheap”. The Landlady might not be as dangerous as she is made out to be in the story. If Billy survived his stay then it is likely that she is just strange but not dangerous. He might warn them that she is “slightly off her rocker” and to be cautious but not afraid. On the other hand, he might have had to escape the bed in breakfast in order to survive. In this case, Billy would warn against staying in the bed and breakfast no matter what the sign “compelled” them to do. He would say that the Landlady is life-threatening and tried to stuff him like “all her little pets”, he might then recommend that the Bell and Dragon is a much safer option that is still economically friendly.
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