Writing Task

You have read the short story “The Landlady” a short story about a man named Billy Weaver who finds himself in the company of an unusual hostess yet feels compelled to stay. Write an essay explaining the word “dotty” as it is used on the first page and how it impacts the plot of the story.  Be sure to use specific evidence to support your response.

Student Response

“I stuff all my little pets myself when they pass away.” This is a disturbing line from the short story “The Landlady” written by Roald Dahl where he tells the story of a man named Billy Weaver finds an odd hotel but is persuaded to stay. He is greeted quickly by an old woman who is very bizarre and as the story progresses she becomes odder and odder. Through the landlady’s behavior, the author demonstrates what a strange situation Billy was in. Throughout the story, the landlady’s actions revealed the meaning of the author’s word choice of “dotty.”

At the beginning of the story, the author portrays the landlady as dotty through Billy’s thoughts and actions. As soon as the boy Billy opens the door, the woman is quick to emerge.  “He hadn’t even had time to take his finger from the bell button—the door swung open and a woman was standing there.”  Usually, when you press a button to enter a room or an elevator, it takes a while. Billy found it weird how quickly she came to the door but proceeded inside anyway. This describes how the lady appears dotty and how it impacts Billy’s decision to enter the bed and breakfast. 

By the end of the story, the landlady’s dotty characteristic is even more apparent when Billy spends more time with her. Billy has just discovered that no one has been at the bed and breakfast in over two years and both of the last names sounded familiar to him. The Landlady uses past tense to describe the men which is very strange. As she’s talking about the men, Billy describes the tea she’s giving him as tasting of bitter almonds. “The tea tasted faintly of bitter almonds, and he didn’t much care for it.”  Most know that the taste of bitter almonds a sign of poison, but Billy did not pay attention to this fact. The landlady kept asking Billy if he wanted more tea. This persistence further proves the landlady is acting unusual. She poisoned the man, and he didn’t even know it.  This is not normal behavior, but Billy failed to recognize the warning signs.

Through Billy’s thoughts and actions, the author describes the landlady as “dotty” because of her unusual actions, but because of Billy’s brisk actions, he chose to ignore the signs of danger. Roald Dahl wrote a suspenseful story in which the landlady constantly gave off an odd aura leading the reader to never know what could happen next. After the landlady’s actions and no one staying there for over two years, most would not consider this place as an option for their stay. If Billy had thought of the consequences, he would not have stayed either.

Writing Details

It is always fun to show off these essays in class. I never announce whose essay I’m using as an example, and usually, students do not immediately admit that the essay is theirs.

This was another one of those cases, but even if they’re shy, I’m not. Here’s another really good example of 8th grade writing from one of my 2020-2021 students.

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