Women are often depicted as fragile and vulnerable in literature, which influences how “Roald Dahl's Land Lady” is interpreted. To create suspense at the beginning of the story, Roald Dahl set the time at 9pm, which can be interpreted as a time when darkness takes over light, especially if we consider that darkness represents evil , the atmosphere changes from optimistic and adventurous to one of suspense. Dahl continues to use time as a simile to relate to the sinister topic at hand by stating that… “The wind was like a flat blade of ice on his cheeks”…. This shows that the wind was sharp and "deadly cold", the "flat blade" is associated with knives which is linked to the danger of being cut or injured. “He didn’t know anyone who lived here.” This quote shows that Billy is alone in a strange “new” city. It outlines his vulnerable position, where he has no one to turn to. This also shows that Billy's mood was uncomfortable due to having to be careful in an isolated area. Billy remembers a friend telling him that “Bath was a wonderful city.” The past tense is used in the quote to outline the past. This is further outlined in a later paragraph when Billy notes that “the houses were all identical” and that “the paint was peeling off the woodwork.” This once again explains why Bath "was" a splendid city. It's at this point that Billy notices a sign in the window that says... "BED AND BREAKFAST, BED AND BREAKFAST, BED AND BREAKFAST." Roald Dahl used alliteration to represent the sign as something supernatural and the character used indicates that it was almost as if the singing was shouting at Billy. Inside the house Billy glimpses the pleasant and friendly environment as he looks...... middle of paper ...... house when Billy finally enters his room and sees that the papers have been turned over and that there is 'it was ..."a hot water bottle placed between them for air"... This makes us think back to something the landlady said..."she is always ready"... We begin to wonder what her true intentions are. The landlady has not been given a proper name, which makes her seem more mysterious. She is a middle-aged woman who lives alone and owns a bed and breakfast. She's "slightly crazy" and her looks are as charming as ever. However, the landlady seems to fit this description until the end of the story. Just the clues that the last two guests were upstairs, the way she knew every little detail of their appearance but couldn't remember their names, and the fact that she was a taxidermist tells you that she's not the harmless woman who we are led to believe.