Essay on The Landlady: Deceiving Demeanours and Fraudulent Facades

“Because an illusion is an illusion. Reality always exists despite the facade,” is a quote by Kasie West that highlights the importance of looking for the truth beneath all charming exteriors. This theme of appearance and authenticity is found in Roald Dahl’s short story, “The Landlady,” where the naive protagonist Billy lodges at the bed and breakfast of a peculiar landlady. The landlady’s kind demeanour is enough for Billy to place his trust in her, a deadly mishap that results in his demise. This short story develops the idea that it is dangerous to blindly trust someone based on your prejudice or stereotypes, as outward appearances are never a true reflection of what lies beneath. This is a lesson that Billy faces throughout the story from his roaming in England to his eventual death.

The story begins with Billy wandering the streets of England, trying to look for lodging. Even before his encounter with the landlady, the story presents him with deceitful appearances in the form of houses when he notices that “the paint was peeling from the woodwork on their doors and windows, and that the handsome white façades were cracked and blotchy from neglect” (1). This line introduces the theme of facades and alerts the reader of its usage within the story. The houses seem nice from afar, but when observed closely, one can notice signs of neglect and unsightliness - the opposite of its initial allure. It would be foolish to draw conclusions on the houses solely based on what they looked like on the outside, a fact Billy should know for what awaits him.

After a while of drifting about, Billy arrives at the bed and breakfast. Unbeknownst to him, he encounters another deceptive guise when “he spotted a large parrot in a cage” (1). He then proceeds to think that “animals were usually a good sign in a place like this” (1). Based on his stereotypes of animals, he naturally assumes the best and lets his guard down. This assumption is later revealed to be completely wrong when he says “‘It [the parrot] had me completely fooled when I first saw it through the window from the street. I could have sworn it was alive,” (5) after he discovers that the parrot is actually dead, a rather ominous sign. Despite never moving or doing anything a living parrot would, Billy still assumed that the parrot was alive simply because it looked that way. What gives him reassurance is actually a warning in disguise, a caution of what and who will come of his stay if he never learns to look under the surface level.

Soon after his interaction with the parrot, Billy meets the landlady who immediately shows him extraordinary hospitality by offering a cheap stay and a water bottle between sheets. Billy quickly forms an impression of her, stating that “the fact that his landlady appeared to be slightly off her rocker didn’t worry Billy in the least. After all, she was not only harmless – there was no question about that – but she was also quite obviously a kind and generous soul” (3). Despite barely knowing the landlady, her courteous behaviour was enough for him to fit her into the role of a gentlewoman - blindly placing his trust in her. He feels the abnormality of the lady but decides to ignore it, even going as far as creating excuses for it, “He guessed that she had probably lost a son in the war, or something like that, and had never got over it” (3). Ultimately, his prejudice solidified his shallow impression of the landlady, leading to his demise.

In the end, Billy’s fate is cruelly sealed before he learns that a biased mindset will always distort your vision of one’s true nature. Leading up to his meeting with the landlady, facades in several forms are shown to him but he always brushes them aside with any qualms he had - letting his preconceived notions take over. Billy’s blind faith is ultimately what ends up killing him. Trusting in others is most definitely important as it allows us to develop genuine relationships; it is a lack of skepticism that leads one into a deadly position, or in the worst case of all, Billy’s position.

The story begins with Billy roaming the streets of England to look for lodging.