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A short story which has an unexpected ending is 'The Landlady' by Roald Dahl. The writer uses clever structure and effective characterisation to create such a surprising and satisfactory finale.

The story is about a young man named Billy Weaver. He is just starting a new job in Bath and, whilst looking for accommodation, he comes across a compelling Bed and Breakfast. He can't walk away from the building and ends us ringing the bell. He barely takes his finger away from the bell when, what appears to be, a charming middle-aged lady greets him. The Landlady tells him how inexpensive it is to stay there so he promptly accepts and enters the boarding house. However, Billy is unaware that he has entered the home of a taxidermist. The Landlady poisoned Billy's tea and the reader can assume, because of the subtle clues woven into the fabric of the story, that she has stuffed him, along with her two other previous guests.

One reason why the story's ending is so unexpected is that the Landlady is portrayed as a magical and mysterious character. She moves around very quickly and slyly, "The dame moves about like a jack-in-the-box". She also has an unnatural interest about her young male guests, "There wasn't a blemish on his body". Her appearance is quite chilling and quite contrasting, "Small, white, quickly moving hands and red finger nails". It is quite strange that she has this colour of nails when she is an old lady. The Landlady also always refers to young Billy as "my dear" which is reminiscent of the predatory wolf in Little Red Riding Hood.

Billy is portrayed as a young and spruce man. This is shown by his new work clothes, "He was wearing a new navy-blue overcoat, a new brown trilby hat, and a new brown suit". The repetition of the word new also emphasises the fact that he is very excited about his new job and has to be very prepared. Roald Dahl also portrays Billy as an ambitious young man. He looks up to the the "big shots up at Head Office" which shows that he is young because he aspires to be at the top in the future. Billy's vocabulary "fantastically", "amazing" and "splendid" all reveal an eager enthusiasm for life. He is also naпve. Despite the strangeness of the landlady, he views her as "harmless" and also "kind and generous". This creates the impression that Billy has led a sheltered upbringing and that he has been brought up to be a very polite young man.

The plot has been cleverly structured to create a frightening and chilling tale. This is almost like a fairy tale in its construction. Many fairy tales have a villain and a hero, which is true to some extent in this story. The landlady is portrayed as the villain in the story. She seems to have an eerie and somewhat magical sense about her. At the beginning, she appears to be kind, offering Billy tea. What is unknown to the reader and Billy is that the tea is actually poisoned. This reminds the reader of 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs', where Snow White is offered the poisoned apple by the witch. The writer has drawn up on these traditions so that the reader is able to associate the Landlady with a character they already know well. This makes it easier for the reader to understand the personality of the Landlady.

The writer uses clever structure to make the boarding house seem like a nice place to stay at first but then gives certain clues which suggest otherwise. When Billy signs his name in the visitor's book, he recognises the other guests who have stayed there, "They sound somehow familiar". This is quite suspicious because they are just two random men, however he seems to know them for the same reason. The writer also, at the beginning of the story, portray the animals differently to what they actually are, "a pretty little dachshund was curled up asleep with its nose tucked under his belly". This makes the boarding house seem very pleasant, with peaceful and attractive animals resting within. However, the truth about the dog is revealed later in the story, which does not make the boarding house seem as nice as it appeared, "I could have sworn it was alive". It is revealed that the dog is in fact dead and has been stuffed, which doesn't give a nice impression of the house.

Another clever feature of the structuring of this story is the use of enigma and the deferral of information. The Landlady seemed to know precisely that Billy was going to arrive at her door, "It's all ready for you my dear". This creates tension because it makes the reader wonder why everything was set up. It suggests that the Landlady has psychic abilities which are quite strange and mysterious. Another strange aspect of the Landlady actions is her ability to move extremely quickly, "He presses the bell. Far away in