Sunny Youth Journal

In the short story “The Landlady” by Roald Dahl, there is foreshadowing.

The first sign of sign of something not being right is when Billy turns to leave and “a queer thing happened to him. … All at once his eye was caught and held in the most peculiar manner by the small notice that was there. BED AND BREAKFAST… Each word was like a large black eye staring at him through the glass, holding him, compelling him, forcing him to stay where he was and not to walk away from the house, and… he was actually moving… to the front door of the house.” Though Roald Dahl describes the boarding house as warm and inviting, the out-of-the-ordinary happening instantly makes the reader suspicious. Also, Billy chooses not to go in there, but then the “magic” makes him.

Secondly, the woman immediately opens the door, even though the story explicitly says that “Normally… you have at least a half-minute’s wait before the door opens.” This makes people wonder, Was she waiting for him? Did she expect someone? It further increases the reader’s suspicions about something bad going to happen.

The third use of foreshadowing is when she tells him that she is picky and loves it when she sees someone exactly right. “She paused with one had on the stair rail, turning her head and smiling down at him with pale lips. ‘Like you’ she added.” She acts rather creepily, and the words turning her head, smiling, and pale lips clues the reader in about something not being quite right, if they didn’t notice already.

These are some of the places where Roald Dahl put forshadowing in this short story, and how it makes the story a bit unsettling.

Elon Musk is one if the most interesting people on planet earth. From SpaceX to Paypal. The rules/tips that Elon gave us where very important in humankind, the rules of being successful in life. It is true that everyone want to be as successful as him when we all grown up. Some may but some may not. This is depends on the time and effort they put on the think they are trying to achieve.

         Critical thinking is a very important life skill to have and is also a rule from Elon Musk. You need to think out if the box to get good result and a good leading pathway in your career. Risk taking may lead to good and amazing endings but also may lead to Very sad and scary ending. People have to take risks in order to know what he or her future hold. Juts like what Elon Musk did you took quite a bit of risks in order to become very successful. 

         Seeking criticism is one thing that people have to think ahead of time. So if you say you wanted to start a new business than you don't just think of yourself and the future ahead of you. You are also ned to think of the people around you and the hated comments they have in there mouth or on there tips of there fingers. Most people all around the world are approaching the time where they get criticized by other people when they are trying to do something.

The thing I like most about Elon Musk is that if he runs into a wall he always somehow finds a way past it. People know Elon as a great person but in the video people didn’t realize that Elon Musk was looking up on some other people. In real life Elon has been a really rich person because of all his successful jobs. So it began when he was poor and now he is the 20th richest person in the world. If you work hard you can be rich I like that’s what Elon Musk is trying to tell us. So I think he created the video because he wanted the people who would follow his footsteps to watch it and become even more successful.

“The landlady” is a story where everything is fine and normal at the beginning and then little by little it shows and gives clues in the text about what might happen to Billy.

Like what we discussed at the beginning of the meeting we had, at first, the setting was cold and gloomy and it doesn’t make you less aware of what might happen next because usually, people think that the more serious the setting, the more serious or sad the story that takes place in it.

The short story, “Landlady,” is about a young adult who is looking of a place to stay during his journey. He was going to this hotel when this sign caught his eye. This little house allowed people to stay for very cheap. So he decided to spend his night in there.

The person running the house is a very kind, old lady in her 50-60. He puts his name into this chart and sees that two other people have been here. But then he noticed that they have not left yet. The lady says that they are in a different floor. They drink some tea by the fireplace, but something didn’t smell right about in it.

I think the theme of this story is to not make assumptions about strangers. I believe this because in the beginning the landlady seems very nice, but later you can see that she is a bit creepy. One example of this is when she said that the other people were on a different floor, but the lady claimed that she has been very lonely this whole time. Another example is that she stuffed her pets to make them seem alive. And the last reason I believe she is creepy is that I think she killed the other two people by poisoning them. I think that she poisoned the tea. And that is why it smelled weird.

In my opinion, I feel very strongly that the short story, The Landlady is a horror story. Think about it, In the beginning, it is a dark and rainy day. That is how almost all scary stories are told. The author, Roald Dahl, used a lot of words like deadly or words that mean death in the beginning.
When Billy sees the Bed and Breakfast, he goes straight to it, it sticks out from all the other houses, with paint fading. The flowers next to the window are common in funerals. Billy peeks inside and sees a dog lying down next to the glowing fireplace. Then, he goes inside and meets the landlady, who allows him to rent a room. The landlady acts really kind, she offers to make the price of his room cheaper, plus, the Bed and Breakfast have very cheap rooms. Billy then realizes that the dog is stuffed. In fact, all the animals in the room are stuffed after dying.
After Billy goes into his room, he is asked to sign his name in a notebook in a drawer. Billy then sees that the last entries were from years ago. There were two entries, and that the news said that there were two missing people. The Landlady then tells him that the two people are still in their rooms. They were stuffed, just like the other animals. Later, when they are having tea, the Landlady keeps on shutting him down when he asks about it. Billy thinks that the tea he has tasted like bitter almonds, which actually contain a type of poison.
In the end, Billy probably died from the tea of just like the other two people, got stuffed. The message is deception, then Landlady, who acts very nice at the beginning is the one who kills Billy. These are my reasons why I think that the Landlady book is a horror story.

The short story, Landlady, is about the seventeen-year-old Billy Weaver, who thought the owner of a hotel was fairly nice, although she probably poisoned the previous guests. I believe this because why would hotel guests stay at the same hotel for two to three years? If they did, is it not odd, or in fact very peculiar for one to do so? Usually, one would stay at a hotel for a week or so, and then visit somewhere else. Well, since all of the landlady’s guests drank tea, I think she added poison to their cups and then put the bodies on the fourth floor.

In the story, the landlady apparently stuffed her dead pets to make them look realistic, which is quite odd. Typically, pet owners would burry their pets or do something else with their bodies to pay their respect. Due to the reason that the landlady stuffed her pets- and made them look tremendously real, Billy thought she was really nice and caring (pet owners tend to treat their pet as best as they can to make them feel comfortable and welcome).

I think this story was teaching people to be careful and do not look at how they treat you at first, but look at their true character to discover whether or not they are who they seem. For example, one may seem really helpful and help you carry your groceries when walking to your vehicle, but they may end up doing something bad to you.

Elon Musk. You may have heard of him. Some people think Elon Musk is crazy. Actually, his SpaceX company is very helpful for everyone, well, nearly everyone. What is it’s goal? They have lots of them, but today there is one goal that is very important and ambitious.

As you may have heard, SpaceX recently made history. This is just one of its achievements. Now, they are already working on another goal, called Provide good internet for everyone on Earth, even in the most remote of areas. Elon has a clear goal to get at least 1000 satellites into orbit, for good internet for all, with an approved aim of a whopping 12000!

SpaceX’s satellites are called Starlink internet satellites. Some of the new satellites have new technology called Visor_Sat. They will have a ‘visor’ that will dim the brightness of the equipment. It will act a bit like a sun visor on a car’s front windshield.

However, lots of star watchers and scientists have recently been protesting and disclaiming these satellites. They say that the satellites have been blocking their view of the stars.

-Justin

Billy Weaver, a 17 year old, was looking for a job at Bath. By the time he got to Bath from Boston, it was already dark. He asked the porter for a recommendation of where to stay. The porter told him to go to The Bell and Dragon. The Bell and Dragon was a pub, which he liked.

A house near it drew Billy’s attention. It had a wiener dog curled up near the fireplace, and a parrot. The house seemed so cozy and warm. The house was just like the rest, broken down, but once swanky. He knocked on the door, and immediately, a woman barged out and offered a price that was half of the amount he was even considering to give. He went in, and there, he gave the amount, and the woman gave him a entire floor. He realized that the parrot was dead along with the dachshund. The lady told him that the dachshund and parrot was stuffed.

He sat at the couch across from the lady. She beckoned him to sit next to her, and he obliged. She offered him tea, which he gladly accepted. The tea had an almond taste to it, which in a scientific standpoint must have had cyanide, because the story was already going so spookily.

After that drink, he went to bed, and died, obviously because of the cyanide (in case you don’t know, cyanide is a toxic chemical compound that will kill you if you drink too much). He “transferred all his money to the landlady, and disappeared. Only the landlady knew he died, and stuffed his body.

The short story (Landlady) is about a teenager (Bill) who is London. He wants to stay in lodging this night. When he finds a hotel called Bed and Breakfast, which he thinks is not a bad place to go to (because the owner has pets; he turns out to be wrong; they’re just stuffed animals). The landlady was nice, but a little bit too kind; that’s suspicious. Something that’s also suspicious is the fact that there are only 2 other people here, and that they have been here for years (that’s what the landlady claims).

The theme of this story is that you shouldn’t be too gullible. The reason is that anything may happen no matter what. Even ‘normal’ people are suspicious: this is because the one who is harming others is probably trying to be as normal as possible.

Bill is a cautious person, but he is not cautious enough. Even if the lady has a pet, that doesn’t mean that she is nice and caring. what if the pet is forced to stay there and look like that? Maybe there is a force controlling the pet, or what if it’s a stuffed animal (as in the story)? Bill should still be on his guard. Instead, he is off guard and unaware that anything may happen. Also, he accepts a lot of things, like the tea and the eggs (for breakfast, although he probably never gets it).