The Lamb

The protagonist and first-person narrator of the novel, Margot combines the cinematic trope of the final girl with the archetypes of the child and the hero. 

Margot is between 11 and 12 years of age in the main timeline, and embodies a person emerging from childhood into self-awareness. Golden-haired like her mother, Ruth, and green-eyed like her unnamed father, Margot often thinks of herself as being at an in-between stage, unsure of how she will look as an adult. Her diction is child-like, with her referring to Ruth as “Mama” and often talking like a much-younger person. This is possibly a result of her isolation, since Ruth does not allow Margot to have guests over or socialize too much. Margot is also instructed not to draw attention to herself at school by asking questions. Consequently, Margot suffers in her schoolwork, particularly in Math, although it is obvious she is highly intelligent.

At the beginning of the novel, Margot is very close to her beautiful, imposing mother, with the pair sharing a bedroom in their tiny woodland cottage. Margot loves Ruth’s stories and visiting the seaside with her. However, it soon becomes clear that Ruth subjects Margot to extreme emotional and physical abuse, calling the marks she leaves on her daughter, “special kisses.