The Tea Symbol Analysis

The tea symbolizes the landlady’s horrific deception, cruelty, and criminality, illustrating the sharp contrast between appearances and reality. Despite saying that he is not hungry and that he wants to get an early night, Billy is gently bullied into sharing a pot of tea with his aging hostess. As they sip the tea, Billy is sure that a strange smell is coming from the landlady, who is sat beside him, but it doesn’t cross his mind that the peculiar odor might be coming from the tea itself. Later, when the landlady offers Billy a second cup of tea, he declines because “he didn’t much care for it,” due to the taste of “bitter almonds.” Although it is never explicitly revealed, it is likely that the landlady has poisoned Billy’s tea with cyanide, which is known to smell of “bitter almonds.” The landlady mentioned earlier that her previous guest, Christopher, “was a great one for his tea,” suggesting that she also poisoned him. As she intends to stuff and display her victims, just as she has done with her pets, she needs to kill the men without leaving a single mark or “blemish” on their bodies, which is why she has chosen to use poison. Her method of killing her victims is evidently premeditated and carefully planned, disguised in a hospitable cup of tea, making it even more dark and sinister.