In the context of the short story, how do people face death? The landlady hints at her sinister intentions throughout the text-do you think billy should have realized her plans? Was he in denial of his own fate?

People are not aware of the danger coming ahead when they trust people they do not know well. Death comes as a surprise to these characters who cannot escape their fate. They are condemned from the moment they fall in the hands of these monsters who present themselves as benefactors but they are not kind or gentle. Billy had no clue he could be killed by the landlaldy as she disguised her true intentions very well. In stories like this the victimizer does not reveal himself or herself until the very end which makes it impossible for their prey to foreshadow their fate.