A Jury of Her Peers

"A Jury of Her Peers"
Susan Glaspell

Throughout "A Jury of Her Peers," the image of the canary plays a very pivotal role in the meaning of the short story.

First, the canary serves as a symbol. It is symbolic of Minnie and of the Wright's marriage. Canaries are notorious for their songs, and Minnie used to be found "singing in the choir," (415). This commonality thus establishes a connection between the two. Also, the canary represented the happiness that existed inside of Minnie, the last bit of happiness onto which she held. When John Wright killed the bird, he also killed the joy inside his wife's heart. With nothing left about which to be happy, Minnie could no longer see the sense in their marriage. Thus, with the killing of the songbird, Mr. Wright successfully also killed his marriage and his wife's pleasure.

As well as being a symbol, the bird also explains the method by which Mr. Wright was killed. Both were strangled; Wright by "somebody [who] slipped a rope around his neck and strangled him" and the bird by Wright (411). It seems ironic, though, that this indicator of guilt came so late in the story. It is almost meant to foreshadow the murder of Mr. Wright, yet it is not discovered by the reader nor the characters until after the cause of Mr. Wright's death has already been revealed. Also, ironically, the bird that represented Minnie also comes to represent the death her husband; the thing that she loved the most becomes connected to the thing that she despised the most.