Trifles by Susan Glaspell

Summary

One day, Lewis Hale dropped by the house of John Wright to ask him if he wants to share a telephone line with him. When he arrived, he saw Mr. Wright’s wife, Minnie Foster, sitting on a rocking chair. He asked her about Mr. Wright and found out that he was dead. Minnie Foster said that, someone strangled a rope around Mr. Wright’s neck while they were asleep. After what happened, Ms. Foster was under the probation of the local police as she was the primary suspect.

The following day an investigation took place at the house of the victim. Henry Peter, a sheriff, George Henderson, an attorney together with Lewis Hale, Lewis’ wife and Peter’s wife went to conduct the investigation. The group gathered at the kitchen first. After that, they decided to search the whole house from the bedroom upstairs to the barn outside. While the men went upstairs, the ladies remained in the kitchen while gathering some things to be brought to Minnie. While gathering things, both of them got the chance to talk privately. They talk about the personality of Mr. Wright and the younger years of Minnie Foster. While looking for useful things, Mrs. Hale found a dead canary with a broken neck inside the sewing box of Minnie. She speculated that it was killed by Mr. Wright and that pushes Minnie to kill him. The two ladies found out how miserable Minnie’s life is when Mr. Wright is still alive. Before, Minnie used to be a cheerful woman full of spirit but after their marriage her whole world changed. She was moved into a creepy house where she can’t even see the road. Every time Mr. Wright is at the farm, she is left alone. The ladies felt that Minnie felt so much isolation and loneliness. The bird that used to sing for her was killed by her husband. It cost her to lose her mind and killed Mr. Wright.

Knowing all this, the ladies did not tell it to the men and chose to conceal the real motive behind the crime by hiding the sewing box.

Character s

1. Lewis Hale – the neighbor of Mr. and Mrs. Wright who’s also a farmer and the one first to discover the murder

2. Mrs. Hale – a very observant person who notices most of the clues, wife of Lewis hale and a friend of Minnie

3. Henry Peter – the sheriff assigned to investigate the case

4. Mrs. Peter – wife of Mr. Peter, very cautious person who shows sympathy for Minnie

5. George Henderson – the attorney that will prosecute Minnie, the youngest among the characters, harsh in words, sarcastic, judgmental

Themes

Gender differences

In almost all parts of the story, we can see that there is a difference between genders. Men show dominion over women. They tend to have high positions in the society like the sheriff and the attorney. They are sarcastic, analytical, harsh and rough. Women on the other hand were intuitive, deliberative and more sensitive to the needs of others. These differences show that men and women have different capabilities.

Isolation

One of the reasons why Minnie has committed the crime is isolation. When she was still single, she used to have social life, she used to wear pretty clothes, she used to sing and mingle with her peers. But, when she married John Wright her colorful world changed. She was often alone in the house with no one to talk to, she can’t even see the road and no one came to visit her, her pretty clothes turns to drab and most of all, her singing bird was killed by her husband. The effects of isolation drove Minnie to lose her sanity.

Moral Lesson

The moral lesson of the story is, do not tolerate the wrong doings of other people just because you felt sympathy for it. We should always remember that a mistake added by another mistake will just worsen things. Mrs. Peter and Mrs. Hale could be considered accomplices of Minnie for what they did. They put judgment into their own hands without considering the law. They too were criminals.

One has not the right to judge whether a person deserves to die because of what he did. Remember, only God has the right to do so because he owned this life we had. No matter how bad a person is, considering that he is a son of God, one has not the right to judge him nor has he the right to condemn him.

The two ladies lack the realization that, what if the same thing happened to them? Isn’t it unfair? The issue here is about the morality of a person. How could you conceal the truth when you are capable of thinking rationally? How could it feel so right when everything seems so wrong?