The story focuses on Mrs. Wright. Mrs. Hale

1.      The story focuses on Mrs. Wright. Mrs. Hale calls her by her maiden name, Minnie Foster. Mrs. Wright is considered as the primary suspect in the murder of her husband, John Wright. Although she barely spoke a word in the story, the actions and thoughts of the other characters were focused on Mrs.

Wright and on her actions leading up to the murder. The story analyzes Mrs. Wright’s character and her possible involvement in the death of her husband. Everything the other characters do is meant to determine whether Mrs. Wright is guilty. Despite her absence from the scene, the story completely revolves around Mrs. Wright’s character.

2.      Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters are two distinct women. The only thing that they share is a conclusion regarding the guilty party in the murder of John Wright. Other than that, they are very different characters. For instance, Mrs. Hale is a farmer’s wife while Mrs. Peters is a sheriff’s wife.

Mrs. Hale knew Minnie Foster all her life while Mrs. Peters only saw her on the day that the murder was discovered. Furthermore, Mrs. Peters demonstrates more objectivity in her thinking. Mrs. Hale feels guilty for her failure to visit Minnie Foster and her failure to know that her neighbor was unhappy. It takes Mrs. Peters to convince her that she was not to blame for Minnie Foster’s actions. Mrs. Peters’ logical and objective thinking makes her a stronger character than Mrs. Hale.

3.      The two women did not voice out their conclusions simply because they wanted to protect Mrs. Wright. They did not want to implicate Mrs. Wright any further. Also, both women were uncertain whether they reached the correct conclusions. Glaspell showed both women knew who the murderer was through their actions.

Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters were shown to share glances that showed that they were both thinking the same thing regarding the identity of the murderer. Furthermore, Mrs. Hale attempted to hide the dead canary and Mrs. Peters did not do anything to stop her. This shows that they both knew who the murderer was and they wanted to hide possible evidence that will implicate the person any further.