protecting their own

Susan Glaspell's A Jury of Her Peers is by far my favorite short story we've covered so far this year.  From the beginning of the story, the reader assumes that Minnie Foster killed her husband, and yet, Glaspell is still able to fill the story with suspense and mystery.  I loved how the two women were able to relate to Mrs. Wright.  They knew the loneliness that came with being isolated in a house, and the feelings of inferiority thrust upon them by all men in their lives.  They were the only ones who knew without doubt that Minnie had, in fact, killed her husband, and they were the only ones who knew why.  They protected her, even though they knew she would probably be convicted anyway.  I was struck by the simile of Minnie being like her canary.  Mrs. Hale reflected that Minnie had been like a caged bird as well.  "'She...was kind of like a bird herself.  Real sweet and pretty, but kind of timid...'" (Glaspell, 421).  Martha stated that Mr. Wright "'wouldn't like the bird...a thing that sang.  She used to sing.  He killed that too'" (Glaspell, 423).  When he killed the bird, which had been like a child to his lonely wife, he killed the remains of Minnie's spirit as well.