Murder scenes are hard to decode but, with key evidence, one can get to the bottom of the crime. The way Susan Glaspell uses symbols and imagery in the story allow us to break down the key evidence. These symbols used in the story turn out to be the evidence needed in order to figure out exactly who the murderer is. Although at first we are unsure about the murderer of John Wright, we discover that the way the rope around his neck is knotted and the unfinished stitches in the quilt that Mrs. Wright is knitting are comparable. We begin to understand that the cause of Mr. Wright’s death is directly related to the killing of the canary. Mr. Hale walks into the Wright’s house and finds Mrs. Wright suspiciously sitting in a rocking chair. He is trying to find out where John Wright is and at that moment she tells him that Mr. Wright is dead upstairs in his room. Mr. Hale and Harry walk upstairs to find Mr. Wright with a rope knotted around his neck. They simultaneously agree that he is indeed dead. Mr. Hale and Harry notify the sheriff and the county attorney. Mrs.…show more content… The ladies curiously unwrap the silk and find a dead bird inside, not just any bird though. It was the canary that Mrs. Wright loved to hear sing. She spent most of her days with the bird because her husband was always farming and they did not have any kids to keep her company. Mrs. Hale explains, “No, Wright wouldn’t like the bird – a thing that sang. She used to sing. He killed that, too.” (Glaspell 609). This shows us that Mr. Wright does not enjoy when Mrs. Wright or the bird is singing and makes them both stop. Mr. Wright becomes so annoyed with the singing bird that he snaps the canary’s neck. Once Mr. Wright kills the bird, Mrs. Wright seeks revenge because the bird symbolized the only thing that she lived for. The bird has a broken neck which symbolizes why Mrs. Wright decided to retaliate by knotting the rope around Mr. Wright’s
