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Compare And Contrast A Jury Of Her Peers And A Municipal Report

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Evaluating Fiction P. 375 Both short stories "A Municipal Report" by a O.Henry and "A Jury of Her Peers" by Susan Glaspell attempt to reach the same purpose in being told. Although, they both strive to reach the same purpose, they achieve it differently. One short story allows the reader to discover more about life than is written in plain text. The other short story draws from real life and creates an embellished nonrealistic image of it. Upon close reading "A Municipal Report", the reader realized of its simplified structure. The plot of this short story is define and contains stock characters. The plot being that a hero, Caesar, saves a damsel in distress, Azalea, from a wicked villain, Major Caswell. The reader waits in suspense …show more content…

We discover this when the narrator states, "Major had been found dead on a dark street and brought by curious citizens to the drug store (Henry 388)." Glaspell writes "A Jury of Her Peers" to elaborate the justification of murder that was presented in "A Municipal Report". Unlike Henry, Glaspell allows the characters to be given a realistic image when she describes their personal thoughts. While searching for clues, both female characters sympathize with Mrs. Wright, the suspected murder, instead of accusing her. "No, Wright wouldn't like the bird,' she said after that—'a thing that sang. She used to sing. He killed that too (Glaspell 405)." Both female characters' justify Wright's murder with shared experiences and understanding Mrs. Wright's situation. Glaspell's constant implementation of dashes serves to create a sentimental tone present in human life. This ultimately leads them to hiding crucial evidence from their husbands who are related in action to Mr. Wright. Unlike "A Municipal Report", "A Jury of Her Peers" contains a plot which would is more likely to have taken place in real life. The story does not conclude with a happy ending nor a hero saving the day. When the elements of the story are compared to the …show more content…

For example, the narrator often describes Nashville by reading facts. One description states, "It is built on undulating grounds; and the streets are lighted by electricity at a cost of $32,470 per annum (Henry 377)." On the contrary, almost every line of "A Jury of Her Peers" relates to the theme. One character description which at first might seem unnecessary but later helps the plot accomplish its central purpose, is when Martha Hale's cleaning habits are being described. "But what her eye took in was that her kitchen was in no shape for leaving: her bread all ready for mixing, half the flour sifted and half unsifted...'Martha!' now came her husband's impatient voice.Don't keep folks waiting out here in the cold." (Glaspell 389)." The author then uses this characterization to allow the reader to relate Mrs. Wright, the murderer, to an average woman, Mrs. Hale. This justifies Mrs.Wright's murder because we are allowed to see that her husband previously oppressed her by criticizing her unclean kitchen. Both stories attempt to portray the rationale for women who murder their domineering husbands. In the process of accomplishing its central purpose, Henry drains the

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