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The Quilt
This crucial piece of evidence uncovered by Martha Hale and Mrs. Peters reveals Minnie Wright’s guilt, but also shows the cruelty of which John Wright was capable. Although John Wright’s act of strangling the songbird was a single cruel act, it symbolizes the way he has treated Minnie throughout their marriage. This symbol is developed over the course of the story as Martha Hale, who knew Minnie as the unmarried Minnie Foster, repeatedly equates Minnie with a bird, emphasizing her love of singing and her lively and bright personality. While the songbird was literally strangled by John Wright, Minnie Foster was figuratively strangled by life with a man who was cold, unkind, poor company, and kept her isolated. Trapped in her marriage, like a bird in a cage, Minnie desperately needed a companion, which she found in the bird. The act of killing the bird also “killed” Minnie’s remaining hope, causing her to retaliate in response to years, rather than one single act, of mistreatment.
The Dead Bird Quotes in A Jury of Her Peers
The A Jury of Her Peers quotes below all refer to the symbol of The Dead Bird. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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A Jury of Her Peers
Quotes
“‘When I was a girl…my kitten—there was a boy took a hatchet, and before my eyes—and before I could get there—’ She covered her face an instant. ‘If they hadn’t held me back I would have’—she caught herself, looked upward where footsteps were heard, and finished weakly—‘hurt him.’”
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Explanation and Analysis:
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The Dead Bird Symbol Timeline in A Jury of Her Peers
The timeline below shows where the symbol The Dead Bird appears in A Jury of Her Peers. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
A Jury of Her Peers
...box. She opens it to discover a terrible smell. It contains the wrapped body of a dead bird .
(full context)
The women notice that having its neck wrung must have killed the dead bird —its head is twisted to the side. The men return to the kitchen and, in...
(full context)
...own train of thought, says that John Wright must have broken the neck of the songbird. Mrs. Peters says that they don’t know the identity of the murderer. Mrs. Hale reflects...
(full context)
...longer in the room, Mrs. Peters, in a sudden burst of determination, tries to hide the dead bird in her handbag and is flustered as the bag is too small. Mrs. Hale snatches...
(full context)
