This is one of many out-of-place objects in Minnie’s kitchen that cause George Henderson to accuse her of being a poor housekeeper. The disarray of Minnie’s kitchen demonstrates a distressed mind and that Minnie’s act of killing her husband was more emotional and dramatic than her demeanor indicates. In addition, the mess in the kitchen symbolizes the ways in which the men in this play expect women to fulfill certain gender roles. Minnie, not John, is held responsible for the state of the house and is seen as unfit for her role of wife, as a result. It is precisely this sort of judgment, and the fact that the men are so comfortable in judging women, that isolates Minnie in the first place.