Justice or Not?
A popular theme in shows, movies, and books is a murder case. In this trope, there is a victim, an unknown murderer, and the detectives. At the end of the story line, the murderer is discovered and punished, fulfilling the need for justice. However, in “A Municipal Report” by O. Henry and “A Jury of Her Peers” by Susan Glaspell, the authors add a twist. In their stories, one feels that justice has prevailed when the victim is murdered, not when the murderer is caught. In both of these short stories, the literary technique of Vampirism is used to add background to justify the murders. In “A Municipal Report”, it is said that, “Azalea Adair looked cleaner and weaker than she had looked on the day before. Her face had less color, and grew even whiter after she had signed the contract at eight cents per word” (Henry). This shows that her husband, Major Caswell, has used her and basically sucked the life out of her. In this quote, Azalea is pale because she is starving. Not too long after, she …show more content…
This is shown in the quote, “‘She-come to think of it, she was kind of like a bird herself. Real sweet and pretty, but kind of timid and-fluttery. How-did-she-change’” (Glaspell). Minnie Foster was a happy, quiet young girl that loved to sing. After she was married, however, she never visited anyone and never had anyone visit her. Part of this was because the Wrights were poor, but the other parts were that, in Mrs. Peters’ words, “‘A person gets discouraged-and loses heart’” (Glaspell). Minnie was alone with her husband, who Mrs. Hale described as, “‘Like a raw wind that gets to the bone’”(Glaspell). All of this, being poor and having a hard husband, killed Minnie’s light and sucked away her happiness. Both of these cases of Vampirism show that both of the husbands are cruel, which causes one to feel as though Minnie and Azalea's actions were justified in the
A popular theme in shows, movies, and books is a murder case. In this trope, there is a victim, an unknown murderer, and the detectives. At the end of the story line, the murderer is discovered and punished, fulfilling the need for justice. However, in “A Municipal Report” by O. Henry and “A Jury of Her Peers” by Susan Glaspell, the authors add a twist. In their stories, one feels that justice has prevailed when the victim is murdered, not when the murderer is caught. In both of these short stories, the literary technique of Vampirism is used to add background to justify the murders. In “A Municipal Report”, it is said that, “Azalea Adair looked cleaner and weaker than she had looked on the day before. Her face had less color, and grew even whiter after she had signed the contract at eight cents per word” (Henry). This shows that her husband, Major Caswell, has used her and basically sucked the life out of her. In this quote, Azalea is pale because she is starving. Not too long after, she …show more content…
This is shown in the quote, “‘She-come to think of it, she was kind of like a bird herself. Real sweet and pretty, but kind of timid and-fluttery. How-did-she-change’” (Glaspell). Minnie Foster was a happy, quiet young girl that loved to sing. After she was married, however, she never visited anyone and never had anyone visit her. Part of this was because the Wrights were poor, but the other parts were that, in Mrs. Peters’ words, “‘A person gets discouraged-and loses heart’” (Glaspell). Minnie was alone with her husband, who Mrs. Hale described as, “‘Like a raw wind that gets to the bone’”(Glaspell). All of this, being poor and having a hard husband, killed Minnie’s light and sucked away her happiness. Both of these cases of Vampirism show that both of the husbands are cruel, which causes one to feel as though Minnie and Azalea's actions were justified in the