Susan Glaspell's We Call It, Mr. Henderson

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In contrast, Glaspell expresses how women need to stick together in the unequal society of the 19th century. Although Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters know that Mrs. Wright's actions were unjustifiable, they continue to hide the evidence that she killed her husband. Glaspell incorporates in the conclusion, “We call it—not it, Mr. Henderson” (611). The significance of the story’s last line is that it reflects Mrs. Hale’s disobedience toward the men and her support of Mrs. Wright’s actions. The phrase “knot it” creates the dramatic irony of the outcome in which readers know Mrs. Wright strangled her husband with a rope because he killed her bird with one, but the sheriff and county attorney do not (611). Mrs. Hale’s tone in this response can be interpreted …show more content…

Hale was most likely feeling a mixture of nervousness and empathy for Mrs. Wright because of the male dominance. Glaspell incorporates, “Mrs. Hale’s hand was against the pocket of her coat” (611). Mrs. Hale was trying to hide the box with the bird in it from the man. Therefore, in the story’s last line, Mrs. Hale may have been nervous that the men would find out what the women were hiding. The women’s support for Mrs. Wright is important in the story’s context. However, hiding the birdbox doesn’t justify Mrs. Wright’s actions of killing a human. This argument may be different if the mystery being solved was about who killed Mrs. Wright's bird. Then, readers could argue that the women’s decision to stick up for Mrs. Wright was justifiable because the harm done wouldn’t be as noticeable or important. Rheta Childe Dorr’s critique “From What Eight Million Women Want,” suggests that women argue their ignorance is justified by an innate unknowableness of the sex (616). This idea relates to the two women’s decisions as it explains how women may use their lack of knowledge as an advantage toward the opposite sex. In this case, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters take advantage of the men who believe they don’t know anything and use it to cover up the mystery of who killed Mr.

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