Clouded Judgement

I feel slightly sympathetic for Mrs. Wright because of the power her husband exerted over her and the happiness he stripped away from her; however, murder is unacceptable. It is gut wrenching that she felt so desperate to the point that eliminating a life was the only way to better her own. But at the same time I wish I could slap her into reality; all she had to do was leave! She could have walked out any number of days that her husband was at work. Yes, it would have been challenging and terrifying; however, this escape route had the potential of leading her to a whole new and brighter life. Unfortunately, Mrs. Wright's eyes were clouded by the tears of fear and solitude which lead her to only see the light through the eyes of her dead husband. However, if she would have looked a little further past those dead eyes, she would have seen that this route would only lock her into a larger cage.

Mrs. Wright may have chosen this route due to the nature of survival. Mrs. Wright's husband stripped every ounce of happiness away from her and locked her in her home or cage through fear. In other words, she was being held hostage in her own home. Before Mr. Wright came into the picture, (no pun intended), "she used to wear pretty clothes and be lively" (396). Maybe her mind was so distorted by years of this torture that she began to believe she was physically rather than just mentally locked inside. It is apparent that the author wants the readers to see a connection between Mrs. Wright and the bird. Maybe Mrs. Wright saw this connection as well and feared her husband would dispose of her like he did of the bird if she annoyed him; therefore, she chose to beat him to the punch.