Comparing The Most Dangerous Game And A Jury Of Her Peers

When evaluating a piece of literature people use their own judgement, intelligence and experience to evaluate how well a story is written. A story should contain elements that are essential to the central purpose and most importantly a depth of significance for its purpose. In close examination of the literary devices in the stories, “The Most Dangerous Game”, by Richard Connell, and “A Jury of Her Peers”, by Susan Glaspell, Glaspell’s story has the most content that achieves its central propose and its purpose has a higher meaning by not being written in the form to entertain it’s reader.

Characterization in literature is how authors develop characters and present them with humanistic traits to create an image for their audience. Authors

Peters, the wife of the sheriff, is describes as a woman who does not look the part because she is small and thin. Mrs. Peters’ physical characteristics is a reflection of her obedience to her husband, and to the law, that she struggles to overcome. She even reminds Mrs. Hale of the men’s duties and their own responsibilities to the law, by saying, “I’d hate to have men comin’ into my kitchen…snoopin’ round and criticizin’.” “Of course it’s no more than their duty”, but she ultimately is an active participant in the attempt to conceal the evidence of Minnie Wright’s guilt (105-106). Martha Hale is the wife of Mr. Hale and resident of the nearest farm to the Wrights’ home. Due to the proximity, as well as her acquaintance with Minnie Wright, she feels extremely responsible for not having visited the married Minnie Wright years ago. Martha Hale comes off ass the protagonist of the story from the first few paragraphs and is more strong-willed than Mrs. Peters. By defying her husband and the law by concealing the evidence against Minnie Wright and ultimately chooses to ally herself with a fellow woman against the patriarchal society in which they live in.

Theme is the main idea or the underlying meaning of a literary work. When an author uses a theme they try to reveal some truth about life and also use it as a unifying element to shed some light or bring attention to the story. The theme can sometimes be discovered when one of characters has a revelation about themselves, their relationship with others or the universe. A well written story will have many complex insights on life but its central insight is what gives the story its unity by having many of its elements relate to one another throughout the