Comparison Essay: Susan Glaspell’s “the Jury of Her Peers”

Susan Glaspells The board of Her Peers and Eudora Weltys A pinched road delegacy are great examples of the expenditure of symbolisation in shortsighted account statement literature. The venire of Her Peers tells the story of a murder investigation that takes place in Dickson County in the 1910s, in which Minnie Wright is the of import suspect. Weltys piece, on the other hand, is a narration of an old ignominious womans long journey to get her sick grandson a Christmas present, a selfless deed on capital of Arizonas behalf. In both stories, the expend of symbolic representation is clearly reproduced, in a exchangeable manner, to develop the character and the status.However, the depth and the complexity of those symbols, provides A wearied roadway with a much weaken content-symbol relationship, which in turn, works better for the biz of the story. A characters personality and main traits are amongst the most(prenominal) important elements in any literary piece and th e use of symbolism is an excellent tool toward accomplishing roundness in a character. In The venire of Her Peers, the bird (a nominateary) is the symbol used to describe Minnies character as Real sweet and pretty, but kind of timid and fluttery (208).This symbol embodies Minnie originally she got married and was taken away by her husband to live in total isolation. Although the symbol is well presented in the story, it is d superstar so in a literal way, which takes away from the sum and interpretation to be assumption by the reader. The female characters in the story make allusion, in part of their speech, to this symbol. This potentiometer be observed when one of the characters (the sheriffs wife) says She Minnie come to ring of it, she was kind of like a bird herself (208), which covers in a some words, the meaning of the bird symbol.In contrast, in A Worn Path, the meaning of the symbol proposed to define the main character, is implied rather than literarily present ed. Phoenix, which is the protagonists name, is withal a mythical bird that is characterized by its strength, long life and the force to rise from its own ashes after it dies. This interpretation, or any other that can be careworn in accordance to different mythologies, is not mentioned in any way along the story. It is implied and can only be deduced finished the knowledge of the protagonists determination and drive.As she travels up through pines (6) and shoot down through oaks (6), this old lady never even considers giving up and returning home empty handed. Similarly, the situation presented in both stories is also exposed through the use of symbolism. In The Jury of Her Peers, this symbolism is introduced in the form of a cage, which is home to Minnies canary but, at the alike(p) time, represents her current situation. The symbol in this case is used to show the isolation and confinement in which Minnie is living down in a golf hole lonesome place (198). It is a worldw ide symbol and, as such, can be easily interpreted. However, it is not a very profound one it is does not take much thrust for a reader to crystalize its meaning. In contrast, A Worn Path uses an authorial symbol, which only applies to the mount of the story. This in no way means a better way of presenting the situation, but the way the symbol is put in the story does make it a deeper meaning. The paper windmill is, in this context, set to represent Phoenixs situation.She is a very old and small (1) woman, frail and poor, which is just what the paper windmill is used to symbolize, a very fragile and brasslike object. This symbolism can also be analyzed from Phoenixs grandsons point of view, as to him, it would be a symbol of bounty and kindness. No matter how poor they are, his grandmother spent money and effort to surprise him. As old Phoenix told the nurse in town, He going to find hard to believe there such a thing in the world, such is his perception of his grandmother.As shown before, symbolism is a great tool that, when used straitlacedly, can provide a short story with a lot of meaning and depth. It is an excellent way to impeach significance to a simple element in a story and to provide a deeper sense of the reality to the reader. Weltys piece, A Worn Path, achieves a higher level of connotation than Glaspell does in The Jury of Her Peers, where the meaning of the elements used as symbols are either explained within the piece, or too simple to have a deep meaning.Also, the combination of universal and authorial symbols provides A Worn Path with more ideas and conclusions to be drawn from the symbols presented. In conclusion, Welty makes better use of symbolism to accomplish a more complete piece. A Worn Path is an excellent example of the proper use of symbolism to deliver a story that is both deep and interesting. It provides the reader with an attention-grabbing plot as well as, implied ideas that give the reader a better sense of the signi ficance of the symbols used without actually explaining them.WORK CITED Glaspell, Susan. The Jury of Her Peers. publications An submission to Reading and Writing. Ed. Edgar V. Roberts and Robert Zweig. 5th Compact ed. Toronto Pearson Longman, 2012. 170. Print. Welty, Eudora. A Worn Path. Literature An Introduction to Reading and Writing. Ed. Edgar V. Roberts and Robert Zweig. 5th Compact ed. Toronto Pearson Longman, 2012. 270. Print. APPENDICES OUTLINE I. Introduction Thesis statement the use of symbolism is clearly reproduced, in a similar manner, to develop the character and the situation.However, the depth and the complexity of those symbols, provides A Worn Path with a much better content-symbol relationship, which in turn, works better for the plot of the story. II. Body A. First paragraph * Key idea use of symbolism to define the protagonist. * The Jury of Her Peers * A Worn Path B. plunk for paragraph * Key idea use of symbolism to set the situation in the story. * The Jur y of Her Peers * A Worn Path C. Third paragraph * Key idea Personal opinion on which story uses symbolism best. III. Conclusion The essay is summarized and a conclusion is presented from the points exposed throughout its content.