In her classic short story, "A Jury of Her Peers," Susan Glaspell, renowned author and Pulitzer Prize winner, brilliantly depicts a tale about a mysterious murder that occurred in a small farming town, Dickson County. The characters in the story are very specific in their actions. Minnie Foster-Wright, who has no children and seems a bit passive in the tale, is the prime suspect for the death of her husband John Wright, who was hanged in their bedroom. Glaspell begins the story with Sheriff Peters and his wife Mrs. Peters, Lewis Hale and his wife Martha, and the county attorney George Henderson are at the Wrights' home the following day of the murder. Glaspell continues by describing the investigation which leads to the three men ending up in the bedroom upstairs and the two women alone in the kitchen. Here the women discover a wrapped up dead canary placed in Mrs. Wright's sewing basket, which key evidence to the widow's guilt and conviction. Although they are shocked by the discovery, in the end, the two women jointly conceal the evidence from the men covering up for their presently detained friend.
             Glaspell's vivid character descriptions enhance the story and bring it to life with full color. The distinct actions of each individual character is clearly explained in the plot, which also fluctuates leaving the reader on a roller coaster ride of suspense and curiosity. Similarly, Glaspell's main idea can relate to a small but important scene in Edward Zwick's film entitled Glory, starring Matthew Broderick, Denzel Washington, and Morgan Freemen. The scene shows the 54th Massachusetts, the first black regiment that fought for the North in the Civil War, enduring difficult manual labor, for which they were intended. Then, an all-white regiment, exhausted from a previous battle, passes through, which in turn leads to confrontation. The verbal conflict, initiated by Washington's character, is interrupted by Freeman's character, who...