ou say, ladies?(1172) Here Mrs. Hale starts her defense and also starts to identify with Mrs. Wright, Those towels get dirty awful quick. Mens hands arent always as clean as they might be.(1172) A few lines later she comments on Mr. Wright and what Mrs. Wrights relationship and life must have been like, But I dont think a placed be any cheerfuller for John Wrights being in it.(1172)As the ladies examine the house, while the men are other places, picking clothes and an apron up for Mrs. Wright, Mrs. Hale gains sympathy for her until finally she starts to take action. When they find the block of quilting that has stitching askew, she starts to fix it, perhaps to cover for Mrs. Wrights distraught state of mind. While Mrs. Hale is finding sympathy for Mrs. Wright, Mrs. Peters offers a counterpoint that tries to justifies the mens viewpoints and actions. Her comments to Mrs. Hales resentful musings on Mrs. Wrights unhappy life and on the actions of men in regards to women in general all seem to be rote answers programmed into her by society and a desire not to cause any trouble. This all changes as soon as Mrs. Peters finds the bird.Mrs. Peters says Somebody wrung its neck. [Their eyes meet. A look of growing comprehension, of horror](1177) Now the women have both found enough empathy for Mrs. Wright to fight a small battle for an oppressed woman and Mrs. Hale tells the first lie. We think the the cat got it..(1177), in reply to the County Attorney quest for a clue in the empty bird cage. Now the ladies start to reveal their true feelings about living under the yoke of male oppression. Mrs. Peters tells a story of a boy killing her kitten. Then she tells a story of more heartache, I know what stillness is. When we homesteaded in Dakota, and my first baby died after he was two years old, and me with no other then(1178) Mrs. Hale, at the same time, comments on how important the bird would have been to Mrs. Wright. Then ...
