The Importance of Little Things in Trifles Essay

Little Things Mean a Lot in Trifles

Susan Glaspells play, Trifles, explores the fact that women pay attention to the little things that may lead to the solving of a bigger problem. Why are women so into the little things? The attention to detail seems to be the starting point to solving the bigger problem. Little things can be seen as pieces of a puzzle. When the small pieces come together you see the bigger picture. In the play Trifles the men seem to think the women only worry about the little things, or trifles. What the men do not realize is that the women are actually solving the murder by worrying, or trifling, over the small details. The small details that lead to the solving of the murder mystery by the women are the fruit preserves, Mrs. Wright not waking up, existence of a cat, piecing of the quilt, and a dead bird.

The first example of the attention to detail is the fruit preserves. Mrs. Peters says, She worried about that when it turned so cold. She said the fired go out and her jars would break. The sheriff replies, Well, can you beat the women! Held for murder and worrying about her preserves. Mr. Hale says, Well, women are used to worrying over trifles. Another example of trifling is when the women notice that Mrs. Wright did not wake up while her husband was being strangled to death. Unless the Wrights slept in separate beds, Mrs. Wright should have felt the struggle between her husband and the murderer. Even though Mrs. Wright said she was a deep sleeper, she still should have heard the gasping for air and the struggle that was going on right next to her.

Another example of noticing the small things is the piecing of the quilt. The women were wondering if she was going to knot it or quilt it. The Sheriff over hears the conversation and says to the County Attorney , They wonder if she was going to quilt it or just knot it! Mrs. Hale says resentfully, I dont know as theres anything so strange, our takin up or time with the little things while were waiting for them to get the evidence. Mrs. Hale points out that all the sewing was nice and neat until the point where the sewing was all messy. Mrs. Hale also points out that the messy sewing is a sign of nervousness. Mrs. Peters disagrees and tries to defend Mrs. Wright by saying that when she gets tired her sewing becomes messy. The men though, laugh at the womens wonderings about the quilt. To them it is of little importance. The knotting of the quilt seemed to be the same type of knot used to strangle Mr. Wright. The women notice that trifle, but the men were too busy looking at the dead body and making inferences about how Mr. Wright was killed that they overlooked the similar knotting of the quilt and of the rope around Mr. Wrights neck.

The next small detail is the existence of a cat in Mrs. Wrights house. Mrs. Hale asked if the Wrights had a cat. Mrs. Peters replied by saying that Mrs. Wright was superstitious about cats. The men come down the stairs and the county attorney asks, Has the bird flown? Mrs. Peters replies, The cat got it. There is actually no cat, but the men do not know that and never question the existence of it. Another example of trifling is while looking for the scissors and more patchwork fabric, Mrs. Hale comes across a box with something wrapped in red silk; it is the bird. Mrs. Hale exclaims But, Mrs. Peterslook at it! Look at its neck! Its allother side to. Mrs. Peters replies, Somebody-wrung-its-neck. At this point the women realize that Mrs. Wright killed her husband, but they do not want to break their alliance and turn her in.

Because the women look at all the tiny details, they are able to find things the men would never find. The women have solved the case. The men, still trying to figure out what happened, overlooked the small things that made the unsolvable mystery solvable. All together, women outsmarted the law, men in authority, and even their own husbands because they took notice of the small detail that the men cannot see.