The message from A Jury of Her Peers
is simply; some situations are
complicated. The story hints at much but doesn’t explain anything.
Minnie Foster's husband may have been beating her every night and she
feared for her life or he could have one night been angry for her
having an affair or something significant. For the sake of a blog let
me continue with the idea of him beating her every night and her
acting out of self defense. First let us step into her shoes. The
facts we are accepting contain her being beaten, her fearing for her
life, and her killing her husband. In that time women were looked
down upon and not respected. Minnie may have not had anyone to go to
and ask for help. She may be killed if her husband found out she
tried to tell someone about her situation. She was stuck. Now, lets
look at the man. He beats his wife and gets away with it for possibly
years. Then she kills him. Was she justified to kill someone to get
out of a situation that may not end? A situation that could take her
life? Is there ever a time where it is right to kill someone? This
situation appears in courts today all the time. They often decide
between jail for life or setting her free, with a plea of self
defense . I honestly think this is the hardest assignment for me.
What if the woman is lying about being beaten? What if she could have
told someone and, depending on the situation, she could have escaped
without killing him? The situations change and get more and more
complicated. In the end this is complicated and I may never know.
Sorry for putting a shadow on your day.
Liam
Searcy
This post just made me doubt my whole blog. It's more complicated than I first thought, but I can't seem to let murder slip by as means for self defense. That doesn't sit well with me.
ReplyDeleteI found this a hard assignment too. I think if the story had told what really went on between the Wrights, it would be easier to say. Murder is a very serious thing in any case. I don't know... that's hard...
ReplyDeleteWow... I didn't think of all that. This makes you think long and hard huh? You are right. I didn't think about that Minnie may not have felt that she could go to Mrs. Hale. (confusing sentence... sorry!) She probably didn't feel like she could have gone to anyone about her situation. No friends (possibly), no bird for a piece of happiness, she probably couldn't go anywhere. You, sir, have hit upon something!! I wouldn't know what to do in that situation. However, I still don't think that murder is the answer to her problem. Now she has murder hanging over her head.
ReplyDelete