worried about "trifles," which the women know are anythingbut unimportant, meaningless concerns or tasks.

The women begin to feel some sympathy for the sad life Minnie lived with her "hard" husband. They discover her sewing box, and in it, the body of the dead bird: wrapped in silk and placed in a box…to be buried, they assume. Its neck has been wrung: a brutish horrifying act; the realization the women come to is that Mr. Wright killed the bird, killing Mrs. Wright's only joy in life. Mrs. Hale comments on the reality of Mrs. Wright's existence.

MRS HALE (examining the skirt). ...She used to wear pretty clothes and be lively, when she was MInnie Foster, one of the town girls singing in the choir. But that--oh, that was thirty years ago...

MRS. HALE. Not having children makes less work--but it makes a quiet house, and Wright out to work all day, and no company when he did come in…

MRS. HALE. She--come to think of it, she was kind of like a bird herself--real sweet and pretty, but kind of timid and--fluttery. How--she--did--change...

MRS. HALE (with a slow look around her.) I wonder how it would seem never to have had any children around. (Pause.) No, Wright wouldn't like the bird--a thing that sang. She used to sing. He killed that, too.

All of these statements show a progression of change in Mrs. Wright, and John Wright's subjugation of her. Not only did the woman change from the lively and lovely woman of thirty years before, but she had no children. It's logical to assume that she was very lonely. However, she found some joy, some relief from the "stillness," in the form of a little bird. It was a bright spot in her dark existence, and John Wright killed it, as (Mrs. Hale observes) he killed every other good thing in her life. In killing the bird, Wright killed Minnie's happiness. Is it irony or poetic justice on Mrs. Wright's part that her husband died being strangled in his sleep, while the bird died with his hands around its neck?

In many respects, the bird can represent so much in terms of individual voice and identity.  The bird lives in a cage, silenced and contained from the rest of the world.  To a certain extent, the bird has learned to live in its contained condition.  Yet, when Mr. Wright kills the bird, it is enough to send his wife over a threshold where violence and murder are the only solutions.  For Mrs. Wright, the killing of the bird represents the ultimate in the attempt for male dominance over women.  The bird's death reflects that the encroaching male patriarchy won't be content until it controls every single aspect of all existence.  If the bird can be seen as women's voices and role in the time period, then the containment or silence of the caged bird is one aspect of being in the world.  Yet, with its death, there is almost a statement that men won't be happy unless women are completely subjugated to them.  This is seen as something that Mrs. Wright  cannot take.  The idea that "it was only a bird" is not simply valid because Mrs. Wright viewed it as so much more, as representative of her condition and women like her.  The bird's death was not going to be symbolic of her own condition, though, and this becomes why she feels the need to take action.

The little canary is a trifle whose significance is only known by the women because they do not share its discovery with the men. In a sense, the canary symbolizes Mrs. Wright (the former Minnie Foster). She is a woman married to an abusive man who has sucked all the joy out of life for her. It is intimated in the story that Mr. Wright most likely killed the canary by wringing its neck. It probably annoyed this severe, abusive man with its singing. His wife used to enjoy singing, before she married him. The reader must assume many things in this story, one of which is that Mr. Wright killed the canary and that was the final blow for his wife. She wrung his neck in the same way that he wrung the neck of her little canary. If the women had disclosed that they had discovered the canary, this "trifle", no doubt it would have provided further evidence that Mrs. Wright killed her husband. Without the canary, the men can just assume that the cat ate it, and not have any further proof to condemn Mrs. Wright for her husband's murder. They believe what the women tell them about the cat probably getting the canary because, after all, what do women know? They are so concerned with trifles.

The existence of the bird adds a lot of irony to the story. It is a mere trifle that, if discovered by the all-knowing, important men, could really clinch the case against Mrs. Wright. By not revealing the existence of the canary, the women prove that they are more in control of things than the men give them credit for. The canary also justifies, in a sense, the reason for Mrs. Wright strangling her husband, so there is a sense of justice in the end.

The bird is symbolic of the repression and abuse that the main character endures during her dysfunctional marriage. However, the bird is also important to set the tone and atmosphere of the story due to the impression that it causes upon Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters.

The play reads:

MRS. PETERS. (examining the cage). Why, look at this door. It's broke. One hinge is pulled apart.

MRS. HALE. (looking, too.) Looks as if someone must have been rough with it.

MRS. PETERS. Why, yes. (she brings the cage forward and puts it on the table.)

MRS. HALE. I wish if they're going to find any evidence they'd be about it. I don't like this place.

MRS. PETERS. But I'm awful glad you came with me, Mrs. Hale. It would be lonesome of me sitting here alone.

MRS. HALE. It would, wouldn't it? (Dropping her sewing). But I tell you what I do wish, Mrs. Peters. I wish I had come over sometimes she was here. I-- (Looking around the room.)--wish I had.

As we can see, it is obvious that the birdcage and the whereabouts of the bird create a strong sensation in the psyche of the ladies. They even feel the oppression of their friend's marriage and the harshness of the situation. The tones in both characters, Mrs. Hale and Mrs. Peters, change completely once they realize what must have happened in the house. This is especially obvious when Mrs. Hale says:

I wish I had come over when she was here. I wish I had.