Death by Scrabble

Death by Scrabble In the short story, “Death by Scrabble”, Charles Fish painted the picture of a man and his wife playing Scrabble. They both were evidently bored, and as the story is written from the man’s point of view, he revealed that he hated his wife. He felt that his wife had taken over his life, “I don’t think I’ve spoken to anyone except my wife since Thursday morning. On Thursday morning, I spoke to the milkman.” On this Sunday afternoon, he came to the realization that he hated his wife so much that he wanted to kill her. He kept looking for words in his game that spelled out something that had to do with death. He began to notice a pattern with how whatever word he played on the board, something relevant happened. He experimented his theory and played the word “quake.” Just as the room began to shake, his wife played the word “death.” He choked on the tile he was chewing on in his mouth, and he died. As he did, his wife just sat there and watched. Fish had an underlying theme that seemed to be telling the reader that one shouldn’t settle, but instead live life to its full potential while one can. Scrabble is at the center of this story. The game of scrabble that the couple was playing was portrayed to be jinxed. The husband was the first person point-of-view. The reader knew his thought process but not his wife’s. The tone he used was dull and lifeless. This set the mood of longing for excitement over the story. His drab life made the reader feel sorry for the man, and that he had to settle for the woman he was married to. The movement of the story picked up as he began to notice the trend in the way that the letters controlled the next moments of destiny. As he tested his theory, Fish used the word “frantically”, which set the mood of uneasiness, eagerness, and suspense. Once discovering the power of the letters, he attempted to kill his wife. He used the word quake and waited for the earthquake to come. “I can feel the trembling energy of