Theme and message

The main theme of the short story “Death by Scrabble” by Charlie Fish is life and death, illustrated with the help of the motif of karma. The author’s message is that, sometimes, seemingly innocent thoughts can have serious consequences.

Life and death

This theme is illustrated by the husband’s frustration with his life, caused by the existence of his wife. The woman seems to be very comfortable and permanently in control of her life, something which triggers the husband’s murderous reactions. Because the woman is everything he cannot be, he feels the need to replace and kill her.

While reading the story, it becomes quite clear that the husband’s reaction is exaggerated. Generally, we play games and have fun to relax; even when we compete, we usually do it for adrenaline and for the sake of proving our skills. The husband in the story, however, takes playing Scrabble to a whole new level while imagining killing his wife in all ways possible: “As I'm picking new letters from the bag, I fin...