Literature Analytic Entry

The short story, Revolt of Mother, by Mary Wilkins Freeman, is about a woman named Sarah Penn who lives with her husband and two children in New England. Sarah and her husband, Adoniram, had been married for forty years and ever since they got married, Adoniram had promised Sarah that he would build them a new house. However, as the years passed, he never built them a new house, and instead focused on building new barns. During this time period, women took care of the children, their husband, and the home. The women were the ones who did the cooking and cleaning, while the men went to work, to support their families. It was very uncommon for women to challenge their husband’s ideas and it was considered a rebellious act. In this short story, Sarah was always used to tending to her husband’s needs and it seemed as though she would always accept the words that came from his mouth. The promise that Adoniram had made forty years earlier had still not been kept and instead of building a new house for his family, Adoniram was building a new barn. Sarah tried to speak out against her husband and she explained to him how important the house was to her, but when Adoniram failed to listen to her perspective, she ended the discussion. Freeman wrote, “However deep a resentment she might be forced to hold against her husband, she would never fail in sedulous attention to his wants” (Freeman pg. 192). Even if Sarah did not agree with her husband’s decision to build a new barn, she would try to hide her anger and instead, she would continue to attend to his needs. This truly demonstrates the oppression that women faced during this time period and how they learned to silently deal with these oppressions. Men considered themselves to be the independent one in the family and their wife to be dependent upon them. The men believed that they were superior to women and that they should be the ones to make the important decisions inside and outside of the household. Men constantly would do what pleased them, rarely asking for their wife’s consent. This idea was present in this short story because Adoniram was doing what please him, which was building the new barn, and until the building actually began, Sarah was unaware of this fact. Additionally, Adoniram and Sarah’s son previously knew about the new barn and animals, whereas the two women in the household were not informed with this information ahead of time. This truly represents an example of the oppression that women faced in their own homes. Due to the ongoing oppression that women faced, many women rebelled against the men and began to fight for their rights. In this short story, Sarah rebelled against her husband by moving all of their personal items from their old house into the new barn. Sarah believed that if her husband was willing to build a new barn but not a new home, then she would call the new barn her new home. Sarah believed that she could not change her husband’s actions, but that she could most definitely use them to her advantage, in order to get her husband to realize that what she wanted was important as well. After Sarah’s two children helped her move everything from their old home into the new barn, word spread around town about this rebellious act. A few days after Sarah had begun life in her new home, the minister came to see her. Before the minister had the chance to say a word, Sarah stated, “I’ve thought it all over and over, an’ I believe I’m doin’ what’s right” (Freeman pg. 199). After finding out about Sarah’s actions, many people in her town began to judge her. Some believed that she was insane, where others believed that she had a lawless and rebellious spirit. Although it was very strange for a family to call a barn their home, it also surprised many of the townspeople that a woman would defy her husband as Sarah did. However, Sarah believed that she was making the right decision because after years and years of her husband not keeping his promise, she finally decided that it was time to do something about it. By choosing to take action, Sarah showed that as a woman, she had been denied many rights and opportunities, but now, she was no longer going to accept this oppression. She demonstrated how as a women, she was very intelligent and she was able to use the resources available to her advantage. By making the new barn her home, Sarah wanted her feelings and thoughts to be recognized by her husband and she no longer wanted him to ignore or set aside her wants and needs. In the end, by standing up for herself and taking action, Sarah was able to get her husband to not only be aware of how important it was for her to have a new home, but how important her voice is as whole. Sarah’s actions made her husband realize how powerful women can be and how they are willing to take action, in order to fight for something that they truly believe in. Overall, by rebelling, Sarah was able to come to a desirable conclusion. Even though many women were not given equal opportunities, fighting for their rights oftentimes caused them to reach a desired conclusion.