The Revolt of Mother and the Death of Hired Man: Literary Analysis and Identifying Similarities and Differences - Essay Example

The essay will try to highlight the theme as well as the significant qualities of both creations that distinguish them from each other. Initially, it will present the summaries of both these works followed by a discussion on the theme and the unique characters with their distinctive qualities. Gradually, the paper will highlight the objective of this analysis and that is to examine the climax or end part of both works. In order to justify this research, sources from online documents, original works by authors and journals have been referred.

This paper will be concluded by the observation of the writer. The title of The Revolt of a Mother suggests that the most significant character in the story is of a female protagonist, who stands against something which is unacceptable to her. The story revolves around the family of Sara, Adoniram Penn and their two children. The story initiates with a conflict in the family when Adoniram decides to construct a new barn and ignores his commitment of building a new house (Joseph, 1990). The poem The Death of a Hired Man is about a couple named Warren and Mary who are worried upon the return of their ex-employee who ditched them.

Warren is a tough man who seems to be unforgiving towards Silas (Antin, 2009) (Salwa, 2001). The end part of both the stories is extremely important to analyze and before discussing the similarities or differences in the climax, it is equally important to study the situations in the story that lead to its ending. It is interesting to note that both the stories have one particular character that is problematic and the other characters are upset with him for different reasons. In The Revolt of Mother, all the characters are annoyed with Adoniram because he didn’t fulfill his promise of building a house for the family; he never cared to provide a better life to his wife for which she was hopeful since 40 years.

He seemed to be a very materialistic person as he prefers to abandon the promise he made to his wife and instead plans to build a barn in order to get money. On the other hand, there is Silas in The Death of the Hired Man, who is extremely disliked by his ex- employer Warren, because he ran away when he was most needed by him (Antin, 2009) (Litmed.med, 2006) . The Revolt of Mother and The Death of the Hired Man has a rural background with a brief life sketch of farmer’s lives and their family.

Their anticipations, desires, struggle and hopes are represented through their respective situations. The Revolt of Mother focuses on the life of a woman, who has been patiently waited for 40 years to live in the house of her dream and how she nurtured this very dream all her life. The author writes- “When she glanced up from her work, the sight that rankled in her patient and steadfast soul the digging of the cellar of the new barn in the place where Adoniram forty years ago had promised her their new house should stand” (The Revolt of Mother, 49).

Readers are introduced to her struggle when she talks to her husband about her pain and that she never complained about the kind of life she lived (The Revolt of Mother, 50). Her revolt is justified when the author describes her troublesome life, the way she was ditched and how she decides to not let her daughter suffer in the future. In the end, Sarah emerges as a winner and her victory doubles when Adoniram accepts the new situation and finally realizes the importance of a well to do house in a woman’s life.

While weeping, he also commits to his wife that he will arrange the partition in the house and everything she would need. The story ends beautifully with these line – “Sarah put her apron up to her face; she was overcome by her own triumph”