The Revolt of Mother by Mary E. Wilkins - Essay Example

 The Revolt of Mother by Mary E. Wilkins Literary Analysis and Identifying Similarities and Differences The proposed methodology is to analyze and examine the differences and similarities between a story The Revolt of a Mother written by Mary E. Wilkins Freeman and a poem The Death of the Hired Man written by Robert Frost. 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” (The Revolt of Mother, 58). Adoniram is depicted as a fortress with walls that had no active resistance. It’s been a long time in The Death of the Hired Man, since Silas left the couple at an inappropriate time and an important theme in the poem is an unknown motivation behind the return of Silas. Unlike Mary, Warren is displeased with his return and declares “…but I will not have the fellow back” (The Death of the Hired Man, 12). Mary is unable to recognize him and he does not converse much (The Death of the Hired Man, 33-38). Mary informs Warren that Silas, suggested to call Harold back and he would be needed soon, he used to work along with Silas but the two wont just get along (The Death of the Hired Man, 57- 61). The readers come to know that Silas had a rich brother who lived quite near by (The Death of a Hired Man, 120-125). Mary is a very sensitive woman and she might have understood that this is indeed his last moment and he was in need of a place where he is welcomed like a member of a family (The Death of the Hired Man, 121-122). The Poem moves to the climax when Warren goes inside to see him on the request of Mary and discovers that the old man lay dead (The Death of the Hired Man, 165) (Salwa, 2001). Apart form a similar background of rural agricultural life, the story talks about the strong characters of women in particular, who are loving, forgiving, and are ready to accept the changes in their lives more than the male characters. The differences in the story is in the end part, where a happy ending is presented by the author in The Revolt of Mother, whereas in The Death of the Hired Man, the poem leave the readers with a silent message and they are forced to rethink on the character of the vulnerable servant Silas, who chose to die at the door of his master instead of his own brother who was rich enough to have taken care of him. Both Silas and Adoniram are the characters who ultimately gain sympathy and forgiveness from the readers at the end of the story. The circumstances that are similar in both stories might be the annoyance of other characters for one man because in some way these two men ditched the respective families for their own pleasure which was best known to them. The end of The Revolt of Mother highlights the bond among the family members where ultimately the woman wins and the man who oppressed her surrenders to her will and agrees to provide her assistance in building her dream house. The Death of the Hired Man highlights the bond between a servant for his master, where he served for several years and in his last time comes to meet them. Mary and Sarah prefer to forgive and forget. The poem and the story provide distinctive lesson to the readers, particularly through the end part which changes the verdict of the reader for both Adoniram and Silas, it becomes positive and acquires a sympathetic tone towards both men. The ending reflects a great lesson of forgiving as well as self realization of one’s fault. Adoniram realizes his mistake upon seeing the dedication by Sarah for building her home and it was the self realization by Silas that brought him back to his master’s house, he considered himself guilty and in order to mend what he did wrong he even came to make a suggestion for Harold who could possible be a suitable man to help his estranged master. It would be apt to end the paper with this quote – Mistakes are always forgivable, if one has the courage to admit them. Works cited Antin, David . the death of the hired man. Cetnre Interdisciplinaire de Poetique Appliquee, 2009. E-book. Church, Joseph . "Reconstructing Woman ' s P lace in Free m a n ' s " The Revolt of ' Mother ." Colby Quaterly, 26. 3, September (1990): . Frost, Robert. The Death of the Hired Man . 1914. Print. Litmed.med.nyu.edu. "Frost, Robert : The Death of the Hired Man." 2006. Web. 8 Apr 2013. . Nugali, Salwa . THE DEATH OF THE HIRED MAN. Saudi Arabia and UK: King Saud University, Nottingham University, 2001. E-book. W. Freeman , Mary. The revolt of Mother. 1891. Print. Read More