Gender Roles

One of the most important themes in "The Revolt of 'Mother"' is the distinction and reversal of traditional gender roles. Sarah's initial acceptance of Adoniram's building of the barn, despite his 40-year-old promise of building her a house on that spot, shows the prevalent belief that her duty is to follow her husband. Though Sarah does express her feelings to her husband, when he refuses to speak about the matter, she lets the subject drop, and the barn goes up. Adoniram's refusal to truly listen to Sarah's concerns throughout the story are clearly shown in his last words: "Why, mother, I hadn't no idee you was so set on't as all this comes to." Throughout the story, Sarah has tried to explain her feelings but, Adoniram is not accustomed to listening to his wife.

One of Sarah's most important roles, in addition to cooking her husband's...