What is the main source of conflict between the mother and the father in The Revolt of 'Mother'? How does the mother solve this problem?
In the story "The Revolt of "Mother" Sarah Penn, the mother in question, is upset that her husband is building a new barn instead of building the new house he promised her years ago. Mrs. Penn had been patient and had waited forty years for a better home. The small house that Mrs. Penn had been making do with for so long is described as carpet-less and with cheap, filthy wallpaper peeling off the walls. The rooms are cramped, the pantry is poorly-lit, and their children sleep in unfinished bedrooms.
"There ain't another woman in the whole town whose husband ain't got half the means you have but what's got better." Sarah Penn knows that even their neighbors who have significantly less money still live in nicer homes than she does. Mrs. Penn knows that her husband can easily afford a better home, but he'd rather build another barn and buy...
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more cows that Sarah herself will have to milk rather than keep his promise to her.
Despite how disrespectfully her husband treats her, the main reason for Mrs. Penn's defiance toward him is their daughter. Sarah Penn's daughter is about to get married and her mother feels ashamed and heartbroken that her child will have to get married in a tiny room without nice furniture or any carpet. Mrs. Penn even remarks how much better the room she got married in was.
After forty years, it is fear of her daughter being put to shame that makes "mother" take action to rectify the wrong that was done to her and her children. Adoniram, her husband, refuses to listen to her and, soon after the barn is finished, leaves town on business, which is when the mother makes her move.
Mrs. Penn has her daughter and son move all their important things into the new barn, which is much nicer than their current home, and has the new cows moved into their old one. Despite all the rumors and odd looks the people of the town give her and despite the timid disapproval of the minster who visits, she stands her ground. When the father returns home he is shocked, but Sarah Penn doesn't listen to him and barely gives him a chance to protest. She sits him down to eat the meal she had prepared for the family and he eats it in silence. Later on Adoniram breaks down crying and tells her "I hadn't no idee you was so set on't as all this comes to.
In "The Revolt of Mother," what is the meaning behind the conflict between "mother" and "father"?
The relationship between Sarah and Adoniram reflects the strict gender roles that have existed during their forty-year marriage. Adoniram promised Sarah he would build her a new house soon after they were married. It has never been built, but Adoniram has decided to build a new, bigger barn. Sarah eloquently expresses how she feels about never getting a new house to Adoniram, but he doesn't listen to her and finally tells her he won't talk about it any further. Adoniram doesn't listen to his wife because he doesn't feel she has anything worthy to say, especially if it conflicts with his needs and wants. Adoniram makes all of the decisions for the family and doesn't talk with Sarah about it, even though it affects her life.
The barn represents Adoniram's success as a farmer and his ability to make money, not to make his family more comfortable, but to make him look more "manly".
Sarah's reaction to Adoniram's decision is not to get angry or hostile. She still continues to do her wifely duties, such as sewing, cooking, and cleaning. Sarah expresses to her daughter, who is about to get married, that men do things very differently than women and are "beyond understanding". She does, however, take up for her husband when her daughter says something about him, fulfilling her role as a good wife to show and have her children show respect for the head of the family.
The bold change in Sarah occurs when Adoniram has to go away for a while. She sees this as God's gift to her in order for her and the children to move into the new barn, making it her home that was promised to her forty years ago. When Adoniram returns, he is shocked, and Sarah tell him in a calm voice that the family is going to live in the new barn and he needs to put in windows and partitions and buy new furniture. She helps him take off his jacket and tells him to wash up for dinner. After dinner, Sarah sees Adoniram crying, promising to do whatever Sarah asks. He tells her he had no idea that this was something that Sarah wanted so much.
In moving to the barn, Sarah reverses the traditional gender roles that have existed for forty years. Even the people in the town feel Sarah has either gone insane or must be breaking the law. In going against her husband's wishes, she has forced him to listen to her in the only way she can get through to him. He seems to feel bad at the end since he cries because he really didn't realize how much a new house meant to her. The fact that she continued to do as she was supposed to as Adoniram's wife told him that it was no big deal.