The Revolt Of Mother

“‘I wish you’d go into the house, mother, an’ tend to your own affairs,’ the old man said then. He ran his words together, and his speech was almost as inarticulate as a growl.”

This quote, spoken by Adoniram Penn, reflects the local color that Freeman uses throughout her story. It is most common in the dialogue because the characters speak in a regional dialect, represented by dropped g’s and d’s and colloquialisms.

More than that, this quote provides characterization for Adoniram. It shows how he is used to speaking to Sarah in a gruff manner. His inarticulate speech also implies that he is not accustomed to defending his actions. Faced with his normally submissive wife’s disapproval, he responds in a passive-aggressive way.

“Her forehead was mild and benevolent between the smooth curves of gray hair; there were meek downward lines about her nose and mouth; but her eyes, fixed upon the old man, looked as if the meekness had been the result of her own will, never of the will of another.” 

This description of “Mother,” Sarah Penn, is extremely revealing. It juxtaposes her mild and good nature with an inner strength that will come into play later in the story. She looks “meek” only because she chooses to, not because she is shy or incapable. Clearly, she has a power and a presence of her own her husband Adoniram perhaps underestimates.

“She looked as immovable to him as one of the rocks in his pastureland, bound to the earth with generations of blackberry vines.”

As Adoniram leaves the barn, he looks at his wife. Comparing her to a species of fruit often used in jams, syrups, and pies evokes her domain: that of the home. This implies a softness, perhaps even an ineffectuality, about her character.