A
CRITICAL
READING:
CONTRADTCTORY
PERSPECTIVES ON
PATRIARCHY
AS SEEN
IN THE
FEMALE
CHARACTERS
OF
MARY
E.
WALKINS
FREEMAN'S "THE REVOLT
OF,,IVOTHER''
Nandy Intan
Kumta
English Language and Literature Study Program, English Education Department Faculty of Languages and Arts
Yogyakarta State University
Abstract
Motly stLt.lents oJ English Langtoge ond Literanre study progran
onaly:e
The Reultof
'll4other' ", which is a short story written by Mary E. Il/dkins Freeman, b.v using a Jeninist ctpproach- Mosi of then dt-e ln'ing lo.foctts theit' dlenlion lo its'female uojor chutacler, nomed Scrcth Penn- ,She is seen as q sn-ong \\tonan v,ho has a coto'age to speak up her miwl anLl break the patriarchal system. Howeyer, it is al.\o inportant lo qLtestion the point of tie*' of the other;femule clttrracter in FreeDtqn's shorl slctrl'. A ctilic(tl readin2i on lhis work cttn give ne\\' insighls of lhe
ijomen pe'pecti\res on
p.
riLrchy. Tlterefore, this pctper exploresllte
cono'.tslof
v)omen pefspeclil,es in relqtion to the pqttiQrchol s!-sLe,, ds t.eJlected in one oJ Freenlan s shorl sloriesKeyu,ords: ,1 critical reading. palriarchdl s)'stem, \ronlen's conlrddiclory pL't -\pL'tttvej
Abstrak
Banyak mahasiswa Prograrn Studi Bahasa dan Sastra Inggris menganalisis cerpen berjudul 'The
Revolt
of
'Mother'"
karya MaryE.
Walkins Freeman dengan menggunakan pendekatan femirisme. Sebagian besar dari mahasiswa tersebut memfokuskan kajiannya telhadap tokoh utama yang bemama Sarah Pern. Sarah seorang perempuan yang kuat dan memiliki keberanian untuk mengungkapkan isi pikirannya dan mematahkan sistem patriarki. Namun, penting pula untuk,l.ngkuji tokoh perempuan lain dalam cerpen karya Freeman. Membaca
k
tis terhadap karya tersetut dapat memberikan perbedaan terhadap sudut pandang wanita akan sistem patriarki. Oleh karena itu, artikelini
akan menggali perbedaan sudut pandang wanita terkait sistem patriarki seperti tercermin dalam salah satu cerpen karya Freeman.Kata kunci: Membaca kitis, sistein patriarki, perbedaaD sudut pandang rvanite
A.
INTRODUCTION
The setting
of
The Revoltof 'liother'
isin
a late nineteenth centuryrural
NewEngland
fam,
andit
tells about thelife of
farmerfamily
who has been maniedfor forty
years.This
family
startsto
faceconflict
whenAdoniram (the
male character) plansto
build
a new bam on the area set asidefor
the new house that he has promised to hiswife,
Sarah Penn, when they arestill
a new mamiedA Critical Reading: Cont,"dictory Perspeclives OD Parriarchy As Seen In The Female Clmmctem Of
Mary E- Walkins Freeman's The Revolt ol- Molher' _
couple.
Sarahtries
to
protest,
but
her
husband refusesto
listen
to
hercomplain. When the
build
of
the new bamis
almost complete,Adoniram
hasto
leave the farmfor
several days. Sarah sees this event as an advantage. Shestrikes back
by
conductinga'revolt'.
She asks hertwo
children(Nanny
andSammy)
to
moveto
the new bam. Her decision makes herown
children and surroundings surprise.Finally,
when Adoniram comes backfiom
hisjoumey,
he feels confuse (their house becomes their bam, and vice versa) and
finally,
he promises to grant
everlthing
his wife wants. This event makes Sarah as theu,inner
who
successfully def'eats her husband as the s).rnbolof
the patriarchal fan.rily's ruler.Sarah's
victory over
her
husband stealsthe
attention
of
many
readels,especially the students
of
English language and literature study program, who are interestedin
the studyof
feminism, sinceit
can be seen as thefall of
thepatriarchal power. Moreover, many people also believe that
Mary
E. WalkinsFreeman, as the author
ol
this short story, is an authorwho
gives her suppofiin
the
developmentof
feminism
movementor
at
least sheis trying to
give'voice'
to women who have to face injustice in tl.reir lives. However, this papertries
to
seek furtherin
what u,ay Freeman's"The
Revoltof 'Mother"'can
beseen as a medium
to
criticize
the patriarchal system andin
the same tirr-reit
also can be seen as her ways to promote the feminist agenda, andin
what waytl.ris story is opposed to the feminist agenda.
By
analyzing this short story thewriter
wants to make readers (especially the studer.rtsof
English and LanguageLiterature study program) realize that they should have broaden perspectives and do not easily be trapped to the stereotype that are given to a cedain author.
B.
DISCUSSION
l.
Mary E.Wilkins
FreemairReuben (201 I
)
writes
in "PAL:
Perspectivesin
American Literature-
A
Research and Reference
Guide
-
An
Ongoing Project"
that
Freeman istrying
to
explorethe
live
of
the
New
Englandwomen
in
19th
centurythrough
her
progressive
feminist
writings.
As
a
female author
shediscusses various themes related to wornen's issues. Fufihermore- since the
1960s, rnany readers applied feminist criticism to her writir.rgs: Many critics feel that Freeman's rvomen. rvhelher married or not, v,'hcn conironted by unreasonable and dominating male demands, muster latent and, to the men, unexpected strengths, and reveal an irnpressive spirit of
indepcndence.' (Westbrook in Reuben. 201 I ).
Based on the above quotation,
it
is clear that many researchers arefalling
in
love
with
Freeman's r.l,ritings becauseshe actively
discusses aboutrvomen's
subjects.Moreovcr. many
of
them
believe
that
through
herwntings, Freeman is
trying
to encourage women to fight for their freedorr.r.Reuben
(201l)
explains further, Freernan portrays thelive of
women whoare
trying
to
struggleto
gain
bettennentin
their lives. In
manyof
herDEIKSIS Jurnal Ilmiah Bahasa dan Seni, Vol.06 No.0l lJanuari - April2014
writings,
she portraysthe live
of
women
who
arenot
dependent upon marriage,matemity
and mothering and someof
them even refuseto
takerole as housewives or home keepers in the patriarchal families.
In
linewith
Reuben. an article entitled "Regional Realism". also noted lhat Freeman's bestworks
are those wl.rich focuson
the dilemmaof
womenwhose lives are bounded by poverty and various form
ofsocial
constraints.Those problems emerge because
of their
strict
religiousbeliefs
and alsotheir
position as
women.Moreover,
sheoften
exploresthe revolts
andvictories
of
womenin
gaining and sustaining control overtheir
domestic sjtuatiorrswith
humor and sensitir ity.2.
Patnarchy and the FeministsIn
this
paper
the term feminist
is
broadly defined as
someone whostruggles
to
achieve equality,dignity,
rights,
and freedomfor
women
tocontrol their own [ives.
While
in the below section, the writerwill
give the explanation of the patriarchy's concept based on several researchers.Hooks in her "Understanding Patriarchy'' defines patriarchy as:
a political
-social
system that insists that males are inherently dominating,superior
to
everthing and everyone deemed weak, especially females, and endowedwith
the right to dominate and rule over the weak and to maintainthat
dominancethrough various forms
of
pschological
terrorism
and violance.Thus, based
on Hooks' definition,
rnaleis
theruler of the
'wolld',
while
female is the the one who should obey the rules which the ruler has made fbr her.
Hooks explains further
that the
patriarchal system
is
taught
through religion, and even sometimes by the useof
violenceto
reinforce people's indoctrination and acceptance of this system.In
fact,it
tries to indoctrinatethat men are created
by
God to rule theworld
andeveryhing in
it
andit
isthe duty
of
women to help men. Someof
the premisesof
this system are:men as
the
rulers have
to
be
served,to
be
strong,
to
provide,
think,strategize and plan, and also to refuse to nurture others.
(ln
the othcr hand, women are the one who have to perfonnall
tl.re tasks givenby
men and to obeymen.
Moreover, women haveto
serve andto
nurture others,to
be weak and to be freefrorr
the burdenol
thinki:rg.Ray
in
his arlicle
"UnderstandingPatriarchl"'
also hasa similar
opinionwith
the previons opinion. He says that "Patriarchal constrlrctionsof
socialplactices
are legitimized
by
religion and religious institution as
mostleligious
practices regard maleauthority
assuperior.'' He
also rnentionstl.rat church and state are the examples
of
r.nale dominated institutions.A C;tical Reading: Contmdictory perspectives On patriarchy As Seen In The Female Chamcters
Of
Mary E. Walkins Freeman s ..The Revoil of.Mothea ,.
Psychotherapist
Bradshaw
(in
Hooks)
also
stated
that
patriarchy
isdistinguished
by
the domination andpower
of
men.He
also argues thatmost
of
the
world's
religious,
schooland
family
systemsstill
use thepatriarchal rules.
According
to
Bradshaw,commonly
patriarchal parents.
will
do patriarchal violence to their own children.In line
with
those experts, Rowbotham (inWalby,
1986: 30) also argues:The
term
patriarchy
necessarily
implies
a
conception
of
women.s oppression tl.ratis
universalistic, ahrstoric and essentiallybiologistic
andthat
it
incorectly
leads
to
a
searchlor
a
single
causeof
uomen's
oppression either
in
base super-structure modelor
as questfor
ultimate orbegins lrom caprtalisr relario ns.
Although, mostly the
victim of
the patriarchal system is women, however,as stated
by
Hooks, the contemporaryvisionary
feminists believethat
apatriarchal thinker can be male or female. He comments
that..Women
can be as wedded to patriarchal thinking and action as men."Furlhermore, accordrng
to
Hooks, manyfamilies
try to
hicletheir
storiesrelated
to
the bad
eff'ectof
the
patriarchalsysterr
andthis
system has deeply rooted in the valuesolmany
cultures.In
f-act, this is the onewhich
makes the patriarcl.ral culture
still
exists upto
now. Thereby,it
isdi{ficult
to
challenge and change the patriarchal system,which
is
mostly
har.rcleddown from generation to generation. According
to
Hooks,rrost
ol
peoplegain
the knowledgeof
the patriarchal attitudesfrom
their own
mothers. which then are reintbrced in many formsolinstitutions.
However,
the
f'eminists thentry to
challengeihis
systern.They
use theterm "patriarchy"
to
replacethe word
"tnale
chauvinisrn" ancl ..sexism'.that
are commonly used.The
leministswant
to
make peopleto
become awareol
the negative impactof
patnarchy. Hooks argues that the systemof
patriarchy brainwashesmen
to
believethat their
dornination
towardwomen
will
give them benefit whenit
is not. Moreover,it
also denies men accessto
'full
emotional
well-being' and
it
has
dan.ragcdmen
from
generation to generation.
3.
FindingsAs
previously mentioned. this paper tries to discuss Freeman,stwo
f'entalecharacters and
their
perspectives on patriarciry as seenin'.The
Revolt
of
'Mother"'. By
discussing those aspectsin
the short stories. thewriter
of
thrs paper wants to throw new
light
on Freeman as a fernale author notjust
on her stereotype as a feminist author.a.
The Characterof
Sarah Penn and her perspectives on patriarchy"The
Revolt
of
'Mother'
"
openswith a
scenein
which the
l'emale main character, named Sarah Penn, gets very upset when her husband,Adoniram, refuses to answer her question about what happens
in their
DEIKSIS I Jumal Ilmiah Bahatu dun Stni'
Vol 06 No
fields.
Although
she cannot get any answer fromhim'
she keepstryng
:ilHi:,?:;xi::iT';,,
to know what them men arediggin'
overin
tn"
neta for. an'i'm
goin' to know"
The above quotation shows that Sarah Penn is a female main
character
who
soes
against
the
uttt"tye"ti
*o-"n.,yI::,
she
states the
lri"r,ti"
..r"?.dly
'nd
tt
"n
uit'
u
"'ong
statemenl'"l'm
goin'
toknow."
it
shows tl.rat'f*
i''i"'*iUtJ
u'
i
*otutt
with
a
high
self-;;;;;;;i""s
not easilv give up on something'Adoniram,
who
does not wantto
give the ans\\er to hisurle'
remainssilent.
This
is his wayto
tl-'o*
tt.tai t.'e is the onewho
has thepower to
control
everythingin
his
h;;t;';;;;
but"tl^orl Hook's,1heolv'
in
the
natriarchal soclety
men..
gl"l"
"gtrc
bycod
lo
controland rule the
'Ji;fi;;;
"i*
,i
ir'i"t'
'it"
'i*I"t'
und plun independentlvonce
more time he tries
to
th"*;;;;;i;;n"e
usth"
leaderof
patriarchal
l'amily
by
advisinghit
*it'"^;;;;;the
house and stop askinghim
t"Jll[JJ:1:ln,o
,t"
house' mother'an''tend
to vour ownafrairs"'
theold
man saidthen
U" tut
f-tit words together' and his speech wasui.ort
ut inarticulate as agrowl'
But the woman understood;
it
was her most native tongue"i
ain't goin'
into the house
till
youtell
;;rl,i;-th"-
men are doin' over therein
thefield."
said she'Whenherhusbar-rdStartstouseahighertone-alldforbidhertiom
interfering on his
affairs
*'ilit "it"'pit"
hide thetruth'
Sarah refuses
to
listen
and evenaitou"v
t't' i*ulna;'
inttt"tion
to
go
into
their
house. This event
illustratls'if-r"i
ti"
a""t
notonly
possess a
high
se11'-esteem, but also she
i'
att"lf'"a
as an autonomous personwho cannot
u"
f".lla
"t*
uy the headofthe
family'
In
the
other
paft
of
the story' the
readerscan
see Sarah physicalxoDearances o''a
tr't'utt"ti'u'til"'
sturt
is porlrsyedas a
uolnan with
i,t*ffi;;;;
';;A"l*;i'*r'iJ-'n"t-'
hei
rook
like a
chld'
Basically,
she has an"tdi;;;
descriptionof wouan in
her age' Her
gray hair und u
-ott.'"tty
iu[iil.,tit"ii
tr-,"
she is a compassionate andhumble
person
Ho*"'"''''"}r"" Jt'cription of
the way she staresal
herhusband is quite unusual'
H";
;;;; ;yt'
show.that shedoes not alraid
of him.
It
seemslike
u"tuuify tf-r" tries to hide her strengtl.r on herown
free wil1.
She was a small woman,
shofi
andt.-o*n
"otto,
gown Her
loreheadstra isht-waisted
like
achild in
her*r,
-rild
alld
benevolent betweelt36
A Critical ReadiDg: Contmdictory perspectives On patriarchy As Seen In The Female Chamcters Ol. Mary E. Walkins Freeman's .The Revoll of .Mothel ,,
the smooth curves
ofgray
hair; there were meek downward lines about her nose and mouth; but her eyes, fixed upon the old man, looked asif
the meekness had been the result
of
her ownwill,
neverof
thewill
of
another.
It
is
clearly statedin
the above quotation that Sarahis
illustrated as awomen
with
courage. Through her sparkling eyes,it
is very clear that sheis
a leaderof
herown
life,
and no one can force heror
rule
overher. She puts a compassionate and humble look on her face and hides her powerful-daring eyes on her own free
will.
As previously mentioned, the story faces
its'conflict
when the manof
thefamily
wantsto build
a new
barnwithout
askingfor
permissionlrom
theother
family
members. Sarah, asthe
wife,
getsvery
upset when shefinally
finds out that her husband tries to hide thetruth
that he plans tobuild
a new bamin
the area where he has promised her to setup
a
new housefor
their
family.
Then
sheopenly
expresses her anger by telling her daughter, Nanny Penn, who is going to get mamedsoon, how men commonly treat women:
"You
ain't
foundout yet
we're women-flolks, Nanny penn,'' said she.'You
ain't seen enoughof
men-folksyet to.
Oneof
these daysyou'll
find
it
out,
an' thenyou'll
know that
we
know
only
what
men-folks think we do, so tar as any useof
it
goes,an'how
we'd ought to reckonmen-folks
in with
Providence, an'not
complainof
what
theydo
any rnore than we duof
the r.reather."Based or.r the above quotation,
it
is
clear that women have noright
to make decision. They haveio follow
the instructions that are givenby
rren. They have no lreedom to
think
and act for themselves. Thus,in
adaily
lif'e tl.rey haveto
accept men's treatmentswithout
any complaintsince
it
is men's fate to be the leader of womenActually
Sarah ispo(rayed
as aloving
and caringfigure
ol
wife
andmother
in
the sametime.
Eventhough she doesnot in
the same boatwith
her l.rusband relatedto his
decisionin
building
anew bam,
shestill
tnes to defend and shows her respect toward her husbandin
liont
of
l.rer daughter. So, her daughterwould
not blame l.rer husbandfor
hisdecision.
You
hadn't ought tojudge
father, though. He can,thelp
it,
'cause hedon't
look at
things
jest
the way
we
do.
An'
we've
been
prettycomfortable here, after
all.
Theroof
don,t leak-
ain,t never but once-
that's one thing. Father's keptit
shingled right up.''DEIKSIS lJumal llmiah Bahasa dan Seni, Vol. 06 No.0l lJanuari - April 2014
a
Sarah realizes that her husband has a different perspective than her and she also cannot deny that he has foughtto
give the bestthing
for
hisfamily all
of his life.She also trigs to teach her daughter
to
be gratefulof
what she has got beciiuse she can have a good life better than the others:"Wetl,
I
don't
think
you'd
better,a
good
fatheran'a
good home
asyou've
got.
S'poseyour
father
madeyou go out
an'
work
for
yourlivin'?
Lotsof
girls have to that ain't no stronger an' better able to thanyou be."
Thrs is a comrron way that is used
by
a motherto
transfer knowledgeand
experienceto
l.rer daughter.Unlike the
stereot)?ical
profile
of
women in general, she can control her emotion in front
ofher
daughter, although she gets very upset to Adoniram as her husband.Sarah
in this
storyis
also porlrayed as a good housewifejust like
the stereotypical houser.vil'ein
the patriarcl.ral society who has to "take careol
nurlure others"(Llook). As
tire queenof
the house. she can do herjob
perfectly.
She does tl.re don.resticactivities
and takes careof
thel.rousel.rold
rvith
passion andall of
her heart.It
is clearly seenlrom
the below quotation:Sarali Penn washcd tl.re
tiying-pan
with
a conclusive air. She scrubbed the outsideof it
aslaithfully
as the inside. She was a masterly keeperof
her boxof
a house. Her one living-roon.r never seemed to havein
rtar]y
of
the dust which the friction
of
lif'e
with
inanimate
matter produces. She swept, and there seemedto
be r.rodirt
to
go before thebroom; she cleaned, and one could see no difference. She was
like
anartist
so perl'ectthat he
has apparentlyno art. To-day
shegot out
amixing
bowl
and a board, and rolled some pies, and there was no moreflour upon her than upon hcr daugl.rter who was doing finer work.
However, although she is described as a humble and passionate person
who
always does herjob
with full of
her heart,it
does not mean that she cannot express everything insideof
her mindwith
a strong notion. Seehow
confident sheis
when she instructs her husbar.rdto
listen
to her:"Father.
you
come here." Sarah Penn stoodin
thedoor
like
a queen;she held her head as
if
it
bore a crown; there was that patience whichmakes authority royal in her voice. Adoniram went.
Mrs.
Pennled
theway into
the kitchen, and pointedto
a chair.
"Sit
down. fatl.rer.'' said she;''l've
gotsomethin'l
want to say to you."Sl.re does
not only givc
him
an instruction, but also openlycriticizing
and questioning the
liability
olhis
decision tobuild
a nerv bam insteadof a new house for their family:
A Critical Reading: Contmdictory pe$pectives On patriarchy As Seen ln The Female Characters Of Mary E. Walkins Freeman's "The Revolt of.Mother, .,
"l
wantto know
if
you
think
you,re doin,right
an' accordin,to
what you profess. Here, when we was married,forty
year ago, you promised me faithful that we should have a new housebuilt
in thatlot
over in thefield before the year was out.
You
said you had money enough, an' you wouldn't ask me tolive in
no such place as this.It
is forty year now, an,you've been
-ikin'
mo."
money, an' I,ve been savin'of it
for
you eversince, an'
you
ain't
built no
houseyet. you've built
shedsan'cow_
houses an'one new barn,
an'now
you,regoin,to
build
another. Father,I
want toknow
if
youthink
it,sright. you,re
lodgin' your dumb beastsbetter than
you
areyour own flesh
an,blood.
I
wantto
know
if
vouthink it's
right."
She expresses her feeling
plainly
and shows her rage to the headofthe
family. It can be seen clearly through her buming
fice
and her gleamed eyes, "she had rangedfrom
severity topathos;,'ln
this partofitory,
it
can be
seenthat she
does
not
possessthe
image
of
a
common stereotypical womanin
a patriarchallamily
who always has to be able to eliminated her anger (Hook).Indeed. Sarah
is
illustrated as a womanwith
a strong personality. Forexample, one day when she got an idea which she claims as ..the
guide-posts
of
theLord
to the new roadsof
life,',
she made up hermind
and ready to take some actions related to thelile
of herfamily.
With
a high selfl-confidence she asks herchildren to
moveto
their new barn. Theway she thinks and acts can be seen as evidence that she is a complete break from the traditional stereot)?ing of woman in patriarchal society that Hook describes in her "Understanding patriarchy,'as a person who
has to be free
fiom
the burdenof
thinking.
Sarah does notonly try
tothink to
1'1nd the bestsolution
lor
herfamily,
but also she manages to take a real action to get betterment for her family.Sarah decision to move her
family
andlive in
their,new
barn, create astrong reaction
from
her society.Her
neighbours gossiping about her'strange'
attitude,and
eventhe
minister
of
her village.
Mr
Hersey.visiting
her
houseto
warn her that
she has madea
great mistake. H-owever, Sarah canjustify
her decision and able to break the argunlentof
theministry.
who is known as the manifestationof
God,s power onearth:
"There ain't
no
usetalkin'.
Mr.
Hersey.,' said she. .,I've thoughtit
allover an' over,
an'l
believe
I,m
doin,
what,sright.
I,ve
madeit
the subjectolprayer, an'it's
betwixt
mean,the Lord
an, Adoniram. There ain't no call fbr nobody else towory
about it.,."Well. of
course,if
you have broughtit
to the Lordin
prayer, and feelsatisfied
that you are doing right.
Mrs.
per.ur.,'said the
minister. helplessly.ISSN 2085-2274
7,2
DEIKSIS I Jumal Ilmiah Bahasa dan Seni, Vol' 06 No 01 | Januari - April 2014
The
ministry
has lost his power over Sarah' He cannot defend his own argumenta;d
he fails
to
restorethe
social orderwhich
believes that*im"n
al*ay.
haveto
listento
men's order' especially thewords
of
God's represerttative. Sarah has made up her mind and she knows the.onr.qr"n"".
well.
S-he disobeys her husband's instructions and evensurprisingly,
she challengeshis
power over
her
asthe
head
of
thefamily.
As
a person and also as a memberof
the church, sheknows
that she has freedomto
express herown opinion
andto
decide the bestthing
for her
tamily
ar.rd herself, and noone can delry that:"l
think
it's rightjest
as much asI think
it
wasright
for our forefathersto
come
or.i f.o*
the
old
country
'causethey didn't have
whatbelongeri
to'em."
saidMrs.
Penn. She arose The bam threshold might have f,een Plymouth Rockfrom
her bearing'"l
don't doubtyou
meanwell,
Mr.
t{ersey."
said she,"but
there are things people hadn't oughtto
interf'erewith.
I've been a memberof
the church for overforty
year'I've got
my
own rnind an'my
own feet, an'I'm
goin'to think my
own thoughtsan' go
n'ryown
ways,an' nobody
but the Lord
is
goin'to
dictate to me unless t've a mind to havehim'
When the story comes
to
its
end,it
is
obvious thatAdoniram'
as the headof
the f-amily, has been defeated by his ownwife,
the onewho
isactually has
to otey
the headof
thefamily's
rule
His wife is
morepowerful thar.r he is, and he cannot deny that: 'Sarah
bent over and touched her husband
on
oneof
his
thin'
sinewyshoulders.
"Father!"
The old man's shoulciers heaved: he was weeping'
"Why.
don't dc so, thlher," said Sarah'"1'11
-
put
up
the
-
partitions, an'
-
everything
you
-
want' mother."Sarah
put
her
apronup
to
her
face; she was overcomeby
her
own triumph.Adoniram was
like
a tbrtress rvhose walls had no active resistance' andwent
dowt.tthe
instant
the right
besiegingtools
were
used "Why'
mother." he said. hoarsely-"I
hadn't no ideeyotl
was so set on't asall
this comes
to."
The
above quotationclearly
illustratesthat
rnen arenot
superior towomen,
andunlike
one
of
the
premisesin
the
patriarchal
systemswhich
stated that rnen have to be strong and should notbe
emotional(Hook),
in
fact, tnen
canbe
asemotional
aswomen
do
The
way,q,doniiam act shows that he can be soo r''ulnerable and becomes very emotional.
At
the endof
the story the powerful Adoniram has changedinto
aninterior
onewho
cannot defendhinself
As
the rnanifestation/.r,
A crilical Reading: conlmdictory perspecrives on parriarchy As seen
In The Female chamcten of Mary E. Walkins Freeman's "The Revoh of-Molher' ..
b.
of
the
leaderin
the
patriarchal system,Adoniram cannot show
his
domination.
The
characterizationof
the
femalemain
characterof this
short storyobviously points
out that
she
is nol
typically a
woman
commonly foundin
a literary text dunngihe
erain
whichlt
waswritten. Unlike
astereotypical woman at that time, she does not do what she
is
dictatedto.do.
In
this
shoft story, Sarahis
presented as a womanwith
a highself
esteem, autonomous, and doesnot
afraidto
expressher
feelings andopinion. [n
1act, slie can make an in.rportant decisionon
her ownliee
will,
althoughit
means that she hasto
break the patriarchal ruleswho always place men as the decision makers.
The Character
of
Nanny penn and her perspectives on patriarchy Nanny Penn is portrayedtotally different tiom
her own mother, Sarah. She has"a
prettygirl's
lace,pink
and delicate as a flower,, that looksvery tender, and she also has,,sweet- slow voice...
In
fact, she possess the stereotyping physical appearances and attitudes attributedto
manywoman:
Her tender, sweet face rvas
i'ull
of
a gentle distress. Her lbrehead wasas bald and innocent as a baby,s,
with
thelight
hair strained back fromit
in
arow
of
curl-papers. She was quite large, but her soft curves did not look asif
they covered muscles.Furthermore, she
is
also illustrated as a very naive womanwho
learnsmany things
from her
mother.As
a
daughter she hasto
obey
hermother's instructions
and
does
all
the
household
tasks
without complaining:The,girl
went to the sink, and began to wash the dishes that were piledup there. Her mother came promptly out
of
the pantry, and shoved her aside."You wipe'em."
said she,.,l,ll
wash. Thire,si
goocl many thismornin'.'
The mother plunged her hands vigorously into the water, the
girl
wiped the platesslowly
and dreamily.The way Nanny wiped the plates
(slowly
and dreamily) illustrates that sheis
desribed asworlan with full
ol
fantasy.This is
a conventional stereotypingof
womentn
the patriarchal society,which
believes that there is no needtbr
women to use their brains tothink.
However, theycan
use
them
to
daydreamingand
live
in
fantasy.
She
does
notcomplain when her mother asks her
to
do
those domestic duties ar.rdlets people to rule over her, since she has not got enough courage and
self esteem to refuse those orrlers.
ISSN 208s-2274
DEIKSIS lJumal Ilmiah Bahasa dan Seni, Vol.06 No.01 lJanuari - April20l4
Another
casewhich
canbe
seen as evidencethat Nanny
is a
naive person happens when she seemsvery
surprised andtries
to
deny thetruth
relatedto
her future husband.Her
mother triesto
wam
her thatthere
is
a highpossibility
that her future husband onedaywill
actjust
like
the other men do.It
is possible that he w_illtry,to
be superior andshe always has to obey his instructions:
''l
don't
care;i
don't
believe Georgeis
anything
like
that,
anyhow,"said Nanny. Her delicate face flushed pink, her
lips
poutedsoftly,
asif
she were going to cry.She cannot defend
herself,
she cannotgive
her best
argumentationtoward her mother's opinion. The
only thing
she cando is
denyingthose possibilities
and hoping that her future
husbandwill
be
an exception.Nanny, who plans
to
get marriedin
thefall,
does not realize that menalways
try
to
show their power over women
since
basedon
thepatrialchal system men are the ruler.
Unlike
her mother, Nanny's mindis
full
of
the
ideal portrayalof
marriage(that a
husbandwill
alwayslove his
wife
andwill
nevertry
to
dominate thelife of
hisown wife),
which is possibly because the society has successfully indoctrinate her
mind through the religious practice.
C.
CONCLUSION
From the discussion above,
it
can be concluded that "The Revoltof 'Mother"'
is to
some extent self-contradictory. Freeman as the authorcleverly
exploresthe
revolt
andvictory
of
her main female character'in
gainirrg and sustainingcontrol over her own domestic situations, and
in
the sametime
promotes thefeminists' agenda. In fact, in this shofi story she discusses women's issue and
challenging the patriarchal system. She
is
aware that the patriarchal system isthe main source
for
the damageof
both men and womenfrom
generation to generationby giving
a clear pictureof
her female main character as a strongwoman who
has courageto fight for
her
lreedomof
speaking and gainingindependence by breaking the patriarchal system.
However, the existence
of
the
other female character that has contradictory perspectiveson
patriarchy.
to
soute
extent.
discouragesFreeman's
ow.nattempts
to
promotethe feminist
agenda. Furthermore,the
existenceof
her'other'
lemale character becomes a negative symbol that womenstill
have tofight
harder in diminishing injusticein
the future,which is
as the resultof
thepatriarchy, since Freeman's female character has
fallen into a
conventionalstereotyping
of
women in the patriarchal society. Freeman's potrayalofNanny
(as a woman in her young age who is about to get married) and her naive wayof
thinking
makes her can be seen as oneof
ablur
imageof
womenin
the future, that womenstill
become thevictim olpatriarchy.
A critical Reading: contmdictory perspeclives on patriarchy As seen ln The
Femare chardclem
of
Mary E. Walkins Fr€eman's..The Revolr ol.Mother' .,As
for
suggestion, regardingwith
the findings of the analysisof
..The revoltof
'Mother'
",the
readersof
literature, especiaily thestudents
who
are majoringin
English
Language and Literature, haveto
be awareand
do not
easily bEtrapp:d
to
the
stereotypethat
are
given
to a
certain author since
it
will
definitely
impoverish their own experienceof
reading the literary textBIBLIOGRAPHY
Hooks,
Bell.Retrieved
Wilkins, Mary
Other
Understanding
://i Ilnenoborders.orp/Ddt/zin
on November I
lth,20l3.
E.
I 891 ."The
Revoltof
.'Mother.'Patriarchy.
New E;tgland Nun and
Brothers
Publisher.From A and
Walaby,
Sylvia.
1986.association
with
"Regional
realism".Patriarchy
at
Work. Oxford..Basil Blackwell.
Retrieved
onPolity
Press, Cambridge inRetrieved on November 20th. 2013.
ISSN 2085-227.4