The Life Story of a Farmer's Wife

While I was reading this story I felt very sorry for the wife, her husband kept her from doing some of the things she loved the most because it would “take away from her loving him” and he needed her to keep up with her chores and taking care of the children. She had an advanced enough education that she could teach but instead she stayed home and kept up with the farm and the house. She seemed to read my mind when she said “I must admit that there is very little time for the higher life for myself, but my soul cries out for it, and my heart is not in my homely duties; they are done in a mechanical abstracted way, not worthy of a woman of high ambitions; but my ambitions are along other lines”. This particular passage reminded me somewhat of Addie Bundren from “As I Lay Dying” who knew her duty as a wife was to have children and her duty as a woman was to live life and die without any regards to her own desires or feelings. This particular farmer’s wife doesn’t seem quite as depressed as Addie because she does still have her own dreams and aspirations, she just doesn’t follow them, where Addie lived her life ready to die. When I read stories like these I feel sorry for the women because they seem to live loveless lives and they devote all their time to taking care of other people and never themselves. I think most mothers do usually take care of their families before themselves but at least now we are allowed to have our own lives separate from our families. If you’ve read “As I Lay Dying” do you see any other connections between this farmer’s wife and Addie Bundren?