The women tell a different story. Each of the five leading female characters plays a different role, although they all fall to the patriarchy and expectations. As they grow, several break away from society’s rules. The Price family is headed by Orleanna, who undergoes significant changes as she finds her strength and power while standing up to Nathan after spending years living under his word. As a woman living in 1950s southern America, her rights were strictly limited to housemaker. She never had a say in decisions, and stated that she didn’t want to marry Nathan, but didn’t see another option. She also states that she didn’t want to have four kids and wasn’t fit for the job, but she complied with her husbands wishes instead of her own. Having a kids in a major life decisions, …show more content…
This proves that gender norms have a priority over general well-being. The feminist cause thoroughly disagrees with this ideology, believing that general well being goes hand in hand with equality. Should Orleanna and Nathan been equals, they would never have never gone to Africa. Further, the patriarchy has now been proven to be dangerous. Lives were lost and changed because a woman could not tell her husband how she felt. The part of her story that truly shows the strength of a mom and of a woman comes after Nathan’s ignorance causes Orleanna to lose her youngest daughter, Ruth May. She takes her family, excluding Nathan who decides his mission is more important than his family, and plans to leave the continent and go back to America. It took the death of her child for Orleanna to leave. The long wait for a voice shows how the characters were stuck in their roles. The Prices experienced near death experiences and loneliness, but Nathan still got his