Half Broke Horses

In a one-room school, the teacher has complete control, while in a traditional public school, a teacher has to follow the rules established by the administration and the school board. Lily is best suited to teaching in small schools where she can the class in her own way, without being constantly monitored and this is exactly what happened when she was doing what she loved. This preference for smaller schools suggests her desire to have control over her own life. 

While this theme was never discussed openly in the book, there are signs of it throughout the entire novel. Lily is the personification of the feminist movement as she constantly asserts her independence and desire to be a true partner to her husband. She is the complete opposite of her weak mother, who suffers from the vapors and seems to thrive on being frail. Lily does not completely reject anything that is stereotypically feminine, however, and uses her femininity to get gas for her car during the drive to see her father at the end of his life. She realizes that she needs men in her life, but she also knows that she can live without them. Her moment with the half-broke mustang in her early days in Red Lake showed that she could do anything that man could, and many of those things she actually did better than most men. The need to challenge traditional gender roles and identities is suggested by the way Helen is treated once her pregnancy is discovered, treatment which ultimately leads her to commit suicide. 

The weather plays a major role in the novel. It is the one thing that did have some control over Lily and her family. The story begins with a flood, an event that allowed Lily to demonstrate her ability to survive the elements with her intellect and strength. Lily’s childhood was affected by floods that forced the family to move and by droughts that forced her family to make do with what they had.

In her adult life, too, Lily had to survive harsh weather conditions. Yet, even when confronted with the power of Mother Nature, Lily was able to survive and stay strong.