Woman Roles Essay

The role of a woman has drastically changed since the 1950s. It was clear that then, the wife of the house had no more duty then to take care of the children, and have dinner on the table by the time her husband got home. Today, many college campuses are outnumbered by female students then by male students, proving that many more women have jobs outside of their homes today, than they did in the 50s. Times have radically changed since The Prize winner of Defiance, Ohio was written. This novel, written by Terry Ryan, is a memoir of her mother, Evelyn Ryan, and the struggles she and her family suffered through during Terry’s childhood. I will be exploring the topic of the role that the mother had in contributing to the family and how her husband disliked the fact that she helped financially.

If it hadn’t been for Evelyn Ryan’s knack for writing, the family would have been doomed. Early in the novel, the reader is told that the family is going to be kicked out of the house to make room for their landlord’s daughter. This situation gives Evelyn inspiration to win and eventually introduces Evelyn’s first big win, the Western Auto’s $13,500 Bike Contest. Evelyn had been determined to win the grand prize because the prize included $5,000 cash, a new washer and dryer, and a brand-new Western Flyer bicycle (22). With this win, the family is able to move before they are kicked out of their home. You can sense some hostility from the Kelly Ryan, the father, about this win. Although the father is obviously relieved, he gets unusually upset over a misprint in the newspaper that refers to him as “Leo P. Ryan” instead of Leo J. (his given name) or Kelly (his nickname) (24).

When reading deeper into the novel, the reader is let on that the father has a “drinking problem” (54). Evelyn is forced to handle this problem by herself. She finds that she cannot even find help through her church. On the occasion that Evelyn goes to her church nothing comes out of it. “Father’s...