Putnam patriot., 1922-10-06

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 "Thls Freedom" the new novel by 4. s. M Hutchinson. author of "ff Winter C0mes.s asks this question Gan married woman have a business career and still do her duty by her . husband and children? Since Rosalie i the central figure and heroine of the story, had her career. and all of her children went to the bad, it is assumed that Hutchinson answers his question in the negative But. 10 indulge in the vernacular (which one is only too glad to do after 37i pages of the arti- fcial lingo iH which the author re counts the vital events in the life of the Occleve familyt the natural query of the thoughtful reader is. How does be get that way7" Here is the story of a woman whose early life had taught her that this world of ours is q man made world From the first to her the universe seemed to revolve around the males of her family And then when her view eneompassed more of the social horizon, she perceived that while her father and brothers were only tiny specs other males. nevertheless. they were dominant. There was merely substitution of one set of giants for another. Rosalie looked on and absorbed things; and the first and by far the deepest of her settled perceptions was that. though she WAS subject to all powers, all girls and women were themselves subject to the power of all men and boys. - The trouble with women is. she decides. that they let themselves get into a blind alley, marriage, and there stagnate, grow old, and rot. like so many derelicts. 50 much waste, on the sea of life Rosaie will have none of this It does not ft her scheme of life. So she astounds her family and friends and sets forth on her business career. "I can perfectly well marry and still keep my theory of life" she says. when Harry asks her to be his wife. aThere's nothing to me more detest= able in the whole business than the idea that because woman marrie= she must therefore give up her work 2
 And 50 Rosale married and con tinued her banking Then the child ren came. one, then another chen am other and Rosalie kept on at her work Duty to q home2 Give up her earcer2 Why more 70 than the man Why have l more datE than F9I9s 9s she asks her husband when h. be1
 her Co substitute domeztIcIty for LoW= bard ztreet sNhy am the aecu
 cd2" And he replies, Because I'm q man And she replies. Well. I'm q woman" which seems a perfectly sound rejoiudef Il Is impossible to read Rasalic's glowing defense of the new womauhaod and wonder bow anN human being can veRefate the dead and ancient days of the old fashioned woman. Her logic k perfect. The husband has asked her to make the sacrifice of career for the sake of the children Sacrifices. she retorts. : "Have you ever heard of a father sacrificing himself for his children , There's no such phrase. There's only the feminine gender for that There is no question but that Rosalie wins the argument. She reasons with knife like precision. But in spite of this, Hutchinson concludes that the saliva tion of the race depends on the earlier type of motherhood.
 It is when Rosalie goes shopping with her son. Huggo. and Huggo in- sists that he shall buy a particular type of jack knife that his mother thinks is much too heavy; and at the same time at the same counter an- other little boy buys the knife his mamma picks out for him, that Rosalie decided that all is not we'll with her ! flock. Her process of reasoning is not clear. however One can't but admire Huggo for his independence He at least knows his own mind, and also probably knew that no woman has the
 right to advise on the question of jack-knives; But the real blow comes when Huggo announces one day at dinner that the Bible stories are net literally true Here the arch enemy of Eundameutalism Shriekiug horror, Rosahe leaves her position. Later she goes back however. Then t is that the children go to the dogs.
 But Il is not at all conclusive There is nothing to indicate that uugea would not have eloped, and Benu committed suicide. and Dora had her virtue ruined had Rosale stayed al home and baked apple pies In short there is nothing in the lives of the members of the Oceleve family that warrants Hutchinson in drawing the conclusion that he does Their history was unfortunate. but po more so than
 hundreds of other families in which the mother stays in Che kitchen and wears d blue tngham apron
 Hutchinson novel apparently re- cords his own thinking an the subject. and t is muddled thinking First h.s reason triumphs, and then his emo
 Ious Sentiment wins against reason. and the reader who is careful cannot be satisfied Having presented q strong case for the new womanhood fn Rosahe in fact a most eonvine-