In the novel A Thousand Acres Ginny Cook-Smith challenges the standards pressed on to her by the fictional society by not following the instructions of her father or husband, by becoming aware of her own sexuality, and by speaking her mind as she pleases. These actions upset the society she lives, a community based off of patriarchal ideals, and the idea that men are superior to women and that women are supposed to be submissive slaves to the males of society.
Ginny stops following her father and husbands commands after her and her sister were given the ownership to her father’s farm. She starts talking to her father like he is under her and tries to control his actions. On page 147-148 Ginny starts talking to her father “As if he were my child.”
