The Personal History of Rachel DuPree discussion

The ending: Should Rachel have taken the kids and gone back to Chicago?

I realize she had a seriously hard time. She lost children. She had to deal with drought. She was lonely, homesick and had financial difficulty. Was that a reason to leave her home and send her poor husband a "Dear John" letter while he was sacrificing himself working in the mines to try to earn money to save his ranch and his family? On the one hand, I feel that having heard stories from my grandparents, people of this time period more than likely would not have left their spouse. But some did. I think, she overcame a lot, she should have stayed. On the other hand, I think, was it all just too much.
What do you think?

I think she made the right choice, and John has the option to go find them. Staying in the badlands was not an option, the honeymoon was over, now to hard choices, and she did by moving to Chicago.

It seems to me that she stated her boundaries clearly.

--I need you here with me or I need to take my children someplace I feel safer with them. So if you go to work in the mine, I will take our children home to Chicago.--

She even stated to Isaac that she didn't feel capable of handling the hardship that was inevitable.

He is the one who decided that what she said didn't count and he didn't need to heed it. He made his choice with all the information available. She didn't blind-side him or "Dear John" him. He believed he could manipulate her into going along with his program despite her statements. He was wrong.

Maybe it wasn't the modus operendi of the day for a wife to stand up to her husband in such a way ... but I don't think you can discount that she voiced her concerns and boundaries and he failed to honor that or take it seriously. If it would have been just her, she more than likely would have let him manipulate her into to staying, even if she thought she would perish as a result. Not with children to worry over though.

She gave this man and their life together a lot of years and she worked hard at it..He was never going to have enough land and would sacrifice his family to have it, she made the only choice that she could, I thought.

Jo wrote: "I think she made the right choice, and John has the option to go find them. Staying in the badlands was not an option, the honeymoon was over, now to hard choices, and she did by moving to Chicago."

I agree 100% with you.