In what ways were Sadie Blue and her mother and grandmother alike? In what ways were they different?

In what ways were Sadie Blue and her grandmother, Gladys Hicks, and Sadie and her mother, Carly, alike? In what ways were they different?

Sadie and her grandmother were alike because they both chose the wrong men to marry. They shared a life of abuse and exacted the same solution. Sadie and her mother were alike in their desire to flee Baines Creek and seek a better life for themselves. But in the end, Sadie was the only one who did what was necessary to get free, but did not abandon her family and friends to do it. She sought other solutions to freedom, through education and justice. She relied on her friends to help her, even going to so far as to obtain poison from Birdie to get free from Roy.

Sadie and her grandmother Gladys were very much alike. They both married abusive men, had children die through no fault of their own, and thought their only escape from their abusers was to eliminate them entirely. Their only difference as far as I could tell, was that Gladys endured more abuse by waiting longer to kill her husband.
Sadie and her mother Carly were alike because they both wanted a better life for themselves, but had to learn the hard way how to achieve that life. The difference between the two (according to Gladys), Carly was starved for different and wouldn't settle for the usual type of life her community had to offer and Sadie stayed close and settled too quick which got her nowhere.

All three, of course, are born and raised in Baines Creek, and Sadie and her grandmother both suffer abuse and lose children as a result. Both of their abusers are killed but Gladys says her husband's death was the result of "karma and guts" while Sadie's husband is killed by another, Billy. Sadie, like her mother and grandmother, wants a better life, but only her mother leaves the mountain. Gladys tells us that while her "Baby Girl" "swore she'd travel a different road," Gladys doubts that she does and speculates "she likely ended up like the lot of us." Gladys and Sadie remain on the mountain, but while Gladys grows more spiteful and embittered as she ages, Sadie is fortunate enough to have the help of community members such as Marris, Eli, Kate, and Birdie who help her overcome adversity to at least find peace of mind - and we hope so much more - while remaining on the land and with the people she loves.

Gladys and Sadie are much the same in that they both married the wrong man and endured their abuse, When they had enough they both dealt with the problem in the same way, only Sadie's came to a better resolution. Both stayed on the mountain, but Gladys grew more and more mean and bitter, while Sadie looked to her friends and to education to help her move on. Sadie and her mother were the same in that they both wanted more. The mother left the mountain leaving her child behind. I don't know if she would ever rise to a better life or whether she just move into more of the same. Sadie will rise up because she is seeking to better herself through positive means, and with the help of Kate and Birdie she will find happiness.

They all came from the same place. They were all raised in the same place. They all longed for a better life and education. All three women lose children - two of them losing theirs to death and the third just turned her back on her child and walked away. It was only Sadie's mom who left the mountain to try to find a better life.