According to Kevin and Shauna Christensen, the story of Sariah's complaint and testimony deserves a closer reading than it has received thus far:
And it came to pass that after we had come down into the wilderness unto our father, behold, he was filled with joy, and also my mother, Sariah, was exceedingly glad, for she truly had mourned because of us. For she had supposed that we had perished in the wilderness; and she also had complained against my father, telling him that he was a visionary man; saying: Behold thou hast led us forth from the land of our inheritance, and my sons are no more, and we perish in the wilderness. And after this manner of language had my mother complained against my father. (1 Nephi 5:1-3)
At first glance, we might want to dismiss this part of the story as a negative image, since it depicts Sariah as "complaining." But in structuring the account, Nephi starts with the end, highlighting her gladness and joy in contrast to her mourning over her sons and sacrifices. This shows that his focus is not on the fact that she complained, but on the outcome of the experience. Nephi recognizes the validity of both her fears and her joy. Of all the stories he could tell about his mother, why does he give the most space to this one? Sensitized by readings on allusion and type-scenes by Alan Goff and Robert Alter, we should hear an echo of the account of the widow of Zarephath and Elijah in 1 Kings 17:9-24. Like Sariah, the widow had been asked by a servant of God to sacrifice all her material goods and subsequently seems to have lost her son. She too complains and the prophet recognizes the validity of her concerns. He offers no rebuke; instead, Elijah prays to the Lord on her behalf. Lehi's response to Sariah is just as exemplary (see 1 Nephi 5:4-6).
In 1 Nephi 5:4-6, Lehi comforts Sariah; he does not rebuke her or belittle or dismiss her concerns. The story continues (see 1 Nephi 5:7-8) in a way that strengthens the association between Sariah and the widow, and, by extension between Lehi and Elijah as servants of God. The allusion to the story of Elijah is confirmed on comparing Sariah's response to the delivery of her sons and the restoration of the widow's son. Sariah "spake saying: Now I know of a surety that the Lord hath commanded my husband to flee into the wilderness; yea, and I also know of a surety that the Lord hath protected my sons, and delivered them out of the hands of Laban, and given them power whereby they could accomplish the thing which the Lord hath commanded them." The widow says, "Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the Lord in thy mouth is truth" (1 Kings 17:24). The comparison makes Lehi an Elijah in the same way that biblical stories of Elisha parallel Elijah's acts and demonstrate that Elisha was Elijah's successor. So, of all the stories Nephi could choose to tell about his mother, he chooses one that "likens" her to an exemplary woman in the scriptures. [Kevin and Shauna Christensen, "Nephite Feminism Revisited: Thoughts on Carol Lynn Pearson's View of Women in the Book of Mormon," in FARMS Review of Books, Volume 10, Number 2, 1998, pp. 21-22]