Boys And Girls By Alice Munro Essay
BOYS AND GIRLS ONLINE ESSAY
In the short story “Boys and Girls”, Alice Munro portrays the difficulties of the narrator and her brother. Throughout the story, the narrator faces inequality of being a different sex compared to her brother Laird and the effect this has on her as she is growing up. The narrator goes through many experiences that she has to understand herself as she is growing up. Alice Munro shows how gender labeling, different relationships within the family and the narrator’s innocence plays a controversial role in growing up. Munro’s story “Boys and Girls” interprets growing up to be a necessary experience in every child’s life.
The narrator in Alice Munro’s story “Boys and Girls” does not have a name. From the beginning …show more content…
She does not want to change and live according to society’s rules, but rather be her own free person. “Girls don’t slam doors like that” (Munro 89). The narrator’s grandmother is telling her how girls are supposed to behave. However, she is resisting to what her grandmother and mother are expecting of her. “I continued to slam the doors and sit as awkwardly as possible, thinking that by such measures I kept myself free” (Munro 89). The reader can anticipate that she will be looked at differently when she disobeys her father. When the horse Flora is trying to escape, instead of closing the gates and capturing the horse, she leaves the gate wide open and lets Flora escape. Because of this act, she loses her innocence in her father’s eyes. However, this does not surprise her father, as that is what was supposedly expected of her. It was expected because “she’s only a girl” (Munro 96). Laird however is being treated differently. Even though he is younger, he is allowed to go with his father to recapture the horse. Laird and the narrator are both growing up to be what society expects them to be. The narrator finally accepts her role in society. “I didn’t protest that, even in my heart. Maybe it was true” (Munro
In the short story “Boys and Girls”, Alice Munro portrays the difficulties of the narrator and her brother. Throughout the story, the narrator faces inequality of being a different sex compared to her brother Laird and the effect this has on her as she is growing up. The narrator goes through many experiences that she has to understand herself as she is growing up. Alice Munro shows how gender labeling, different relationships within the family and the narrator’s innocence plays a controversial role in growing up. Munro’s story “Boys and Girls” interprets growing up to be a necessary experience in every child’s life.
The narrator in Alice Munro’s story “Boys and Girls” does not have a name. From the beginning …show more content…
She does not want to change and live according to society’s rules, but rather be her own free person. “Girls don’t slam doors like that” (Munro 89). The narrator’s grandmother is telling her how girls are supposed to behave. However, she is resisting to what her grandmother and mother are expecting of her. “I continued to slam the doors and sit as awkwardly as possible, thinking that by such measures I kept myself free” (Munro 89). The reader can anticipate that she will be looked at differently when she disobeys her father. When the horse Flora is trying to escape, instead of closing the gates and capturing the horse, she leaves the gate wide open and lets Flora escape. Because of this act, she loses her innocence in her father’s eyes. However, this does not surprise her father, as that is what was supposedly expected of her. It was expected because “she’s only a girl” (Munro 96). Laird however is being treated differently. Even though he is younger, he is allowed to go with his father to recapture the horse. Laird and the narrator are both growing up to be what society expects them to be. The narrator finally accepts her role in society. “I didn’t protest that, even in my heart. Maybe it was true” (Munro