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A Bear Came Over The Mountain By Alice Munro

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Alice Munro is a critically acclaimed Canadian author who is recognized by her unique style of writing. Readers have been so drawn to her self-aware manner of narration that she is celebrated as one of the most thoughtful modern writers of the short story in Canada (Blodgett). Munro was born in southern Ontario, which is where most of her short stories are based. When describing her interpersonal style of storytelling, Munro said, “The stories are not autobiographical, but they’re personal in that way. I seem to know only the things that I’ve learned. Probably some things through observation, but what I feel I know surely is personal” ("Go Ask Alice"). According to Munro, her inspiration typically came from experiences in her own life, the …show more content…

It follows the story of an elderly couple, Grant and Fiona. Throughout the course of the story, Grant and Fiona transform from smitten college students to an elderly couple with flashbacks of experiences they endured between then and now. Grant and Fiona’s marriage goes through different stages, nevertheless remaining intact. Munro brilliantly weaves love, time, betrayal, aging, and psychological disorientation into the prominent theme of change while depicting the journey of an ageless …show more content…

Both are attracted by the opposites in one another. For example, Fiona is drawn to Grant’s small town phrases and got amusement from repeating them. Grant is so captivated by Fiona that “he never wanted to be away from her” (Munro). Fiona is an electric mixture of paradoxes— direct and vague as well as sweet and sarcastic. Grant thinks “She had the spark of life” (Munro). Their marriage begins with an informal proposal by Fiona when she shouts, “Do you think it would be fun—do you think it would be fun if we got married?” (Munro). Grant agrees to this arrangement emphatically, but the zest their marriage is founded on slowly fades with time (Wei and Tang,

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