Maturity and Self-Identity in Munro’s Boys and Girls by Alice Munro

She is willing to harm herself in order to succeed her goals. She will do just about anything in order to she her be with John and Elizabeth killed. “…lodges in a white child's psyche to create in her a cool, exacting brutality that enables her to lie in court, to threaten her friends and her lover, to send dozens of accused witches to the gallows, and finally to steal from her uncle and escape unscathed.” (Miller, Quentin D.

her father trusted him. It makes her sad and fearful of the power that her father possesses. She is

With each thing her father does including punishing her for her owl, and losing his temper frequently, she finds her self more independent because she has her own thoughts and beliefs that are different from her father.

These strict rules made the narrator feel trapped, and she moved away from this parental imprisonment through travel and food. The narrator was an only child and was never married. This lead her to remain home with her parents until the passed

While traveling to the arroyo, his own “personal Mississippi,” the boy learns he has control over his own actions (453-454). His mother cannot stifle him, and “tell us we couldn’t” go (454). Now understanding that mother does not know and see all, he feels free to make his own choices. A subsequent example of his autonomy is characterized when he begins his quest into the hills. Not believing his mother that the hills hold no adventure, he is certain she “was keeping something from us” (456). Adept at handling all that nature has to offer, he journey’s further up the hill because his “mother could still see us” (456). This lack of trust and the independence that comes from not being under his mother’s watchful eye fuels his budding autonomy. The boy’s innocence further dwindles as he rebels, and gains independence from his mother. (199)

Before interment, the girl was a curious, active character but throughout the story, and her prolonged isolation, her self-identity and personality undergo many changes. For example, in the beginning when her mother reminds her they have to leave their home, taking only what they can carry in their arms, the girl declares, “ ‘I already know that’... She wore a white cotton frock with tiny blue anchors and her hair was pulled back in two tight braids. She tossed her books on the sofa and told the woman [her mother] that her teacher, Mr. Rutherford, had talked for an entire hour about prime numbers and coniferous trees” (12). This quote demonstrates how

In Alice Munro’s “Boys and Girls,” there is a time line in a young girl’s life when she leaves childhood and its freedoms behind to become a woman. The story depicts hardships in which the protagonist and her younger brother, Laird, experience in order to find their own rite of passage. The main character, who is nameless, faces difficulties and implications on her way to womanhood because of gender stereotyping. Initially, she tries to prevent her initiation into womanhood by resisting her parent’s efforts to make her more “lady-like”. The story ends with the girl socially positioned and accepted as a girl, which she accepts with some unease.

In this quote, she realizes her attitude was bad when she was with her family, and since they died she realizes she didn’t stand in good faith.

Outside forces do not have any long-lasting influence on how someone perceives themself. This is a notion that some individuals may choose to believe. However, through the events of one story, we come to realize that the prior statement is false. The nameless protagonist of Boys and Girls (1964) showed that as people, we can be created as somebody other than ourselves at our core because we fall back on the opinions of people whose views we regard too highly. Canadian author Alice Munro’s short story displays how an individual’s identity and realization of self is molded by the prominent role adversity plays throughout the course of their life because the contrasting values and ideologies of those around them conflict with their own moral compass.

All she wanted to do was kill him the animals and her parents. She didn’t like people and didn’t want to be around people.

In Jamaica Kincaid’s story, Girl, a mother is talking to her daughter about all the proper things she must do to be considered a good girl to her family and to the public, and when she grows up, a proper lady. She must follow the rules that are given to her by her own mother and by society. The mother also teaches the daughter how to act when things don’t go her way. She is told that along with being a proper lady, she must also be able to get what she wants and be independent. This story was written in the late 1970’s and gender roles, for women, back then were not being “followed” because women wanted equal opportunities (Women In the Workforce). “Gender stereotypes are beliefs regarding the traits and behavioral characteristics given to individuals on the basis of their gender” (Deuhr). This essay will discuss the gender roles that were given to women in the story, during the late 70’s, and in today’s society.

“Everything we read constructs us, makes us who we are, by presenting our image of ourselves as girls and women, as boys and men” – M. Fox

Sometimes her mom would make her help with cutting onions or peeling peaches and as soon as she was done she would run out the door when her mom’s back was turned. She viewed the chores inside the house was endless and depressing and would much rather work outside. She hears her mother stating that she can’t wait till the son, Laird gets bigger so he can do the chores outside and the girl can do the chorus inside with her. The mother states, “I just get my back turned and she runs off. It’s not like I had a girl in the family at all.” At this point the girl feels like she can’t trust her mother, she knows her mother loved her yet she feels like her mom is always plotting against her to keep her from working with her father. She didn’t expect her father to really listen to what her mother was saying, Laird, in her mind wouldn’t be able to do the job as well as she does. Looking at her father’s bloody apron she reminds that reader that the foxes were feed horse meat, other farmers whose horses will get old or injured would call her father and him and henry would go kill it and butchered it. However, if they already had a lot of meat they would keep them for a while. The winter she turned eleven they had two horses, Flora and Mack. It was this winter where she heard her mother go on more about her helping in the house. She states that she no longer feels safe because the people around her who thought the same way. She stated, “The word girl had formerly seemed to

          In an attempt to reflect the girl's changing awareness of her social identity and femininity, Munro weaves in a young sorrel mare, Flora. As the expectations of the girl's pending role in society grow, Flora takes up residence in the stable and adds an "air of gallantry and abandon" (470) to the girl's sheltered life. Just as the girl experiences confusion and angst, "Flora [is] given to fits of violent alarm" (470) of more of tangible nature. An approaching crossroad in Flora's life, namely her death, parallels the crossroad of identity the girl is facing. With the realization of Flora's death, the girl adopts "a new wariness, a sense of holding-off, in [her] attitude to [her] father and his work" (473), causing her to question the very foundation of her social opinions up to that point. By allowing Flora to escape through the gate, the girl symbolically opens the passageway to her feminine side. Even in its futility, this act sets the

Even when she knew when they were going to put down her, she had no interest of seeing it happen again, however this time the horse had gotten away from her dad and was running for dear life towards the open gate. Her dad yells at her to run and close the gate, but instead of closing it she opens it widely and lets Flora escape, meanwhile, her brother saw everything. Her father quickly gets in the truck to track down the horse while her brother goes with them. Later on that night they come home with the meat in the truck and while eating her brother tells on her. Feeling embarrassed and ashamed she hides her face and silently agrees with her dad that she is just a girl. At the very end of this story is where the main character goes through coming of age, she realized in everyone’s eyes she would always be a girl. Someone who should be inside the house doing chores and canning food. This is a story that I can relate to, growing up I was a tomboy who was always outside helping my dad from yard work to welding. My grandma was always trying to get me to do chores inside, do my hair, make up and wear a dress. Often, she would tell me that I need to stop acting like a boy and start acting like a girl so I can grow old and get married to a nice young man. It wasn’t until I was in my early twenty’s that I started to dress more like a girl and wear