Lives of Girls and Women
ISU Essay Assignment: Lives of Girls and Women
Teenagers worldwide worry about the standards of society. "Lives of Girls and Women", by Alice Munro, portrays a young girl 's journey into womanhood as she struggles to choose between the societal definition of a woman and that of her own, developed through experiences and personality. Society expects a woman to maintain physical beauty, marry during youth, follow God, bear children and take care of her family. Using characterization, symbolism, setting and conflict, Munro develops the theme of making choices while coming of age to illustrate the concept of women living according to societal traditions and expectations in order to be accepted. By developing this theme, Munro portrays how lives of girls and women are more influenced by societal ideas than their own ideas. Munro uses the characters of Ada, Auntie Grace, Del and Naomi and the settings of the countryside and Jubilee to depict internal and external conflicts in order to amplify the theme. The theme is amplified through the characters of Ada and Auntie Grace in various parts of the story. Ada is knowledge-hungry and happy to be "going on the road" (Munro 61) to sell encyclopaedias. She values knowledge more than material possessions or domestic chores. On the contrary, Auntie Grace is the perfect example of a traditional woman. She wears "dark cotton dresses with fresh, perfectly starched and ironed white lawn collars, china flower brooches" (Munro 61). She keeps herself well-groomed and takes time to decorate her house as well. As a result, Auntie Grace disdains Ada and often criticizes her saying, "Not much time for ironing when she has go out on the road" (Munro 61). By saying so, Auntie Grace comments on Del 's torn sleeve and insults Ada. Moreover, "ladies contain themselves and clap from some kind of a distance" (Munro 69) when Ada performs in her party with intense excitement. Ada does not hear from those ladies again and they do not invite
Teenagers worldwide worry about the standards of society. "Lives of Girls and Women", by Alice Munro, portrays a young girl 's journey into womanhood as she struggles to choose between the societal definition of a woman and that of her own, developed through experiences and personality. Society expects a woman to maintain physical beauty, marry during youth, follow God, bear children and take care of her family. Using characterization, symbolism, setting and conflict, Munro develops the theme of making choices while coming of age to illustrate the concept of women living according to societal traditions and expectations in order to be accepted. By developing this theme, Munro portrays how lives of girls and women are more influenced by societal ideas than their own ideas. Munro uses the characters of Ada, Auntie Grace, Del and Naomi and the settings of the countryside and Jubilee to depict internal and external conflicts in order to amplify the theme. The theme is amplified through the characters of Ada and Auntie Grace in various parts of the story. Ada is knowledge-hungry and happy to be "going on the road" (Munro 61) to sell encyclopaedias. She values knowledge more than material possessions or domestic chores. On the contrary, Auntie Grace is the perfect example of a traditional woman. She wears "dark cotton dresses with fresh, perfectly starched and ironed white lawn collars, china flower brooches" (Munro 61). She keeps herself well-groomed and takes time to decorate her house as well. As a result, Auntie Grace disdains Ada and often criticizes her saying, "Not much time for ironing when she has go out on the road" (Munro 61). By saying so, Auntie Grace comments on Del 's torn sleeve and insults Ada. Moreover, "ladies contain themselves and clap from some kind of a distance" (Munro 69) when Ada performs in her party with intense excitement. Ada does not hear from those ladies again and they do not invite
Cited: Munro, Alice. Lives of Girls and Women. Toronto: Penguin Canada, 2005. Print