French Language Arts French Language Arts 30-130-1

Canadian Authors and their Impact on Society and

Culture

Are You Defined By Your gender?

Boys & GirlsAlice Munro

Alice Munro: Alice Munro:

“A writer on the side of “A writer on the side of

women”women”

She investigates the roles of women

Explores the ideas of barriers Physical barriers (women in small towns,

isolation) Generation Gaps All of her central characters are women,

therefore she often explores women and their surroundings.

The PlotThe Plot The story, narrated by a young girl, details the

time in her life when she leaves childhood and its freedoms behind and realizes that to be a “girl” is to be eventually, a woman.

This child begins to understand that being socially typed entails a serious of implications. The young girl senses that women are considered the social inferior of men.

Initially she tries to prevent this from occurring resisting her parents’ and grandparents’ attempts to train her in the likes of women. This resistance proves to be useless and the girl ends the story clearly socially positioned as a girl, something which she apprehends with some trepidation.

The CharactersThe Characters

Female NarratorFemale Narrator Notice that the central character is

unnamed, what does this say about her identity?

She demonstrates a resistance to traditional socialization as she perceives that the roles and choices allotted to women were less attractive then the various roles allotted men.

However, she describes how she gradually was socialized and “caged”

LairdLaird Laird is the narrator’s younger brother, a

seemingly sweet little boy whose helplessness is, at first, contrasted to the narrator’s greater ability. He is almost effeminate at the beginning of the story, a role reversal of genders seems to be displayed.

As the story progresses, this image falls away and it becomes clear that Laird (which means “Lord”) will be the one to take the narrator’s place at their father’s side, a position the young narrator hoped would be hers.

By the end of the story, Laird has been taken into the company of men, and the narrator has been relegated to the ranks of being “only a girl.”

A Question A Question of Gender of Gender

A Question of Gender: A Question of Gender: Who is being Who is being

saved?saved?

Munro first depicts her narrator defining herself like a boy would. She thinks up stories in the night in which she is the hero who is brave and saves other people from peril.

However, when this narrator begins to see herself as a female, she no longer saves people, but is rescued by others.

SymbolismSymbolism

Opening the GateOpening the Gate “Instead of shutting the gate I opened it as

wide as I could. I did not make any decision to do this, it was just what I did.”

She’s only a girl

She’s Only a girl….