Alice Munro’s “Boys and Girls” Questions
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Alice Munro’s “Boys and Girls” Discussion Questions
Post-reading Questions:
Examine the relationship between the following narrative elements (ie.
How do they affect, enhance, or explain one another?)
●
Setting and theme
●
Plot and conflict
●
Characterization and narrative POV
Throughout the story “Boys and Girls” the three narrative elements worked well with each
other, enhancing the main idea of self-acceptance throughout individuals specifically on
gender in this story. The given setting of the story is in a rural farm located in Canada during
the middle 20th century, which undoubtedly helps shape the theme of this story being gender
roles and societal expectations given to women and men. The rural farm is a setting that
shines light on isolation, traditional beliefs, and closed minded opinions which reflects the lack
of freedom and restraints the narrator, a young girl, faces. The main theme throughout the
story of gender roles and the difference between femininity and masculinity was very well
shown through the setting as it shows the hardships put on the girl by her traditional beliefs at
the farm, giving more attention towards how constrained she is. Secondly, The setting
enhances the plot of this story as it sets the stage for the girl's experience and story for finding
herself. It sets a ground from her POV, showing the physical and social boundaries she has to
face throughout the story, adding emphasis. As the story carries on the setting once again
enhances the story by using the farm, and its rules against the girl to serve as an ongoing
reminder of her limited and constrained lifestyle which gives the element of resilience as she
tries to defy her rules. The narrative POV enhances the theme of gender roles as it shows the
readers an inside point of view in the girl's head, showing her different stages of thoughts,
emotions, and views. The setting shows how the girl was raised in an isolated farm, showing
how the girl in her own POV is going through a crisis of finding her place and accepting
herself. Lastly, the conflict in this story has an affect on the girl's POV by showing the thoughts
and emotions of the girl, related to the central conflict which I believe would be woman vs. self
(internal conflict). I believe it is the main conflict because of how the young girl struggles to
find her own identity and because of the constant battle that is shown between her self
endured identity, and the one placed by her family.
Feminist/Gender Critic Questions:
1) What are some of the masculine qualities that the central character is
shown to possess? Provide examples from the text.
-
The centre character in “Boys and Girls” shows many masculine qualities throughout the
story to show her resilience in traditional gender roles. Firstly, the central character
shows to possess a masculine trait of independence and working in labour with her
father, which is traditionally seen as masculinity then it is femininity. During this time
period women, the societal norms, expected men to do work outside in the farm while
the women stayed inside and worked household jobs. However the narrator worked with
her father in the farm showing defiance to her traditional ways, she completed tasks
such as bringing water for the foxes, and cutting the tall graph, showing her masculine
trait of completing physical tasks. This was evident when the narrator stated “Besides
carrying water I helped my father when he cut the long grass, and the lamb's quarter and
flowering money-musk, that grew between the pens. He cut with the scythe and I raked
into piles" (Munro 2). Furthermore, her masculine traits were shown again when the
narrator had a strong unconscious desire to win her fathers approval to be seen.
Approval and validation can be seen as a masculine trait, and the narrator shows this
when she ignores her mothers requests to help with work in the house to instead go out
and work with her father in the farm to gain his approval. This was shown when her
mother stated "I just get my back turned and she runs off. It's not like I had a girl in the
family at all."( Munro 3). When her father showed signs of validations towards his
daughter's work, she would become flustered and show signs that point towards feeling
approved. “ Like to have you meet my new hired hand.' I turned away and raked
furiously, red in the face with pleasure" (Munro 2). This quote shows how the narrator felt
a sense of validation when she was introduced as “my new hired hand”.
In conclusion the central character showed masculine traits of independence, and the
strive for validation throughout the story while not following her traditional gender roles
but instead acted on her personal beliefs.
2) Describe the relationship between the mother and father. How do they
each conform to or challenge traditional gender roles?
-
The relationship between the mother and father of the narrator is a very traditional
outlook on gender roles, especially in the setting of a rural farm. The mother in this story
is shown as a traditional housewife who manages household related responsibilities.
She is responsible for cooking, cleaning, raising the young children, etc. She is all
around quiet, showing the expected duties of a wife and mother during that period of
time. However, the father is shown as having authority over his family and farm, and
provider for the entire family. During this time period, a father figure would be the one
who makes the decisions and has the most authority over the rest of the family, in this
case he has authority over his farm and his daughter. The father throughout the story
was a very well respected figure by his family who acted as the so-called “man of the
house”. However both parents challenged their traditional gender roles throughout the
story. While the mother was shown to respect her husband’s authority over the family
and farm she also had moments where she showed signs of independence defying the
social norms during that time period. The father challenged traditional gender roles by
showing his adherence to gender norms during that time where there were occasions he
did not follow his traditional gender rules. For example when he lets his daughter work
on his farm which was seen as a job meant for boys not girls, showing his challenge
towards gender roles.
3) Explain how the central character becomes society’s definition of “a
girl” by the end of the story and how this creates an internal conflict
and a sense of shame for the girl who is struggling to hold on the her
feminist beliefs.
-
Throughout the story the central character faces stages that fit into her society’s
traditional beliefs on “a girl”. Firstly, a moment that shows the narrator's internal conflict
and brings a sense of shame is when she undergoes the feeling of shame and guilt
when she freed Flora from the farm. When confronted with the escape of Flora, she does
not respond and sits in silence reflecting on her actions and feeling guilt. She then
accepts the blame of freeing Flora showing she stopped fighting back succumbing to
society's definition of “a girl”. This was evident when the narrator states “I didn't answer. I
put down my fork and waited to be sent from the table, still not looking up.”(Munro 6),
and when the narrator said “ I didn't protest that, even in my heart. Maybe it was true.”
These quotes show how the narrator faced guilt and accepted her gender role.
Moreover, another time the central character becomes society’s definition of “a girl” is
when she tries to create a separate, and fancier space in her room, shared with her
brother Laird. When this took place the narrator experienced confinement in her gender
role when she states her efforts to create a fancier space did not work stating “in the
sunlight, the lace curtains were just dusty rags.”(Munro 6). This self realisation shows
her internal conflict and creates a sense of shame in her efforts to continue with her own
beliefs as a female.
4) Society has given the idea of being “just a girl” many negative
connotations. What are some of these negative connotations?
Gender Stereotypes: Society has given the impression of being “just a girl” a very negative
connotation as being a girl brings many stereotypes in society. With this idea, society sees
women as emotional, scared, weak, and vulnerable, which impacts how women are seen in
society. Society has always been negative when it comes to women, whether it be getting a job,
or even a normal basic human rights. An example of this would be the glass ceiling effect. The
glass ceiling effect is a metaphor given for the social barriers women face when trying to
achieve higher level positions in the workplace. It works in a anti-feminist way where a woman
who provides better skills, and education then her male coworkers get dismissed for promotions
because of her gender. The phrase “just a girl” provides an outlook of mostly weakness in
society where women are perceived as not as strong mentally or physically, such as the phrase
“you throw like a girl”.
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a. What are some positive connotations that apply to the word girl that
the narrator forgets to see?
-
Some positive connotations that apply to the word girl that the narrator forgets to see are
how women are how girls are shown as empathetic and compassionate people who
represent safe and comfortable emotions towards other people. The narrator forgets to
see this because of society's beliefs and her family's traditional way of gender roles,
causing the narrator to believe that women are confined to only doing chores and taking
care of the family. Furthermore, girls are also shown as resilient in the face of
oppression, fighting these issues for what is right. The narrator’s traditional family beliefs
might show women as weak and vulnerable, showing girls as dependent and reliant on
men.
Psychoanalytical Critic Questions:
5) What are the Oedipal dynamics (or any family dynamics) at work in
this story?
-
There are many different family dynamics in the story “Boys and Girls'' that take place to
shape the story and the narrator's family. Moments where Oedipal dynamics take place
is the relationship between the narrator and her father. The narrator works towards
finding her own identity in gender roles while also respecting her father, especially when
working in the farm which is traditionally a job for men. Her eagerness towards her
fathers approval on gender roles is an unconscious way of showing Oedipal dynamics.
Another family dynamic that works in this story would be the dynamics of parents and
children. The relationship the narrator has with her parents are more traditional as its
based mostly off of authority figures and obedience from the parents. The father in this
story is the “man of the house” which is shown as the person with the most authority and
respect in the family who gets to decide what he expects from his children. When the
narrator first let Flora free, Laird showed obedience towards his father and told the
narrator to shut the gate as his father would not approve of Flora being let out.
6) How is Flora (the horse) a symbol of freedom?
-
In the story “Boys and Girls” Flora has many different interpretations for freedom that all
connect to the narrator's experiences towards finding her identity and his restrictions
living in a patriarchal society. One way Flora is a symbol of freedom throughout the story
is resilience and rebellion, Flora’s escape from the gates of the farm can be a symbol of
freedom as it shows resilience of her owners and her rebellion of being confined against
authority and norms of sending her to the slaughterhouse. When the narrator decides to
free Flora from the farm it shows a reflection of resilience as it reflects her determination
to defy the rules put on her by society because of her gender. Flora’s defiance and
freedom of staying at the farm and following rules, reflects how the narrator also has her
own rebellion towards society and the limitations and rules that are put on her because
of her gender, which ultimately in the end gave her hope towards resisting her gender
inequality based society. The narrator stated “Flora was given to fits of violent alarm,
veering at cars and even at other horses, but we loved her speed and high-stepping, her
general air of gallantry and abandon.” (Munro 3). This is another reason why Flora is a
symbol of freedom is because she is represented as a horse throughout this story. A
horse symbolises strength and has a big defiance against being tamed. Knowing that it
can symbolise freedom because of the correlation between these traits and the
narrator's internal thoughts to be herself and show her own identity, not the one she is
given. Flora served as a reminder of freedom, strength, and resilience, giving the
narrator strength to continue fighting for who she is.
7) Comment on the following excerpt as a psychoanalytic critic:
“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.
Flora never slowed down; she galloped straight past me, and
Laird jumped up and down, yelling, “Shut it, shut it!” even
after it was too late.” (7)
Using the given excerpt, the narrator's decision and action on opening the gate wider
instead of shutting it can be broken down through a psychoanalytical lens by using the
concepts of ego, superego, and id.
-
Id: The id that is shown during this excerpt is when the narrator decides to open
the gate even wider instead of shutting it, showing her unconscious desire to free
Flora which can be seen as her id. She stated “I did not make any decision to do
this, it was just what I did” (Munro 5) showing her impulsive and unconscious
desire to open the door, not acknowledging the consequences of her actions. The
narrator's self driven decision to open the door based on her desires of freeing
Flora as well defying the constraints put on her by the family shows her internal
desire to not follow her family's opinions on her gender throughout the story as
well as freeing Flora.
-
Superego: The superego shown in this excerpt would be her little brother Laird’s
reaction to the narrator freeing Flora. The excerpt states “Laird jumped up and
down, yelling, “Shut it, shut it!” even after it was too late.”(Munro 5), this shows a
representation of superego because Laird’s comment on shutting the gate and
not letting Flora free reflects on the self rules Laird has on obeying his family and
taking responsibility for his farm. As the narrator still continued with her decision
to let Flora escape, her superego was also shown later on when she had to face
the consequences of disobeying her father at which he enforced his rules on her.
-
Ego: The ego shown in this excerpt would be the narrator's conscious decision to
open the gate wider, ending in Flora galloping away. The narrator went to the
gate willingly which was led by her ego however the unconscious impulse to
open the gate was led by her (id) showing how ego manifested before the
ultimate decision of freeing Flora from her fate. The ego is the centre balance
between the id and superego which played a part throughout this situation by
already having a conscious thought of wanting to free Flora and defying her
family.
In conclusion, in this excerpt the ego took place when she decided to go towards the door,
already having a conscious thought of wanting to free Flora and herself from her family.
However the id took over as she unconsciously decided to impulsively open the door to free
Flora, and then lastly the superego manifested itself when Laird commented on shutting the
door and not letting Flora escape, showing the morals and rules that were placed onto them by
her family.
8) Why does the narrator cry at the end of the story?
-
At the end of the story, the narrator cries as she hears about the inevitable fate of the
horse, Flora after her efforts to free the horse before. The event of killing Flora also
serves as a great metaphor for the narrator's decided fate within the pressures of her
patriarchal society. As the story progresses, the narrator was growing a sense of
awareness of gender roles and limitations that she grew up around because she was a
female. A leading factor to her tears was how she attempted to show her own identity to
her family but was shown negative repercussions as she was told dismissive remarks by
her brother and father who in the end blamed her feelings and actions of trying to free
Flora because of her gender. When the narrator stated “ Laird looked across the table at
me and said proudly distinctly, Anyway it was her fault Flora got away.”(Munro 6). Laird’s
response to the entire situation on Flora’s escape and him blaming the narrator shows
emphasis on how her feelings and decisions were always looked down upon making her
feel she couldn't do anything right. This highlights how she faces contant disregard for
her actions within her family. The narrator's tears show her emotions towards being
marginalised and looked down upon by her family because of her gender, if she was
born a boy the entire family would have shame on her for acting like a “girl” throughout
this situation, shedding light on the toxic masculinity views of women are classified as
weak. In the end she was reminded of her place in the patriarchal lifestyle at her family's
farm where she was discriminated against because of her gender. This was shown when
the narrator stated “He spoke with resignation, even good humor the words which
absolved and dismissed me for good. "She's only a girl," he said. I didn't protest that,
even in my heart. Maybe it was true.”(Munro 6).
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In conclusion, the narrator cried at the end of the story because of the realisation of her
life being a patriarchal hierarchy, sadness regarding Flora’s death, and the sadness she
faced being denied her true identity within her family and society.