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WORKSHOPS » FICTION » ALICE MUNRO, "BOYS AND GIRLS" » RE-READING
Alice Munro, "Boys and Girls"
BIOGRAPHY
Reading » Re-Reading » Explorations
Re-Reading Questions
Story text on p. 509 of the full Ninth Edition and p. 509 of the shorter Eight Edition.
Re-Reading Questions
1. One characteristic of this story is elements which appear poorly connected to the plot but which turn out to have surprising significance. As you re-read, locate and find these passages and consider what they tell of the story beneath the plot surface. Here are some examples to get you started:
- the calendars
- Henry Bailey's actions (teasing the girl, spitting, singing)
- the stories she tells herself
- the remembered incident when she persuades Laird to climb on the top beam
- her "pleasurable emotion" in singing about death
2. The narrator is a storyteller, even as a child. What sort of stories does she tell herself and what do they tell you about her? How do they compare to her mother's stories? How do they change? What stories does she tell other people? Why do you think the older narrator is telling this story? She doesn't explain why she opened the gate: "It was just what I did." What clues do you find in the story to explain what the older-but-wiser narrator has offered?
3. The story is full of developing oppositions: girls vs. boys, the father vs. the mother, fears vs. safety, and the outdoors vs. the indoors. Look for these as you re-read the story and trace through at least one. What forces seem to "win out" in the end for the young girl?
4. How do you interpret the indefinite ending, looking closely at each word:
He spoke with resignation, even good humour, 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.
Some readers believe this is the story of a girl who wishes she were a boy, but others say that she slowly realizes and accepts that she is a girl. What do you think?
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