The Life of Alice Munro
Research Paper

By: Devansha Jiles
July 8, 2013

Devansha Jiles
July 8, 2013
Eng. 102- Walker
Research Paper
Life of Alice Munro Who is Alice Munro? Alice Munro who was born Alice Anne Laidlaw, in Wingham, Ontario, July 10, 1931( Bright and Struthers) author of many works, as well as a mother of three, and a loving wife. Munro is considered to be a Canadian contemporary writer; however she only has one novel titled Lives of Girls and Women published in 1971. Alice not explicitly political or feminist writer, nor does she write autobiography. However, her stories are largely concerned with the struggle between rebellion and respectability (Bright and Struthers). Alice Munro mainly wrote short stories and they reflected deeply with where she grew up. Munro grew up in Wingham, Ontario, Canada. She attended the University of Western Ontario and after two years she left school and moved to Vancouver, British Columbia (Bio Channel Website). Munro has written fiction since 1950. When Munro moved to Vancouver she opened her own bookstore called Munro’s Books, and the appearance of Munro’s first collection of stories. Munro’s first marriage ended in 1972 which prompted her to move back to Ontario and where she eventually retuned to the University of Western Ontario, this time as the writer-in-residence. Munro married again in 1976 to Gerald Fremlin (Duffy). Munro had three daughters Sheila, Catherine, and Jenny were born 1953, 1955, and 1957 respectively; Catherine died fifteen hours after birth (Wikipedia). Munro’s early life consisted of basically being a wife, mother, and starting her career as a writer. Alice and her husband Fremlin moved to a farm outside Clinton, Ontario, and later to a house in Clinton, where Fremlin died in April 2013(Wikipedia). Munro won several awards for her published works. Munro’s highly acclaimed first collection of stories, Dance of the Happy Shades, won the Governor General’s Award, Canada’s highest literacy prize. The success continues with her only novel titled Lives of Girls and Women in 1971. Munro’s work, Who Do You Think You Are, won Munro her second Governor General Literary Award. In 2006, Munro completed an interview where she stated she may not publish anymore books; however, since then she recanted and published further works (Wikipedia). In October 2009 Munro indicated that she received treatment for cancer and a heart condition, the latter requiring bypass surgery (Wikipedia). At age 82, Munro decided to announce her retirement and published her last work titled Dear Life. Some early works of Alice Munro include Dance of Happy Shades published in 1968, Lives of Girls and Women in 1971, Something I’ve Been Meaning to Tell You in 1974, Who Do You Think You Are also known as The Beggar Maid in 1978, The Moons of Jupiter in 1982, The Progress of Love in 1986, Friend of My Youth in 1990, Open Secrets in 1994, and The Love of A Good Woman in 1998 (Wikipedia). Two representative stories, Friend of my Youth and The Love of a Good Woman, display Alice Munro’s skill at depicting, then questioning and redefining, the experience of her characters. Both offer accounts of women engaged, however unwittingly, in processes of self definition that can take the form of wary hesitation in the face of new prospects, a process concluding in understanding rather than happiness (Canadiancy Encyclopedia). In Munro’s collection Dance of the Happy Shades, charts the adolescent discovery of love ad fear (Bright and Struthers). In her work Open Secrets it explores with increasing precision and wonder, with increasing graveness and love, the tensions and contradictions of the human condition. In her works, she reveals the exhilarating character of life itself, with all of life’s surprising but inevitable interventions in the form of death, unexpected visitors, and an unusual letter. Many of Munro’s later works include Away from Her published in 2001, Runaway in 2004, The View from Castle Rock in 2006, To Much Happiness in 2009, and finally Dear Life in 2012 (Wikipedia). Away From Her, is about a man coping with the institutionalization of his wife because of Alzheimer’s disease faces an epiphany when she transfers her affections to another man who is also stating ant the same institution. Too Much Happiness consists of ten short stories that take on some sensational subjects such as violence, adultery, extreme cruelty, duplicity, theft, suicide, and murder (Cohen NY Times). Munro’s final collection Dear Life gives glimpses of her own life (Doughty). Munro’s stories reflect her own life in many ways. Regularly Munro uses the same small town, rural, Canadian setting where she grew up and continues to live, “because I live life here at a level of irritation which I would not achieve a place that I knew less well” (Bright and Struthers). Munro tries not to reveal too much about her personal life. Munro says, “I want the stories to keep diminishing but not to be suddenly over with, so one is left with the central mystery of the story” (Bright and Struthers). It is often remarked that Munro draw heavily on personal experience for hr stories, but she asserts that her work is “autobiographical in form but not in fact” (Stouck). Nevertheless, Munro uses her hometown as the settings for her stories. Munro a very successful writer who has had many obstacles along the way has and proclaimed her retirement at age 82. I believe she will continue to write stories till the day she leaves this earth. I would like my life to be reflecting in my work in the same manner as Munro’s does in her work.

Works Cited
Bright, Juliette, and J. R. (Tim) Struthers. "Alice Munro: Overview." Contemporary Novelists. Susan Windisch Brown. 6th ed. New York: St. James Press, 1996. Literature Resource Center. Web. 7 July 2013.
Doughty, Louise. “The Observer.” 2012 NOV. Alice Munro.
Stouck, David. "Munro, Alice (Laidlaw) (1931 )." Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia of American Literature. George B. Perkins, Barbara Perkins, and Phillip Leininger. Vol. 1. New York: HarperCollins, 1991. 742. Fine Arts and Music Collection. Web. 7 July 2013.
Bright, Juliette, and J.R.(Tim) Struthers. "Munro, Alice (Anne)." Contemporary Novelists. Ed. Neil Schlager and Josh Lauer. 7th ed. Detroit: St. James Press, 2001. 738-742. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 7 July 2013.
"Alice Munro." 2013. The Biography Channel website. Jul 07 2013, 11:23 http://www.biography.com/people/alice-munro-9418218.