Literature in Society
Keri Ann Yellott
ENG/125
July 16, 2012

Literature in Society In the story "Boys and Girls" by Alice Munro, she tells a story about a young girl whom resists womanhood during the time of society where men and women were not considered equal. A mother’s role was in the house and a man’s was outside the house. Men were the dominant figures in the household whereas the women were subservient. This story occurs on a family farm outside Jubilee, Ontario, Canada during the 1940s. Munro's narrator has no identity and therefore remains unnamed, compared to her younger brother Laird. Her brother's name, which is a synonym for "Lord," comes from a Scottish origin (Laird - Origin and Meaning, 2012). Munro uses these names to represent how a male child was more important than a female child in a family. The narrator resisted the role a woman was expected in life to lead. She worked outside with her father rather than inside the home with her mother. "I hated the hot dark kitchen in the summer" (p. 775). Because the narrator was female, she was not regarded as essential help to her father. "Could of fooled me," said the salesman. "I thought it was only a girl" (p. 774). She was still under appreciated even though she could work more than her younger brother. "Wait till Laird gets a little bigger, then you'll have a real help" (p. 775). This shows that girls were expected to stay inside the home doing chores whereas boys were allowed out to do the things that they wanted instead. The father is a farmer who raises foxes and skins them when their fur is ready. After skinning the foxes, he sells the pelts for profit. The narrator seeks attention from her father, and enjoys assisting him outside with the foxes. "My father did not talk to me unless it was about the job we were doing...Nevertheless I worked willingly