The Shining House

A detailed Summary of The Shining House


People long to be accepted by a group throughout life. This acceptance gives the assurance of support and comfort from others who are alike. People in such groups have set beliefs which cause them to be ignorant towards differences in their surroundings. The strength in organizations provokes fear in those who want to express their individual differences. Those wanting to be different are afraid of the judgmental ridicule they will face from their fellow group members. In the story "The Shining Houses" the author Alice Munro develops the idea that conformity causes people to respond to individual differences with ignorant judgments. The threat of these convictions causes members of groups to fear revealing their individual variations.

Affiliating with a group bestows people with encouragement, friendship, and comfort, as long as the affiliate continues to have the same conceptions as the rest of the group. The members of the new subdivision are a tight group. Since they are mostly young families and many aspects of their life "[are] not sorted out yet" (pg.1), their need to belong to the community is great. The members all have "similar houses that [look] calmly out at each other, all the way down the street." (pg.4)


If the community took the time to get to know Mrs. Fullerton like Mary had, they would be in the right to proceed with their plan. Ignorance results in false accusations against people. Those who know that they will be judged for their differences, hide them in fear. Sometimes theses hidden views are worthwhile hearing.

There is evidence of comfort in their conformed lifestyle. Not only are their houses and lifestyles alike, but so is there opinion on what to do about Mrs. Fullerton's house. Mrs. Fullerton is an old lady who lives in and old house. According to the new community's views, her house is ruining the appearance and market value of the new houses. Houses this old should not be "possible on these streets" (pg.4) because they appear "savagery in their disorder"(pg.4) according to the groups views. The group has an unpleasant opinion of Mrs. Fullerton's house and of Mrs. Fullerton herself. They think that "she isn't exactly a charming old lady" (pg.7) because almost spit in someone's face when asked to baby-sit. Men in the group have tried to receive help from the Municipal Hall, but there was nothing the hall could do. One man came up with a plan to which all members agree on. Since there is an allowance for a new lane in the area, Mrs. Fullerton will have to move because "she's got part of her house a

Some common words found in the essay are:
Despite Mary's, Alice Munro, Talking Fullerton, , Assumptions Fullerton, Fullerton Mary, Municipal Hall, fullerton's house, Shining Houses, opinion fullerton's house, fullerton's house fullerton, proceed plan, opinion fullerton's, mary's opinion, mary understands, house fullerton, individual differences,

Approximate Word count = 899
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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