Every individual has to go through a stage in life where he or she matures sexually in a physical and emotional way. In the story Lives of Girls and Women, the protagonist Del, grew up in a somewhat sexually repressed society. Her daring and adventurous nature led to her sexual growth and development of her personal set of mores. Del was first exposed to the knowledge of sex through her best friend Naomi. Together, they fantasized and learned about sex from a variety of books. However, it was Del's encounters with Mr. Chamberlain, Jerry Storey and Garnet French that allowed her to grow sexually and develop her own set of morals.

Mr. Chamberlain was one of the first people to show Del about sexuality. His indecency and Del's personality led to the first sign of the formation of Del's mores. At the peak of Del's adolescence, she often had fantasies of Mr. Chamberlain seducing her. Mr. Chamberlain suggested to Del the idea of her sexuality. He told her stories about young girls in Italy of about her age who were sold for sexual pleasure. Such an idea gave Del many fantasies

At the creek, Mr. Chamberlain masturbated in front of Del, exposing her to nudity and indecent behavior. After this incident, Del's exotic fantasies lessened. "My faith in simple depravity had weakened." (Munro, pg.190) She saw that it is not so easy to freely indulge into ecstasy. Her resolute character shows in this scene, as she was unaffected by this nasty occurrence. However, she still decides that she would like to have sex. After listening to her mother's advice about "self-respect", Del came to the conclusion that she will resist her mother's guidance. "Also, I felt that it was not so different...without even thinking about it, I had decided to do the same." (Munro, pg.193) She is determined to take all the risks placed on all females such as being pregnant before marriage. She wants to be like men, going out and taking on all kinds of experiences.

In the third year of high school, like any normal girl, Del began to date. Her search for love and sexual experience with Jerry Storey was quite unsuccessful. Del and Jerry were considered perfectly suited to each other at school due to their grades and intelligence. Even though both Del and Jerry knew that they were somewhat incompatible, they felt obliged to adopt the disguise of high school sweethearts in order to feel accepted. "Parody, self-mockery, were our salvation.... couple who have been married for eighteen years." (Munro, pg.215) Jerry is emotionally shallow, rather

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Approximate Word count = 982
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)