boys and girls

A detailed Summary of boys and girls

In her story, "Boys and Girls," Alice Munro depicts the hardships and successes of the rite

of passage into adulthood through her portrayal of a young narrator and her brother.

Through the narrator, the subject of the profound unfairness of sex-role stereotyping, and

the effect this has on the rites of passage into adulthood is presented. The protagonist in

Munro's story, unidentified by a name, goes through an extreme and radical initiation into

adulthood, similar to that of her younger brother. Munro proposes that gender

stereotyping, relationships, and a loss of innocence play an extreme, and

often-controversial role in the growing and passing into adulthood for many young

children. Initiation, or the rite of passage into adulthood, is, according to the theme of

Munro's story, both a mandatory and necessary experience. Alice Munro's

creation of an unnamed and therefore undignified, female protagonist proposes that the

narrator is without identity or the prospect of power. Unlike the narrator, the young

brother Laird is named - a name that means "lord" - and implies that he, by virtue of his

gender alone, is invested with identity and is to become a master. This stereotyping in

rite of passage. Laird's passage was symbolised by the horse blood on his arm, blood from

conclusion, Munro's story illustrates the struggles between the dreams and reality of the

grows older, the difference between boys and girls becomes more clear and conflicting to

initiation as a rite of passage according to gender stereotypes and a loss of innocence.

Being at the 'tomboy' stage, and implying, by the use of 'stage' that the condition is a

young children into adults. Growing up, the narrator loves to help her father outside with

was what I had to become" (427). Here, the narrator realises that there is no escape from

Approximate Word count = 1045
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Sports

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