Essay on The Shining Houses by Alice Munroe

A detailed Summary of Essay on The Shining Houses by Alice Munroe

There is a reason to hope in all literature. Hope can be defined as something which one longs to see realized, or in other words, any form of optimism, with a belief of a positive outcome. Hope in a piece of literature verifies a level of goodness in the world, which can be illustrated many different ways by an author.

"The Shining Houses" by Alice Munro is an auspicious example of hope in a short story.

Alice Munro effectively uses different techniques to present hope in "The Shining Houses." Through her use of characterization, theme and symbolism, Munro competently illustrates hope, creating optimism with the use of these three short story components.

The first technique that aids in the creation of hope in "The Shining Houses" is symbolism in the title. The word "shining" alone has many optimistic elucidations, including magnificent, elegant, radiant, glowing, clean and polished. These words are all heartening, and create an optimistic mood from the beginning of the story. The optimistic mood created b

Mary is also a sign of hope to Mrs. Fullerton, reassuring Mrs. Fullerton that not everyone in the community is against her. Latter on in the story, when the petition to get Mrs. Fullerton out of the community is presented at a child's birthday party, Mary's hope is once again present. Mary is the only person to voice concern for Mrs. Fullerton when the petition is presented. While the other members of the community were all discussing the pessimistic aspects of Mrs. Fullerton's presence, Mary replied with the statements, "But remember she's been here a long time," and "she was here before most of us were born" (23). Latter on, when Mary is asked to sign the petition she replies that she can't, accompanied with the statement, "I don't think we have the right. We haven't the right" (24). These statements all show how truly strong Mary is.

Knowing that there will always be someone there for you makes one truly realize that there is goodness in the world. Hope gives anyone a reason to believe, and in a piece of literature, this reason to bel

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Approximate Word count = 704
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English

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