Munro creates an unnamed narrator, so the readers can perceive her as a universal female adolescent figure, and being unnamed means without identity or prospect of power. However, her younger brother is named Laird, a synonym for lord; hence, he is invested with identity and is to become a master. The name symbolizes that the male child is superior in the parent's eyes. The narrator's father is a fox farmer. He is a hard worker and a quiet man, whom the narrator believes c

After Mack's death, the narrator begins to face and accept her gender role in life. She shows her interest in decorating and finds lacy things attractive. However, the major shift is seen in the stories that she tells herself every night. Before, she imagines herself doing heroic things, which offers "opportunities for courage, boldness, and self-sacrifice." She is the rescuer and adventurer in these stories, but now, she is seeing herself being rescued by boys and men. She says, "A story might start off in the old way, with a spectacular danger, a firer or wild animals, and for a while I might rescue people; then things would change around and instead, somebody would be rescuing me" (394). For the first time, she considers herself as being a girl. Nevertheless, the turning point in her life is when Flora to be killed. Flora doesn't go as easily as Mack; instead Flora jumps the fence and heads out across the field. Her father calls her to shut the gate, but instead she opens it wide and let the horse escapes. She recalls this moment as, "Instead of shutting the gate, I opened it as wide as I could. I did not make any decision to do this, it was just what I did" (393). This sudden desire to help Flora escapes is a very feminine characteristic compares to the practical realities of the fox farm.

The narrator has problems coming to terms with the role in life that society's expectations have on her. She enjoys helping her father outside with the foxes while she hates the hot dark kitchen, and thinks that the housework is "endless, dreary and peculiarly depressing." She thinks that her mother is plotting to keep her in the house simply because her mother knows she hates it. She also finds the men's work far more enjoyable than the chores of her mother. The comparison between her father's work and the housework demonstrates the narrator's internal struggle between what she is expected to do and what she wants to do. However, the difference between boys and girls

Some common words found in the essay are:
Boys Girls, Mack Flora, Alice Munro, Similarly Laird, Introduction Literature, role life, boys girls, Alice Munro's, easily fooled, comes father, stage narrator, story narrator, slam doors, horse escapes, narrator's father, flora killed,
Approximate Word count = 1342
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)