Alice Munro Individualism

In society, individuals often ponder the want of embracing their individuality, or the want of conformity. People tend to develop an outlook towards what they wish to embrace, due to societal standards and the pressures of ones being. The influence of others, has created the potential to hinder ones individuality, due to the preconceived thoughts to the way in which a person should be, resulting in the embracement of conformity. In the short story “Boys and girls, Alice Munro utilizes the young girl as the narrator, who at first embraces her individuality, as her innocence has allowed for her to accept who she wants to be, rather than embracing the need for conformity. Although, as the story progresses, her innocence is diminished, and her

When embracing the need for individuality, it can often be problematic, as others tend to display great amounts of influence, leading to the potential want of conformity. One character in specific that plays a great role to the individuality of the young narrator is her mother. To the young girl, the stereotypical role of females was something she dreaded, as the work in the house was embraced as being dreary and uninteresting. Through the presence of the mother, it can be made clear that the young girl is being questioned for her individuality. Though she loves her mother, she also sees her as an ``enemy`` who is ruining her chances of participating in the duties separate from those of a female. When the time came for the young girl to help inside, she would ``run out of the house, trying to get out of an earshot before her mother thought of what she wanted =her= to do next``. To her ``…work in the house was endless, dreary, and peculiarly depressing, work done out of the doors, and in her father’s service, was ritualistically important``. To her, her individuality is based primarily around the roles deemed suitable for the male population. D=the mother in particular however, made comments that resenting the individuality of her child. Such as stating that when she turns her ``back=...= she runs off`` that it’s `not like =she= had a girl in the family at all``. Anyhow, it wasn’t until the comments made by her mother, that began to cement what conformity is, and how her individuality is unacceptable, according to the gender roles set in place. When the mother made the comment to her father ``to wait until laird gets a little bigger then =he will= have real help`` hurt the young girl as in her mind it was a part of her individuality to be the help and perform the duties assigned to her