Alice Munro's The Shining Houses

In a world where the "new" outweighs the “old,” the well being of the majority tends to come before the well being of the individual. In The Shining Houses, a short story written by Alice Munro, The “new” neighbours develop this theme, throughout the story, as they conjure up a scheme to eliminate Ms. Fullerton—the “old” neighbour—from their neighbourhood. First of all, the new neighbours introduced the theme in a smooth fashion as they started complaining about Mrs. Fullerton’s and her home. They explained to one another it was an eyesore, and that it smelled quite unpleasant. The general disdain for Mrs. Fullerton’s property was emphasized as Steve, Edith’s husband, stated that “if [he] was next door to [Mrs. Fullerton’s house], [he] would send [his] kids

Janie Inger started, as she announced that she was “going to stop buying [the eggs that Mrs. Fullerton was selling]” (69), in an attempt to decrease the overall demand thereof, and consequently, compel her to get rid of her chickens—eliminating the issue of the poor smell. However, this was not sufficient for the community, for shortly after, Steve had introduced the lane deal; explaining to the neighbours that “if [they] can work [the] lane deal, [Mrs. Fullerton] has got to go. It’s simple and it’s legal” (69). These examples clearly depict how the theme was further developed at the birthday party as the community planned to realize their desire to extract Mrs. Fullerton’s house from their neighbourhood. Lastly, the theme was fully developed as the plan was set afoot, and the petition was made—independent of the fact that Mary opposed the lane deal, and spoke against implementing it. At this point, the neighbours would say anything to Mary in order to make them see eye to eye with their decision, until “it occurred to [Mary] that they were right...and [that regardless], Mrs. Fullerton was old”