Gender Roles In Alice Munro's The Found Boat

Growing up as a kid will always remain as one of the best parts of someone’s life. It is that time where children will let their imagination take control of their heads for playtime with their friends or even family members. There are no worries about the adult things for the young ones. Since all they care about is not wasting their time. It is the stage of life in which children are truly free to live their life however they please. In Alice Munro’s “The Found Boat”, it is not hard to guess that there is a very clear significance. The story discusses the freedom of the character’s sexuality and the traditional gender roles. Not only that, but it also has a meaning relating to the bible.
The story talks about the carefree life of the children.

In the beginning, when the boys pick up the boat to bring to Clayton’s house, the girls just watch and follow them as a traditional girl would do(Munro). They do not give any kind of help to the carriers. If they were to help the boys in the present day, it would not matter since giving a hand to one another is a good action. Further, in the story, Eva does not protest when she is asked to go heat up the tar for Clayton in the kitchen, an area where a woman would traditionally belong in(Munro). As we move along the story, it seems that both genders start to work corporately together to finish the repairs on the boat. Not only they work on fixing the craft, but they sail it together(Munro).The repair of the boat brings down the gender role. In some way, gender roles can be changed or disappear out of the picture just to have more

In the beginning of the story, when the young children pull out the destroyed boat, it feels like it makes an allusion to Noah’s ark(Frauley Note). Equally important to this is the flood that happens almost every springtime in the same way in the biblical story. Nevertheless, in the religious context, it happens. Though, there is a similarity. At the same time, the characters, Eva and Adam, make a slight reference to Adam and Eve(Frauley Note). Eva’s name is in direct relation to the first woman. Not only that but Clayton is named after being the main part of Adam’s creation(Frauley Note). In addition to this resemblance, there is a moment where both Clayton and Eve stand in front of each other naked without feeling ashamed(Munroe ). Backing up to Adam and Eve, they also are unembarrassed to be bare around each other(Wikipedia). The ship brings to the extent the significance relating to religious abstractions within the