"Boys and Girls"

by Alice Munro

 "Boys and Girls" was published in Montrealer shortly before it appeared as one of the stories in the collection  Dance of the Happy Shades (1968) which was Alice Munro's first collection of short stories. It brought her the 1968 Governor General's Award. At the time she was 37 years old. The stories are set in a deceptively calm Southern Ontario small town which proves to be as full of suffering and troubled emotions as any other place on earth. Munro had been practicing writing and honing her skills for years before this collection was published (it took her almost 20 years to write the 15 stories in the book) and upon publication, the book was very well received by critics all over the world. Like many other works by first time authors, many stories in Dance of the Happy Shades are highly autobiographical. The underlying theme of the collection is the adolescent discovery of love and fear.
The book includes the following 15 stories:

• "Walker Brothers Cowboy"

• "The Shining Houses"

• "Images"

• "Thanks for the Ride"

• "The Office"
• "An Ounce of Cure"
• "The Time of Death"
• "Day of the Butterfly"
• "Boys and Girls"
• "Postcard"
• "Red Dress—1946"
• "Sunday Afternoon"
• "A Trip to the Coast"
• "The Peace of Utrecht"
• "Dance of the Happy Shades"

NOTES ON ALICE MUNRO'S "BOYS AND GIRLS"

-point of view of the daughter (she/her)
-father fox farmer
-pelting: killing, skinning and preparation of the furs.
-Henry Bailey -  coworker of father
-Laird : brother
-kids give themselves "rules" to keep them safe.
-she shot to rabid wolves and was crowned hero
-went down main street on horse (see above)
-rode two horses in her life
-they had a shack for the foxes
-fathers favorite book was robinson crusoe (inventive dad)
-named the foxes
-Girl helps bring water to the foxes, cuts grass, waters plants
-mother very open about her past, father private of his ideas
- She becomes "the hired hand", makes her happy :D
-work outside is with father, foxes, water, baskets
-work inside is with mother, kitchen, prepping food as jelly, jam, preserves
-mother plots against her so she can be in kitchen. (love/hate relationship)
-foxes were fed horsemeat that father and henry got from farms.
*Mention of war, (14-18?)
-Mack and Flora, farm horses (FLORA WILD)
-Next winter, she's 11, mother wants her to be more in house
-Laird getting bigger
-Mack gets old, shot, kids see it
-Laird is obedient again, she tells him to go up top beam in barn
-She gets the parents because he's up there,
-The coat he wore brings bad memories to her
-he promises to her that he wont tell she made him do it
-Flora is going to get shot?
-Flora gets away from the house because she opens the gate
-Father, Henry and laird goes off the find Flora
-She lies to mother
-They come back with the horse
-Henry says its her fault (mention of gum?)
-Father gets angry
-she cries
-father laughs off : "she's just a girl"


WRITTEN IN 1968 by Alice Munro

Summary of Boys and Girls

    Written in 1968 by Alice Munroe, the story of Boys and Girls follows a young woman living on a farm with her family. The name of the young girl, as well as some of the other characters including the father and mother, is never told during the story. We do know the names of the younger brother Laird, and the father's co-worker Henry Bailey. Taking place on a farm, the year is not definitive either, but we can guess early 1900's since mention of the war and of modern tools such as gum and cars.     
    On the farm, the father breeds foxes and the young narrator helps her father maintain the pens. Her mother spends most of her time busy in the house and never comes out unless she needs to. Her younger brother Laird follows her wherever he can and either do as she says or wanders off playing with the farms flora or surrounding bugs. As part of his work, the father pelts (skinning and preparation of the furs) the foxes after winter and is called upon in town to butcher animals that are at the end of their usefulness. The mother soon feels that when Laird will be old enough to help the father, the young girl should work in the house. Soon the farm receives two horses and a cow. When the horses needs to be killed, one runs away and when the young girl has a chance to close the gate and keep the horse in, she instead lets it leave. When the parents learn of this, she starts to cry. Right then the father laughs off "she's just a girl".
    What the story is trying to tell is how unfair identity prejudice is.

Full text of Boys and Girls by Alice Munro

Criticism:

Feminism in "Boys and Girls"

Free Essay on Boys and Girls

Foils in Boys and Girls and A Clean Well-lighted Place