Red Dress Alice Munro Analysis

Oftentimes, we, as human beings, feel the need to fit in and to be labeled as “normal”. However, sometimes we exert ourselves to be accepted to the point where we are overwhelmed because we are trying to be someone we are not and failure ensures. In the short story, Red Dress -1946, the author, Alice Munro, introduced the persona, Alice, who did everything in her power to be noticed and to prevent embarrassment. Lonnie and Alice read fashion magazines to see what they need to do to become popular. In hope to get out of the school dance, Alice tried falling off her bicycle and to sprain her ankle. In the middle of the night, she opened her window to try to make herself sick. When Alice arrived at the dance, she tried to be like everyone else and to smile, but little did she know, all the other girls at the dance had sleepy and sulky faces. Even though Alice tried so hard to fit in, by trying to be someone she was not, she was noticed for all of the

Alice learned how to be okay with herself. She learned that even though she wasn’t like the other girls, she was still somebody. It was very difficult for Alice to accept who she was until she met Mary Fortune. As a result, Mary taught Alice how to feel something real, and without her, Alice would have hidden all night. She would have never been asked to dance, Alice simply would have never been placed into the “ordinary world”. Overtime she got rid of her insecurities with her mother, her view of high school and the dance. Alice realized that she needed to reconsider her assumptions about what makes her happy. Even though Alice tried so hard to fit in, by trying to be someone she was not. She was noticed for all of the wrong reasons at the beginning, but now she does not care and is happy with who she is. Therefore Alice became a very strong-hearted young