Themes In Boys And Girls

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The bond between a human and an animal can be exceptionally strong, even if the two have only just interacted once. To some, this is akin to “love at first sight”. These types of connections have been important in stories as a means to represent the shared symbolic bond of a character with another being. This connection is obvious in Alice Munro’s short story “Boys and Girls” between the narrator and the horse, Flora. Therefore, it makes absolute sense as to why the girl would let Flora, a horse that is ultimately going to die anyways, free. Setting Flora free parallels the girls attempt at escaping the gender roles of a woman, and knowing the repercussions of the action prior to doing so cements the knowledge in the girl that no matter how hard she tries, she is destined to work the roles of a woman. As the story progresses, the way in …show more content…

When at the dinner the father discovers what his daughter did, all he had to say was “never mind,” and that "she 's only a girl" (Munro 12). The narrator evidently thought she was going to receive punishment. Instead of his words being a form of justice, the father’s words likely crushed her, as his words provide her with a feeling of worthlessness compared with her brother Laird. Therefore, boys are able to do more in the father’s eyes. Although up until that point the daughter had been doing the same tasks as Laird, it is apparent that through her act of disobeying of her father, the image of his daughter has been shattered. Therefore, he has now mentally caged his own daughter into the traditional gender roles of a girl. He thinks that because she does not have a tough resolve akin to his own, she should not be treated in the same manner as her brother; he completely disregards the fact that they are only children, not full-fledged

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