Maturity and Self-Identity in Munro’s Boys and Girls by Alice Munro

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Maturity and Self-Identity in Munro’s Boys and Girls

In Alice Munro’s story "Boys and Girls" the main character/narrator disobeys her father without her father knowing. She does this because she is starting to become her own person. Her maturity and capability to make her own decisions are pointed out distinctively as the story develops. Therefore she continued to do little things against the beliefs of her family, because as she said, "I kept myself free" (1008).

You can tell that she was an outcast from the rest of her family, due to the fact that she did not act like a girl as her grandmother continued to try and point out to her. Her grandmother kept nagging her continually saying, "Girls don’t slam doors like that. Girls keep their knees together when they sit down" (1008). Day by day she kept on getting hassled. It seemed to me as if she was constantly getting picked on by the rest of her family.

There is a keyword in this story, and the word is "girl." That word is brought up all the time in front of her, as though her family thought she did not act enoug...

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