Literature Reflection

Literature is a means through which we can understand different cultural perspectives. I believe that literature also teaches us life lessons as embracing each story will help us understand what is right and what is wrong. This will then help us(if we are smart) to not repeat it in our own lives. The topic of women's literature based on the notion that the experience of women, historically, has been shaped by their gender, and so women writers are known as group worthy of separate study. Women's literature enlightens the society about the difficulties women face around the world. It provides a perspective of women in order to let people understand the oppression that women have faced over the centuries.

During the 1950s-1980s the second wave of feminism had started and Munro's themes of social realism really stood out as it represented what the feminists were fighting against. Munro's depictions of what it was like to be a housewife in southern Ontario probably came out as being a way in which she was using the short stories as a resistance. Short stories like 'Boys and Girls' shows the real divide in how people were expected to do jobs that 'fit' their gender. 

What I enjoy most about Munro's stories is the flow and character development in them. She creates very complex characters like Clara in 'Runaway' in 35 pages and this makes her stories a delightful read as she jumps right into the heart of the plot. Her stories have made me realise the gender differences in society and how the first wave of feminism might have been based on. her narrative of each scene is very enjoyable and I like her use of language. All the short tories that i have read were an easy read and therefore it was far less time consuming and boring. 

To be honest, I am neither a fan of literature, nor am I a fan of fictional novels or short stories. But something about Alice Munro's stories makes me want to think about which otherwise would be waste according to me. I can relate a lot of her short stories to my mother as she has her own perspective on what a 'woman's job' is and what a 'man's job' is. For example, whenever I over-indulge in some work in the kitchen, she yells at me and tells me to just do a man's job. What she meant by that is that its a woman's job to clean the dishes and not mine. So I guess, literature is not all bad...