Munro's Influence on the Ocean's Current

Over the summer, we have been asked to read several short stories by Alice Munro. Upon discussing these stories with my peers, I have found that many of them failed to connect to Munro's writing. However, I failed to understand them.

How could they not have devoured Munro's writing techniques? A treasure hunt, a guerrilla war against words in attempts to find a second dimension. The world that Munro has hidden behind the ivy blue ink, which she has slapped across the white A4 pages. A whirlpool, enjoy a front row seat in the theatre as the past and the future pirouette around you. A magic trick, in which Munro knows the cards in all the decks: one side of the card may read 'Alfrida', yet as you turn it upside down you will discover it is not 'Alfrida', it is the joker.

How could they have not grappled with Munro's exploration of the human psyche? Munro's short stories confront humans with their flaws: the flaws which they have veiled and hidden from society's scrutiny. Many writers utilize literature as a form of escape into a world with no sense of reality, detached from the tasteless life on earth and attached to the world in which dreams become a reality. Not Munro. Munro is fascinated by what we all think we understand, yet in reality, we don't. Munro is fascinated my humans. Munro delves into the human mind; she searches through an uninhabited ocean of human psychology.

Finally, how could they not marvel at Munro's influence on the ocean's current? How could they not pick up on the hints of the second wave of feminism weaved throughout all of the short stories our eyes demolished? The second wave of feminism strives for a"truly equal partnership with men" as aptly stated by the National organization for Women.

Munro's stories were often painful to read, they reminded me of the flaws in my society, the burden of womanhood. Munro's writing was heavy on my chest as it was incredibly personal: her words truly struck a chord and made me think whether I am truly "just a girl" and whether I would be able to walk against the wind for long.

Thank you Munro for adding flavor to my dry return to the desert.