Alice Munro's 'Boys and Girls'

In the short story, ‘Boys and Girls’, Alice Munro utilizes temporal and physical setting to elucidate the main character’s struggle with her gender role in society where there is a traditional division of labour. The main character is a young girl who goes through a journey of self- discovery from a child to a young woman. Munro uses the house and the farm to depict the stages of the main characters transformation.
Munro’s use of foxes and horses, as well as the farming lifestyle, helps develop the temporal setting of the story. The story takes place in the late 40’s, a time of change where machinery replaced horses, and wearing fox fur was a symbol of wealth and class. This is also a time where gender roles in society were distinctly divided between males and females. Men worked out of doors, whereas women were required to handle the domestic duties indoors.
The house is one of the main settings in the short story. The negative imagery surrounding the house is a pro...