Alice Munro Betrayal

“Weak-willed and socially malleable, so concerned with their community status, so fearful of being rejected by their social circle, that they unhesitatingly engage in minor acts of betrayal.” This is how world renowned literacy critic Johann Nodrav described the female characters in Munro’s fiction. Munro always writes unflinchingly about life. Betrayals, small and large, run through her short stories as steadily as a river. In stories such as “Day of the Butterfly”, “The Shining Houses”, and “Red Dress – 1946” it’s a repeating element for the narrator to betray their own friends in fear “of being rejected by their social circle.” In Alice Munro’s collection “Dance of the Happy Shade” proves that every year, when you’re a child, you become …show more content…
In the story “Day of the Butterfly” Munro examines the dark side of human motivation among a group of girls. When the story begins, our narrator, Helen, introduces us to Myra Sayla, and Myra’s younger brother Jimmy. Throughout the story it is easy to spot that Jimmy is an outcast, and Myra, apparently never really remarked upon, …show more content…
The central character, Mary, is part of the new generation, but she has some sensitivity to the past, to its complexity, and to the fact that her generation is going to deal with some shocks, regardless of how perfect their plans now seemed. The story begins with Mary sitting on the steps of Mrs. Fullerton’s house to pay for the eggs Mrs. Fullerton sells her. Mrs. Fullerton, for her part, doesn’t go out of her way to talk to anyone. She lives alone, selling eggs, in what most would consider to be a rundown house with a disheveled yard: “Here was no open or straightforward plan, no order that an outsider could understand; yet what was haphazard time had made final.” Still, for the new generation of young professionals, properties like Mrs. Fullerton’s are an eyesore, bringing down the value of their “new, white and shining houses, set side by side in long rows in the wound of the earth.” After visiting with Mrs. Fullerton, Mary goes to “Edith’s Debbie’s birthday party.” The other parents are there, and it comes out that they have found a legal way to get Mrs. Fullerton and her unsightly property out of their neighborhood. In the end, Mary does not conform to the peer pressure from her friends by refusing to sign the petition, but is unable to convince them to leave Mrs. Fullerton and her house alone. Nevertheless, they are good people, she says: