Self-worth is something that can be hard to earn and is easy to lose; tribulation can easily take esteem of one’s self away. In the short story “Boys and Girls,” author Alice Munro establishes the idea that when strong tribulation originating from elements of setting burdens characters then individuals’ resilience is destroyed, which results in the destruction of self-worth. This is seen specifically with the antagonist, who is a young girl, and struggles against the expectations of her mother and others around her that she needs to be ladylike. The girl resists the change, but slowly and both subconsciously and consciously changes to what she resists; as she changes she succumbs to the destruction of her self worth. Her tribulation of conformity
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She tries to resist these stereotypes and expectations as “[she continues] to slam doors and sit as awkwardly as possible.” She clings onto these habits “thinking that by such measures [she keeps herself] free.” The girl desperately wants to stay the way she is, and to do the things she loves doing, such as working for her father because it brought her “a feeling of pride.” Despite her initial resistance, she unconsciously changes slowly to others’ expectations of her. In her stories she tells herself at night instead of “[rescuing] people” “somebody would be rescuing [her].” This shows a change because she is the “damsel in distress,” which is stereotypical of a girl to need saving as they are apparently not capable of saving themselves. She feels “shaky” after watching her father calmly shoot Mack and gains “... a new weariness, a sense of holding-off, in my attitude to my father and his work.” When she opens the gate for Flora instead of closing it and trapping her, she is ashamed of her compassionate feelings that are considered maternal. As she conforms to her family’s thoughts of her, she loses her self-worth. “[She doesn’t] protest [it], even in her heart.” She lets them convince her that “she’s only a girl,” and that as a girl she cannot be something special; as a girl she would be plain and demoted. She believes that “maybe it [is] true” and that mortally wounds her esteem and self-worth. She no longer believes in herself or has confidence in what she can do. Her self-worth no longer sustains her
She tries to resist these stereotypes and expectations as “[she continues] to slam doors and sit as awkwardly as possible.” She clings onto these habits “thinking that by such measures [she keeps herself] free.” The girl desperately wants to stay the way she is, and to do the things she loves doing, such as working for her father because it brought her “a feeling of pride.” Despite her initial resistance, she unconsciously changes slowly to others’ expectations of her. In her stories she tells herself at night instead of “[rescuing] people” “somebody would be rescuing [her].” This shows a change because she is the “damsel in distress,” which is stereotypical of a girl to need saving as they are apparently not capable of saving themselves. She feels “shaky” after watching her father calmly shoot Mack and gains “... a new weariness, a sense of holding-off, in my attitude to my father and his work.” When she opens the gate for Flora instead of closing it and trapping her, she is ashamed of her compassionate feelings that are considered maternal. As she conforms to her family’s thoughts of her, she loses her self-worth. “[She doesn’t] protest [it], even in her heart.” She lets them convince her that “she’s only a girl,” and that as a girl she cannot be something special; as a girl she would be plain and demoted. She believes that “maybe it [is] true” and that mortally wounds her esteem and self-worth. She no longer believes in herself or has confidence in what she can do. Her self-worth no longer sustains her