The Foxes In Boys And Girls By Alice Munro

In her short story “Boys and Girls”, Alice Munro concentrates on the controversial gender hierarchy, specifically exploring the expected roles of women in society. She skillfully uses the foxes to symbolize the treatment of women at the time by illustrating the difference in the values of the two, or lack of. The symbol of the foxes is especially pivotal to the story as it illustrates the expected roles of housewives at the time. The foxes, “were not named when they were born, but when they survived the first years pelting” (27) which symbolizes how women were absolutely worthless till they entered marriage. It can also be related to the author’s creation of an unnamed character who is “only a girl” (29), therefore her identity isn’t really …show more content…
“Alive, the foxes inhabited a world my father made for them”(27), symbolizes the perfect world of a ‘man’ where a woman is only an accessory. The word ‘alive’ interestingly points out that when the foxes are living, they live in a world whole handedly shaped/controlled by the father, just like when the women are alive they are living in the world of men, where they have to abide by their rules. This highlights the fact that women exist for the sole purpose of making men happy and have no other purpose in this world just like the foxes exist for men to profit off them. The men usually “shot and butchered the horse” (31) to provide fresh food for the fox, just like they provided for their wife and kids. This precisely symbolizes the similarities between women and foxes as the men managed to see to their wives materialistic/physical needs without any mention of their emotional needs. In essence, the women at the time were treated like objects and not as beings with a mind and heart of their own. This lack of identity clearly symbolizes the worthlessness and inferiority associated with women; therefore if you’re “only a girl” (29), then you’re …show more content…
The women were figuratively, “surrounded by a high guard fence” (27) similar to how the foxes were literally trapped behind one. Both ‘creatures’ were well provided for physically, but they were still held captive, living their lives without freedom. This, yet again symbolizes the treatment of women like animals, where they are alive and just as able as men, yet were treated like fragile beings that could not stand on their own. The protagonists’ consistency when it came to carrying out tasks for her father showed how badly she wanted to break out of the “medieval town, with a gate that was padlocked at night” (26). She worked extremely hard to break the gender barriers that constricted her by working considerably harder than her brother as, “he was no help to anybody” (30). The routine established by the girls father for the foxes where he “fitted a tin drum on a wheelbarrow for bringing water” (27) and as “they were fed horsemeat” (31), illustrates the systematic method established for the foxes just like the one created for women entering