Modern Literary Analyses and Studies - Essay Example

Research-based Argumentative Essay Modern literary analyses and studies make the link between literary techniques such as narrative and storytelling and several other disciplines. Thus, one may find the theories of narrative and storytelling extending up to several major disciplines, such as philosophy, psychology, and literary criticism. In the view of different experts in literary analyses, there is a close connection between narrative or storytelling and the definition of the nature of self and personal identity. The former has been understood as influential in determining the definition of the latter and several writers have significantly contributed to this characteristic through their narrative and storytelling. These writers organize the characteristics and ideals of characters into a cohesive whole which develops a sense of who a person is. The narrative theory of identity as presented in the memories, events, and dreams of various characters and their personality traits illustrates the significant contribution made by literature in the realization of the narrative theory of identity. One of the superior examples of this relationship between literature and narrative theory of identity is Alice Munro’s “An Ounce of Cure” and the author has been celebrated as making observations on the episodic nature of life through her stories. “An Ounce of Cure” presents an important episodic nature of life through the mid-teenage problems and crises in the life of the main character and the major theme of the story reminds the readers that even the most repulsive issues which flip over every person at some episode of his life will be dispensed with in the course of life. It is through the effective narrative and storytelling that Munro conveys her points to the readers and the narrator in this story, who lives through the atrocious stage in her teenage life, presents her viewpoints in the most convincing manner. Therefore, Alice Munro, through her short story “An Ounce of Cure,” illustrates the relationship between literature and narrative theory of identity and the narrative and storytelling of the story helped the author in this attempt. In literature, the author’s personal experiences or the various aspects of their life will be resonated in the writing and, when the writers depend on the art of writing to express them completely, narrative becomes a reflection of personality. In her short stories, Alice Munro artistically makes use of this technique of self expression through narrative and the situations and experiences in the author’s life influenced the chronological progress of her writing. The use of complex characters, setting, ironic humor, and symbolism etc in her short stories helped Munro present the stories in a realistic way. “An Ounce of Problems” presents the story of a realistic character who confronts some fundamental mid-teenage problems. “In ‘An Ounce of Cure’ the young girl who narrates the story has her first encounter with strong drink while she is feeling jilted and doing a fairly regular baby-sitting job in a small town. The result is predictably disastrous. The narration is almost apologetic about the farcical element... and the style is determinedly lively... What we get is good, clean, but rather obvious fun.” (Martin, 1987, p 37). Therefore, narrative and storytelling in Munro’s short story significantly helps the writer to convey her own life experiences and the characters present instances from the author’s life. Storytelling in “An Ounce of Problems” has an important role in depicting the teenage crises in the life of the heroine and the quality of the story informs the readers of similar episodes in real life. The author has been effective in presenting the mid-teenage problem of the girl in a realistic manner. The heroine of the story narrates one of the most embarrassing events of her adolescence as she recalled it. The incident presented in the story illustrates the truth that choices have a permanent effect, because they inexorably direct to end results which influence the course of growth and maturity. The main character in the story considered that the undying love for her boyfriend was the goal of her preordained life and the narrator has been able to present the world of the teenagers realistically. They frequently exaggerate their tragedies which results in certain life threatening situations to them. Alice Munro is effective in efficiently managing the characters in the story that make it very realistic to the readers. In life situations, one finds several examples of teenagers who are driven by the same passion of the heroine of the story. In one such interesting case, a thirteen year old boy named Sam Leeson hanged himself after being tormented on social networking website Bebo and the reason was his liking for Emo rock bands. “Sensitive Sam Leeson was bombarded with cruel messages because of his long hair and dark clothes. His tormentors also mocked his love of Emo stars such as My Chemical Romance and their angst-ridden lyrics. Sam was found hanged in his bedroom after months of abuse.” (Coles, 2008) One may relate this real life incident in the life of Sam Leeson to the experiences of the young heroine of Munro story and the character wants to kill herself over a small crush in the similar fashion. This illustrates the superior quality of the narrative style which appear realistic to the readers. The storytelling in the short story by Munro reminds one of similar life experiences of teenagers and the realistic style of the narration helps the writer appear convincing to the readers. Alice Munro makes use of the conventional realistic narrative with the intention of providing order and structure to her fiction and female protagonist. This has been an issue confronted by several female writers who hold that historical and genealogical time has little truth in it and they have a tough task in providing the exact order to the narrative. “She may acquiesce to the tradition of chronological time in conventional, realistic narrative, as Alice Munro does in an early piece like ‘An Ounce of Cure’ yet all the while speculating on and defensively measuring her fiction as she imposes fictional order on absurd life...” (Rasporich, 1990, p 178). The narrative framework helped the author in presenting the personality and identity of a teenager and to depict the life experience of a young person in the most convincing manner. The events surrounding a crucial experience in the teenager’s life is depicted in a realistic style and narrator of the story is both appealing and irrepressible. She presents the events as powerfully as the influential style of Anne Shirley. However, there is a strong opposition to the narrative style of Alice Munro and critics feel that she depicts her characters and their setting in terms of an incongruously cut off and unrealistic vision of adolescence. These criticisms of the narrative strategy of the author may be justified as essential to upholding the humorous quality of the short story. More importantly, this quixotically light and ironic quality of the story can be understood as essential to an understanding of the mental makeup of adolescence. The evidences from real life experiences illustrate that there is little unrealistic about the story of the young woman. The main theme of the story also justifies the narrative strategy adopted and the presentation of the story and the theme by the narrator assumes that she has lived through such a horrible stage in her own teenage life. In the story, the narrator does not provide her name, though she is the major character and conveys he points in first person narrative style. The narration of the teenagers experience is in the most convincing manner and the narrator becomes a reliable character as she depicts the story of a stage in her own life. As a teenager, the narrator feels insecure as her parents have already been “hoping for a lesser rather than a greater disaster—an elopement, say, with a boy who could never earn his living, rather than an abduction into the White Slave trade.”(Munro, 2002, 451) The narrator presents this disaster as her pre-conceived destiny and this also contributes to her instability as a teenager. Therefore, the narrative and the storytelling in this short story helped Munro to depict some realistic version of an adolescent’s identity. In conclusion, Alice Munro, through her short story “An Ounce of Cure”, attempts more than a mere comical story about a girl’s journey through her teenage. The narrative and the storytelling in the short story helped the author depict the growth of individuality and discovery of identity by a teenager and the narrative has been realistic. In short, the work has great relevance as it illustrates the relationship between literature and narrative theory of identity. References Coles, John. (2008). “Bebo bullies kill Emo music lad.” The Sun. Retrieved March 6, 2009 from http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article1281007.ece Martin, Walter Rintoul. (1987). Alice Munro: Paradox and Parallel. Edmonton, Alta: University of Alberta Press. p 37. Munro, Alice. (2002). “An Ounce of Cure.” Bedford Introduction to Literature. Michael Meyer. (Ed). New York: Bedford. p 451. Rasporich, Beverly Jean. (1990). Dance of the sexes: art and gender in the fiction of Alice Munro. University of Alberta. p 178. Read More