Analyzing short story Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Analyzing short story - Essay Example Doing the later helps to break the cycles that haunt them and their families, and forces them into a life which will be an escape from their difficult backgrounds. In relation to this, two short stories by Canadian writers namely An Ounce of Cure by Alice Munro and Cages by Guy Vanderhaeghe shall be analyzed. These two works are based on the theme if escape and the main characters do their best to ensure that they live a better life than their parents do. The setting is remarkably sober, and this helps to show that the writers intend for the stories to be serious matters and not to be taken lightly by the readers. In this paper, an analysis of Munro’s and Vanderhaeghe’s works shall be made based on the development of their characters, the conflicts which they face, and finally, the resolutions of these conflicts. These factors are set to determine whether the teenagers involved in these stories will become successful once they reach adulthood. It also shows the situatio ns which they have to undergo during this stage of their lives. In the end, it shall be determined whether the main characters featured in these stories succeed to achieve their dreams or they fail. In Munro’s An Ounce of Cure, the main character is a mature woman who looks at her past actions as a teenager. The story is related in the first person, and it reveals a person who has grown up and considers her actions as a teenager to have been foolish. It is a story of a young teenage girl who is hopelessly taken with a young man, Martin Collingwood, who shatters her heart. In an attempt to get rid of the pain which Martin has caused her, she indulges in alcohol, which gets her into trouble because her community frowns upon alcohol consumption. In Vanderhaeghe’s Cages, on the other hand, the main character is Billy, the younger son of a miner. His father would like for him and his brother to work hard so that they can avoid the life which he lives. Their father often thr eatens them with living a life in the cages, this referring to the elevator which takes miners down mine shafts. Vanderhaeghe also uses the term cage to refer to the different and difficult situations through which life puts people. One has to do their utmost to ensure that they escape otherwise; they risk getting trapped forever. This is what his father attempts to tell Billy and his brother, to encourage them to think further in life than he ever did. His dream is to have both his sons successful and not living the trapped life which he feels himself to be living. Throughout the story, we see Billy attempting to break out of the various cages in which he has been put. He does his best to ensure that he protects his elder brother from the thoughtless actions which he puts himself in. Billy covers up for the behavior of his older brother, often making excuses for his behavior. Moreover, within his family, he has to maintain the image of the smart son who never gets into trouble. His family has positive expectations of him, and he does his best to meet them. In the end, he comes to realize that he has been wrong to cover up for his brother’s actions and that it is high time for Gene to start taking responsibility. One can say that Billy has finally broken free of the cage and is now ready to face a new life, better than his father’s. The main character in An Ounce of Cure also undergoes a similar situation to Billy’s at home. She is portrayed as a terribly wild teenager whose mother has strong