Essay Sample on Maturity and Self-Identity in Short Story Boys and Girls by Alice Munro

Introduction

A young person growing will always find their way towards expressing their emotions. The short story Boys and girls by Alice Munro provides us an insight into how its character mature. Maturity and self-identity require that an individual is in a position to develop and make a reflection on their emotions. Self-identity on that hand refers to qualities and abilities that an individual can use in defining themselves. Maturity and self-identity is a struggle for adolescents under the shadows of parents.

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Disobedience towards is a trait among adolescence towards parents in a bid to show they are mature (Klimstra, 150). The main character in the story developed deviant behaviors knowingly. Disobeying her father is one way that the character proved herself to be her person. She believes she is mature and therefore capable of making her own decisions. The small things she does are against the beliefs of her family members. When her grandmother visited for a few weeks, the character was introduced to new things that girls were not supposed to do. For instance, according to the grandmother girls were not supposed to slam doors and they were supposed to ensure that their knees are kept together while sitting. The character's attempts to ask for a reason as to why she was not supposed to do certain things; she was that it was not the girl's business to ask. The character defiantly went against her grandmother. According to her, she was mature, and therefore she needed to be free and not controlled as she said, "I kept myself free" (p 6).

The character did not achieve her self-identity in one day. Instead, it was a gradual process that included rubbing shoulders with her parents. Self-identity is a reflection of oneself and the relationship with the world. From the story, the character builds up her self-identity from her surrounding by identifying what was important to her. She had always helped her family in completing work within the farm. Two weeks before Flora was scheduled to be killed she felt different and did not want to be part of the killing. It was at this point when she identified herself on what she wanted to do. She was never afraid of horse killings, but she could not stand the idea of killing innocent horses especially those she had helped to raise. She felt that her father was the one standing in her way as she described him to be a source of her shame. She said, "Yet I felt a little ashamed, and there was a new wariness, a sense of holding-off, in my attitude to my father and his work."(p 9). We, therefore, get to learn how it is hard for teens to achieve their self-identity without facing challenges from elderly members of the family (Chen, Kun-hu, and Yao, 403-15). The character was raised to know how to kill a horse, but now she wants to follow her understanding of the world. According to her the surrounding should not dictate her identity; that is why she wants to go against her father's deeds.

Gender plays a role in how and time an individual takes to mature and achieve her self-identity. At one point in the life of a young girl there comes a time when the girl grows to become a young woman. The main character feels that she faces difficulty in finding her rite passage unlike her brother, Laird. According to her the hardships she faces is as a result of stereotypes about her gender. As a girl matures, she is supposed to act lady-like. That was not the case with the character as she made all attempts not to be forced into being a lady. At the end of the story, she does not feel to have identified herself with what society believes to be a girl's position. The story shows us how the girl finds it hard to find her gender identity. According to her, she found it fulfilling to work along with her father. She sees her father be "tirelessly inventive" (Munro 3). Society stereotype that girls should be working with their mothers while the boys work with their fathers (Nickelodeon, 69). It was not cased with our character since she preferred working with her father and not the mother. She always worked hurriedly to get out of the kitchen all in the bid to avoid working with her mother. "As soon as I was done I ran out of the house, trying to get out of earshot before my mother thought of what to do next" (4).

Conclusion

The character showed identity as a woman when she expressed her feelings in a woman like. It happened when Laird told his father that it was he fault for Flora's escape. Accepting who we are is one way a young adolescent can show that they are mature and understand their identity. At the beginning of the story, the young girl is never happy to work for her mother. In the end, she came to realize that her rite of passage would eventually follow in the societal stereotypes. She has come to the acceptance that her brother is the one who is supposed to be helping her father. The story, therefore, points to us how gender stereotypes play a role in shaping how a teen achieve their maturity and self-identity.

Works Cited

Chen, Kun-hu, and Grace Yao. "Investigating Adolescent Health-Related Quality of Life: From a Self-Identity Perspective." Social Indicators Research 96.3 (2010): 403-15. ProQuest. Web. 26 Mar. 2019.

Klimstra, Theo A., et al. "Identity Formation in Adolescence: Change or Stability?" Journal of Youth and Adolescence 39.2 (2010): 150-62. ProQuest. Web. 26 Mar. 2019.

Munro, Alice. Boys and girls. Atlantis Films, 1983.

Nickelodeon. "Kaleidoscope: Boys Vs. Girls." KidScreen (2009): 69. ProQuest. Web. 26 Mar. 2019.