Alice Munro: Life and “How I Met My Husband”
Alice Munro
Alice Munro grew up in Wingham, Ontario, and attended the University of Western Ontario. She has published thirteen collections of stories and a novel. During her distinguished career, she has been the recipient of many awards, including two Giller Prizes, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the Man Booker International Prize. In 2013, she was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature. Her stories have appeared in The New Yorker, Atlantic Monthly, Harper’s Magazine, The Paris Review, Granta, and many other publications, and her collections have been translated into thirteen languages. She lives in Port Hope, Canada, on Lake Ontario.
“How I Met My Husband” by Alice Munro
Summary
At noon, a plane flew very low. The Peebles ran outside, afraid that it had crashed into their house. Afterward, they invited their neighbor to the house, where she gossiped about the event.
Edie, the narrator, tells us her story. She was a humble girl who, due to her low social standing, had to abandon school. Then, she was selected to be the hired girl.
While Mrs. Peebles and the children went to Chelsey, Edie walked through the rooms, looking through the closets, and tried on a dress belonging to Mrs. Peebles. Then, she was having a fresh ginger ale when the pilot of the plane, who found her very beautiful, arrived.
Edie also describes her employer’s character: she didn’t want her to be curious or tired. But after everyone was in bed, the pilot invited her to have a cigarette. They talked about his job. Edie asked him not to tell Mrs. Peebles anything about the dress. The next day, he invited her to have another cigarette in his plane, but she refused. Finally, Joey and Heather learned that the pilot was giving flying lessons.
Loretta arrived at the house with Mr. Walter’s fiancée, Alice. The Peebles introduced themselves, and they explained that Mr. Walters was flying. Alice said that she was a nurse and that she knew the doctor overseas. The Peebles offered for her to stay at their house. When Chris arrived, he and Alice went somewhere by car. The next morning, they went for a picnic without Edie and Chris.
When Edie went to tell Chris about the picnic, she found him in bed smoking and gave him the message. He told her, as a secret, that he was escaping. She sat on the bed, and they started kissing. When he had to go, he promised to write her letters. When they returned from the picnic, everyone was wondering where Chris was. Alice supposed he had escaped, and Edie had to lie, saying he told her he was going to Bayfield. Alice talked about her job again, telling an anecdote about a “bad girl.” When she finished, Alice called Edie a bitch and accused her of being that bad girl. But Mrs. Peebles proved Edie wasn’t that “bad bitch.” Loretta and Alice went out, and Edie was sent to her room, where Mrs. Peebles calmed her.
Edie would wait for a hypothetical letter that would never arrive, but while she was waiting, she met the mailman, who, after being initially rejected by her in favor of Chris, eventually married her.
Voice: Third person
Author, Narrator, Protagonist: Author (Alice Munro) = Narrator (Edie) = Protagonist (Edie)
Time:
- Time of History: Edie was 15 years old, a crucial period in which everyone decides to individualize.
- Time of Story: Edie’s perspective, in which she tells us the story with an adult point of view.
In Medias Res
Themes: Conformism with hidden truths of reality; Acceptance of fate’s jokes.
Topics:
- Higher vs. Lower Classes (Mrs. Peebles vs. Edie)
- Curiosity and female sexuality (if there’s no curiosity, there won’t be sexuality)
- Disappointment
- Illusion; Hope
- Love
- Conformism (Wisdom; Precocity)