Boys And Girl's Swimming Pool Analysis

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The two short stories Boys and Girl’s and Women’s Swimming Pool illustrate the coming of age of the two protagonists, through a quest of finding their spot in the society. In this journey, they go through a series of different event to help define themselves, and their final destination. As the two protagonists come of age from a girl into a woman, they recognize their fate and accept their final destiny. The two authors Munro and Hanan portray this transition through a series of different skills. First, the two authors use character background as a way to describe the character development. Whether they are placed in a sexist society against women, or in a strict Muslim family, the setting has a big impact throughout the journey. Both authors also show how parents and secondary characters can influence children, when defining their identity. Moreover, a series of symbolic elements are used during the journey to intensify the internal conflicts of the protagonists. In the two texts Boys …show more content…

With her father supportive of this behavior, she feels needed in the farm, as she “[has] the real watering can, [her] father’s”. She feels pride in herself, as she feels more powerful in the farm compared to her brother. Unlike her father, her mother disagrees with this kind of behavior from a girl, and insists that the young narrator should assist more on house duties. For her mother “It’s not like [she has] a girl in the family at all”. As the young narrator matures into a woman, she see’s the reality of women in the society, until she unintentionally disobeys her father’s orders. She sets Flora free as a symbolic act of freedom, but this seals her fate. Her father forgives her because “She’s only a girl,” and the narrator accepts her fate, as “[She doesn’t] protest that, even in her heart. Maybe it was

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