Practice IOC Outline: Runaway Passage

Annotated Passage sourced from Alice Munro's short story: Runaway

IOC Outline

This particular passage is sourced from Runaway, a short story part of a collection of Alice Munro's short stories of the same name. This collection of short stories titled "Runaway", was published well into her writing career, in 2004, particularly focus on the notion of physically and mentally escaping one's issues. The title is continuously relevant throughout these stories in its encompassment of the notion of running away through instances of deliberate ignorance or characters escaping settings that trap their concept of freedom. This commentary will sequentially explore  a particular passage towards the end of the short story, where both the protagonist and a secondary character come to terms with the lack of control in their social settings through ignorance and compromise. 

Chunk 1: Ignorance

• Sylvia physically escapes her life in this social setting, aware of the hardships her friend Carla and the compromise of her happiness with her freedom. 
• "made the mistake of thinking how somehow that Carla's freedom and happiness were the same thing. All she cared for was Carla's happiness; and she saw now that she - Carla - had found that in her marriage."
• The awareness of freedom is evident in Sylvia's reflection however she immediately shifts to ignoring the lack of freedom in Carla's life. She reflects upon her awareness of the compromise Carla must go through to live a happy life. 
• "With all my good wishes"; Sylvia never offers any help to Carla, despite her awareness of the internal conflict this protagonist is experiencing. Munro utilises Sylvia's character to reflect such attitudes in society and the reality of having to face one conflicts alone. 

Chunk 2: Realisation

• In Sylvia's letter, Carla is able to realise that her husband is withholding information that could be useful to her, stripping her of her freedom to choose her reactions to situations. By this I mean that Carla is unable to react to the reappearance of Flora and the potential inclination this event could have on Carla's situation, leave Clark responsible for controlling Carla's knowledge, censoring her from things he believes she shouldn't know. 
• Sylvia's ignorance reappears in this chunk in her saying that "Flora has her place as a good angel in my life and perhaps also in your husband's life and yours." Sylvia was victim to Clark's need for power, as he confronted her at her home. Yet, she later on believes that he is open with his wife, a seemingly ignorant thought to form considering Clark's past actions.

Chunk 3: Acceptance/ Compromise

• Carla's reaction to Sylvia's letter is expected as she is forced to confront certain issues that she wanted to run away from. Her husbands control of her freedom, and the lack of ability to rely on others in her life. With the leaving of Sylvia, Carla is essentially left alone with Clark, forced to succumb to his power and compromise her freedom with her happiness. 
• Munro's use of figurative language is reflected in this final passage of the text, on the form of a metaphor. "It was as if she had a murderous needle in her lungs, and by breathing carefully she could avoid feeling it. But every once it a while she had to take a deep breath, and it was still there." Clark's control over Carla is compared to a murderous needle, and as long as he remains in her life, she will be unable to escape it, just like breathing. 

All things considered, Munro's use of figurative language and human relationships are utilised as tools to communicate internal and external conflicts, allowing readers to relate and reflect upon her short stories, and perhaps exhibits more social emotion. 

Royal Beatings Passage: Practice IOC

Here is a link to a practice IOC that explores a passage in Alice Munro's short story "Royal Beatings":

https://youtu.be/kQeIYXNqlRA

Emotional Intelligence

Throughout the past few classes, we have been discussing the importance of emotional intelligence, particularly focusing in on the question "How can literature develop empathy and emotional intelligence?".  David Foster Wallace's speech provides an interesting link to the point of view Alice Munro's presents in her series of short stories. 

David Foster Wallace's commencement speech "This is Water" effectively discusses the importance of emotional intelligence in relationships and the world around us. He suggests that true freedom acquired through education is the ability to be adjusted, conscious and sympathetic. By having an awareness of other's emotions, one can become less self-absorbed and proceed to becoming more conscious and accepting of the world around them. Essentially, emotional intelligence is essential for becoming a well rounded, functioning member of society. 

Alice Munro's short stories follow the daily-life of the protagonist and allows us to see a second perspective at the complexities of life that may not have been considered. Her stories allow us to understand all the quirks and hardships. Her texts often leave out a lot of elements that allow the readers to develop their own assumptions. A connection to Wallace's theory is exemplified in the Family Furnishings short, through Alfreda's character and her role as a black sheep. 

Alfreda is considered an outcast in her family. Her sisters, brothers and cousins never invite her to their houses or gatherings. Her "business woman" attitude and lack of a partner presents her as an untraditional character, contrasting the conservative attitudes of the rest of her family. Towards the end of the story, however, the readers come to learn a crucial element of Alfreda's story, she had had a child with her cousins as a teenager, and her family never looked at her the same way since. By acknowledging the hardships she has experienced throughout her life, the readers are able to develop sympathy towards and use their emotional intelligence to rationalise her actions and decisions. 

The awareness of Alfreda's internal and external conflicts forces the reader to sympathise with this character. If a reader already has an emotional awareness of their surrounding environment, they would be able to immediately consider potential reasons for Alfreda's uniqueness, without having to wait until the end to understand the reason for her role as a black sheep in the short story. 

An anthology of the most emotionally riveting songs of the past century

Amy Winehouse's song "Valerie" always made me feel empathetic towards the character she was singing about, Valerie. The song presents a relationship between two women that seems to have faded away over the years, and Winehouse seems to be reaching out for her attention, perhaps in an attempt to rekindle their relationship. The way in which the singer speaks about Valerie, it seems as though when they ended their relationship,Valerie was under a lot of stress, perhaps indicating Winehouse had not supported her in her time of hardship. Valerie is said to perhaps have had to go to jail, which makes the reader aware of the issues Valerie has had to experience. In addition to this Winehouse allows us to understand that Valerie was not on the right plane when it came to her intimate relationship as she is told to find a man who might be able to support her in her struggles.