Essay about Alice Munros The Red Dress and The Day of...

Alice Munros The Red Dress and The Day of The Butterfly â€Å"The Red Dress† and â€Å"The Day of The Butterfly† are two very interesting stories, written by an exceptional Canadian author, Alice Munro. Both of these stories are well written and can be associated with what goes on in today’s society. The principal characters, human relationships, and the importance of symbolism exist, in both of these stories, strongly. There are many similarities, and also differences between the two short stories, that compare and contrast what can be viewed upon in our daily lives. The principal characters of â€Å"The Red Dress† is the narrator, who’s name never gets revealed throughout the story, and the principal character in â€Å"The Day of The†¦show more content†¦Myra’s conflicting relationships with her parents are not visible, but can be understood because her parents have left her with full responsibility for her younger brother. Which causes Myra to have no time for herself or the people around her. Another example of this is the narrator and her mother. The mother makes the red dress for her daughters first high school dance out of love, but she doesn’t realize the pain that she’s causing her daughter. The daughter feels that by her mother making her the dress, without any consent by herself, it leaves her with no control, or say of what takes place in her life. The main similarity between both of these short stories is that of symbolism. Symbolism in a short story or anyother kind of story is extrem ely necessary for a greater understanding of the symbolic value of the story. Both aspects of symbolism in the two short stories, reflect upon the main characters life and changes. In â€Å"The Red Dress†, the red dress is the symbolic value. It represents the conflict between the narrator, and her mother. The narrator’s mother makes the dress out of love, but the narrator feels she’s only doing it out of control over her. However in â€Å"The Day of The Butterfly† the key symbolic value is the butterfly broach which was given to Myra by Helen. From the butterfly’s birth to it’s early death, represents the stages of Myra’s difficult life, as she suffered from the childhood disease, leukemia. These