Alice Munro's Runaway

This is my first encounter with Munro’s writing and I am glad I read it. One of the best stories I have read in nonlinear narrative form. The language is poetic, the descriptions are vivid and the sections are clear enough to understand the action.

Sadly Clara’s return seems to confirm to most cases I have seen or heard about. Several women are trapped in the vicious cycle of getting abused, receiving confirmation of love, forgetting and forgiving (or at least trying to do so) and return to their abusive husbands, only to repeat it all again. Clara’s parents and brother were against her relationship with Clark, so she had no option left but to elope. She knew they wouldn’t agree to the union. Probably that was what made Clark braver, he knew Clara had no one to rely on, no family was there to check if she was unhappy or abused. She seemed to have no friends either. We do not see her meeting anyone who can be considered a well wisher. It is Sylvia’s soft words that make her cry and speak up.

While, I appreciated Sylvia’s take on Clara’s situation, I kept thinking about Sylvia.

Did she want to set Clara free because she could not “runaway” from her husband or rather her life?

We see, she took care of a sick husband, (slept on the sofa for three months before he died), there is no mention of children, and from the italicised section of the story, it seems she had a soft spot for Clara. This does not point to a happy married life either.

Although there is no conclusive evidence in the story that she is unhappy, I keep wondering about Sylvia’s personal life and how it affected her perception of Clara’s situation.

Another runaway in the story is Fiona, the goat, whose disappearance serves as the culmination point. Clara is not as sad at its disappearance as she is at her husband’s behaviour. However, it is Fiona’s disappearance that leads Clara to break down. If Fiona hadn’t disappeared, I doubt Clara would have spoken her mind or agreed to run away from Clark.

Fiona’s return seemed a little ambiguous. I thought the goat died, but it appears as a apparition saving Sylvia from Clark’s wrath.

Did the goat serve as Clara’s parallel?

It ran away and so did Clara and then it returns just like Clara. I wonder what would have happened to Sylvia if Clara or Fiona hadn’t returned.

The ending of the story corresponds to the truth of the world but it left me with several questions and I like a work that makes me think about possibilities in the lives of characters.