RunawayBy: Alice Munro
Category: FICTION
Guide Created By: Joan P.
Discussion Leader(s): Andy and Joan P.
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Guide Description Runaway: a really fine collection of long short stories, chronicling the loss of youthful dreams, goals and ideals. Is it ever possible to recover what we had when we were young, as we remember it?
Plot SynopsisThe first tale in Runaway, a really fine collection of long short stories, sets the tone for the next seven - the loss of youthful dreams, goals and ideals. Is it ever possible to recover what we had when we were young, as we remember it?
Alice Munro leaves many questions open for interpretation in her artful, vivid portrayal of the human condition. Her collection of characters age, remember and often regret changes over the course of their lives, just as we do. As in real life, expect interesting, surprising twists.
Questions
For Consideration
Runaway
"...she's leaving home, bye-bye."
1. How does the description of her environment explain Carla's state of mind? Had she considered running away before Sylvia encouraged her?
2. What is Sylvia's attraction to Carla? Would she have been a sympathetic friend if she understood why Carla had come to see her? Why was she suddenly in such a hurry to send Clara away?
3. Do you see similarities between Clara and Sylvia - and Flora, for that matter? What does little lost Flora signify in the story? What did you make of Clara's dream of her return with the red apple in her mouth?
4. Why did Clara return to Clark? Why did Flora show up at Sylvia's when she did? Do you see any connection between both of these sudden returns?
5. Is there a message in this story for those who consider running away from something? Do you see a happy ending here for any of these characters?
For Consideration
Chance
"Few people, very few have a treasure, and if you do you must hang on to it."
1. Does Juliet seem to live in a dream world of her own creation, making "suble adjustments of the facts" in her role as a "superior, unvulnerable observer of life"? Can she function in the real world?
2. What is the author's purpose in dwelling on intimate details of feminine monthlies? What do they tell us about Juliet and her comfort zone as a woman?
3. What is achieved by the back and forth movement in time - from train to bus? Do you feel that there are holes in this story? Has Juliet decided to go to Eric after having received just that one "I-often-think-of-you" letter?
4. After one "chance" meeting on a train, do you see both Juliet and Eric playing a game, tempting fate to decide their future? Do most people do this? Is Eric really interested in Juliet?
5. How would you compare Juliet with Clara in their roles as "Runaways"? Do you see any similarities in their personalities?
6. What is the role of weather and the environment on the story? Is it effective do you think?
For Consideration
"Soon"
"...it's what happens at home that you try to protect, as best you can, for as long as you can."
1. What does Juliet's choice of Chagall's, I and the Village, as their Christmas present tell us about her parents? What does the painting reveal about her feelings towards them and home?
2. How has Juliet changed from the girl described in Chance? How are her parents affected by the "new" Juliet?
3. What effect does Irene have on Juliet? Is she a real or perceived threat to her parents?
4. When does Juliet begin to notice that her parents are not as broadminded as she once thought? Has she changed, or have they?
5. Did her conversation with Don the minister have any effect on Juliet, her feelings about religion, her lifestyle or her parents?
6. Why did Alice Munro give the title, "Soon" to this story? What is to happen "soon"?
For Consideration
"Silence"
"She has come to us in great hunger."
1. Do you find Juliet's metamorphoses into different personalities entirely believable? Does she remain self-centered in every reincarnation?
2. Why was Penelope sent away to boarding school? Why wasn't she brought home for her father's funeral? How does her adolescent relationship with her parents compare to Juliet's?
3. Is there a special significance to the public cremation of Eric's body on the beach - with Ailo playing the role of "Widow of the Sea? What does it mean to grieve the loss of a loved one? Do you see Juliet "grieving" in any way?
4. Why did "Mother Shipton" speak of Penelope with a "tone of celebration? How did she manage to get to Juliet? Can their exchange be compared to the one she had with Minister Don?
5. Who is the "runaway" in this story? What does her revised ending for Aethiopica tell about Juliet? Do you consider this a happy ending or is there an ending at all?
6. In your opinion, can "Silence" stand alone as a short story, or does it depend on "Chance" and "Soon" to be understood and appreciated?
For Consideration
"Passion"
"Maybe the worst thing would have been to get just what she might have thought she was after - the past intact. "
1. Why is Grace drawn to Mrs. Travers? What do the two have in common? At what point does Grace become disenchanted with Mrs. Travers?
2. What is "the discrepancy between the way Grace has presented herself and the way she wanted to be judged"? Are there other discrepancies in her personality?
3. What were Grace's expectations about falling in love, her views on marriage and motherhood? Would she and Maury have been a good match?
4. Was the relationship between Grace and Neil real or imagined? Was she better off for running away with him?
5. "Perfect preservation, the past intact when nothing of the kind could be said about herself." Has life been unkind to Grace? Why did she return to the lake to look for the Travers house? What were her old obligations to the Travers?
6. In what sense was Grace a "runaway" in this story? Is there more than one runaway here?
For Consideration
"Trespasses"
""All-eeze keep a foot on er neck...""
1. Did Alice Munro's description of the group depositing the cremated remains capture and sustain your interest throughout the story?
2. Why did Harry and Eileen move to Harry's hometown? Do they appear to be running away from something? Does Harry's enthusiasm for the town ring true?
3. How does the old man's secret for a long, happy marriage -
"All-eeze keep a foot on er neck" - relate to this story?
4. Why is the notion that she has been adopted have "an unsettling, but distant charm" for Lauren?
5. Why did Harry feel the need to tell Lauren about the baby's cremated ashes and then make her promise to keep it secret?
6. Do you find the details in this story particularly revealing? What do "bare feet in nylon stockings" tell about Lauren's changing feelings towards Delphine?
7. "Forgive us our sins." To whose sins does the statement refer? Your thoughts on the title, "Trespasses? Who is the runaway in this story?
For Consideration
"Tricks"
"I'll die if they don't have that dress ready."
1. What is it about the man with a Doberman and foreign accent that prompted Robin to ignore her mother's advice (and common sense) never to talk to a strange man and then follow him up to his second floor flat?
2. Do you see Robin tempting fate by "changing her appearance"- the dress, the hairdo? Why didn't she iron the dress herself? If she had waited to go to Danilo's after the play was over as agreed upon, would things have worked out differently?
3. Are you familiar with Shakespeare's play, "As You Like It"? What might Robin have learned had she waited to see the last act?
4. Did Robin jump to a false conclusion that this was Danilo's way of getting rid of her? Would most people have responded as she did? How might Shakespeare have prepared her for what happened at Danilo's door?
5. Did the tenuous relationship between Robin and Danilo depend on keeping things the same as on that first day, the dress, the hair, the Shakespeare? Did everything finally depend on Shakespeare's play?
6. In what ways do "Tricks" drive us to run away from reality? Do you see Robin as a runaway in this story? What was the role of the reappearing black swan?
For Consideration
"Powers"
"Getting and spending we lay waste to our powers."
1. Do you see any similarity between Nancy and the other young ladies in Alice Munro's stories in her quick decision to marry Wilf? Why did she agree so readily to his proposal?
2. Does it seem to occur to Nancy that Ollie would be a better match for her in those days prior to her wedding? What does it mean that he "pretends he is hollow like a celluloid doll?" Is he?
3. Why would Tessa agree to marry Ollie? Could she not read his heart? Does Tessa have any more "special powers" than Nancy?
4. Why doesn't Nancy question Ollie's obvious lie about Tessa's leukemina and death? Why did she invite him to her hotel room? Did he misread her intentions? ?
5. What did the dead flies behind the dresser symbolize? Was this last scene a dream or Nancy's imagination attempting to "relive" her life's decision to marry Wilf?
6. Do you see Nancy as a "runaway" - from her youthful dreams or decisions at any time in her life?
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Interesting Information
Runaway - complete story // Chance - complete story // Biography of Alice Munro // Many Reviews of Runaway
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