Thursday, December 16, 2010

Censorship Saves the Day!

"How I Met My Husband" by Alice Munro

Plot


Edie is no longer the handmaid to a misplaced suburban family in the country, but rather a young aspiring businesswoman living in her modest apartment in the heart of New York City. She complacently goes to work in a dull office building, often staying late without pay in her attempt to rise the corporate ladder. Through the monotony, a fresh, new face enters the office with a bravado never seen at Staples McStapleton, Inc. The rakishly handsome Tom Foolery steals her heart, and they fall into each others arms, intertwining in the supply closet. When they emerge, the office is all eyes on the disheveled duo. Edie quickly fixes her hair and returns to her work. The long-time stalker of Edie also works in the office, and after seeing the ordeal in front of his eyes confronts Edie at gunpoint and forces her to be his wife. He escapes with her to Utah to live the rest of their lives as Mormons.
Edie aspires to have a friend she can rely on.

Point of View

Much like the original, the story would be told from a first-person point of view. However, since this country bumpkin got a makeover, so did her attitude and diction! Edie turns everything into a large ordeal, complete with gossip, he-said-she-saids, and at least one sexual innuendo. Keeping it first person will allow the reader to keep up with the mercurial Edie by first-hand describing her emotions. As she is now a complex, modern woman with complex needs only her complex and insightful diction ("And then, I, like, stepped into the hall, and he was, like, so creepin' on me!") will do. The narrator could never understand her.
Mercurial Mercury. 
It makes you brain dead!

Characterization

Edie is now an upfront, in-your-face woman who isn't afraid to tell you what she thinks. Edie never beats around the bush and always brings her realist views to the situation ("And then, we went, like, clubbing and stuff, and I totally met this hot guy, but he wasn't even, like, into me, and I was like, umm, excuse me, but I'm hot."). As you can see, her self-description leaves nothing to be desired. In fact, throughout her narrative, not too many characters can get a word in edgewise. Edie usually cuts them off at the first sign of quotation marks. Tom doesn't speak much, so it was perfect, what they had.
Welcome to Party de Edie.

Setting

No longer is Edie confined to the countryside. New York provides a fast-paced, heart-throbbing setting for Edie to find true love. The taxis whiz by, sirens wail, nights are as bright as day. It's all perfect for a young woman to prowl the streets in search for the perfect man. 
Don't worry though, the purists will appreciate the scene change to Utah. It's nice and boring there. And desolate.

Theme

As far as meeting her husband, Edie sure does. She also has raging hormones just like the original, too. The theme of a kind of ironic twist is in tact as well. Everyone knows she can't end up with the cookie-cutter perfect man. It was never meant to be him, but rather, the stalker, whom she saw everyday but never payed attention to. Who would have suspected him? The story is now wrapped in a more superficial, blood racing, degrading package which is sure to appeal to the youth, thus more effectively conveying theme.
They're diverse!


1 comment:

  1. That guy in the middle looks like my neighbor from second grade. It's hard to tell, though, because the hair's not a bowl cut.

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