AN OUNCE OF CURE
AN OUNCE OF CURE
Summary
In the story “An Ounce of Cure” By Alice Munro, the narrator is unnamed and speaks in first person. The story follows the life of a teenage girl going through a “mid-life” teenage crisis. The setting is a very conservative southern town in the 1960’s, where it is considered taboo to consume alcohol. Almost nobody consumed alcohol in the teen’s town. The narrator signed an abstinence pledge in the seventh grade. As for her parents, her father would drink a beer on a hot day, which he consumed out of sight. Her mother never drinks alcohol.
Her mother wanted her daughter to remain innocent and believes the outside world is dangerous. The narrator is a responsible young lady who likes to gossip. She earns money by babysitting around town and is labeled as “the responsible babysitter”. She is like most other teenage girl in her town.
Then, the narrator meets a boy named Martin Collingwood at a drama club sponsored by her school. Martin was her Prince Charming, and she falls in love with the young man. She receives a memorable first kiss, and she does not wash her face for days after the joyful incident. Unfortunately, two months later Martin dumps her for another girl in drama club.
The girl is left with an emotional bruise on her heart. She started weeps for Martin, spending hours thinking about the boy. She then re-enacts in her head over and over again. She then becomes severely depressed. One night she plans to swallow all the aspirin in the bathroom cabinet, but stops at the sixth pill.
Each pill represents each stage in her life: sorrow, anguish, depression, heartbreak, confusion and frustration. Her mother notices that something is wrong with her daughter. She asks if everything was going all right at school and her daughter She says “Martin and I had broken up and all”. Her mother tells her the break up is for the best. The narrator has to babysit for the Berrymans one Saturday. While there, looks for a can of soda in the kitchen.
Summary
In the story “An Ounce of Cure” By Alice Munro, the narrator is unnamed and speaks in first person. The story follows the life of a teenage girl going through a “mid-life” teenage crisis. The setting is a very conservative southern town in the 1960’s, where it is considered taboo to consume alcohol. Almost nobody consumed alcohol in the teen’s town. The narrator signed an abstinence pledge in the seventh grade. As for her parents, her father would drink a beer on a hot day, which he consumed out of sight. Her mother never drinks alcohol.
Her mother wanted her daughter to remain innocent and believes the outside world is dangerous. The narrator is a responsible young lady who likes to gossip. She earns money by babysitting around town and is labeled as “the responsible babysitter”. She is like most other teenage girl in her town.
Then, the narrator meets a boy named Martin Collingwood at a drama club sponsored by her school. Martin was her Prince Charming, and she falls in love with the young man. She receives a memorable first kiss, and she does not wash her face for days after the joyful incident. Unfortunately, two months later Martin dumps her for another girl in drama club.
The girl is left with an emotional bruise on her heart. She started weeps for Martin, spending hours thinking about the boy. She then re-enacts in her head over and over again. She then becomes severely depressed. One night she plans to swallow all the aspirin in the bathroom cabinet, but stops at the sixth pill.
Each pill represents each stage in her life: sorrow, anguish, depression, heartbreak, confusion and frustration. Her mother notices that something is wrong with her daughter. She asks if everything was going all right at school and her daughter She says “Martin and I had broken up and all”. Her mother tells her the break up is for the best. The narrator has to babysit for the Berrymans one Saturday. While there, looks for a can of soda in the kitchen.