Summary Of Alice Munro's Short Story 'Royal Beatings'
Short stories require different styles and features, than regular novels. Single characters, shortened plots, and a conflict with resolution, are some of the key features that make a successful short story. With having a single character, it lets the writer develop their background, which gives the reader much needed description to create an understanding, or relationship with the character. The shortened plot, with a build up to the conflict and resolution, grips the reader, and makes them feel the suspense of the author’s story.
In “Royal Beatings” by Alice Munro, Rose is the main character of the short story. She is a believable character that Munro describes in what clearly was hard time and place to grow up. Not only living in a poor area of town, Rose had a strained relationship with her stepmother, as Munro describes “she could not stand to know any more, about her father, or about Flo”. The character Munro has created makes the reader feel compassion and sympathy for her. She is a child, acting the way children do, with a stepmother …show more content…
who has been thrown into a mother’s role. The story is a successful one because Munro gets it right with the emphasis on Rose as the main character, and touching briefly on her sibling’s background, as well as Flo, Becky, and her father.
From the offset of the story, there is the threat of a “Royal beating.
That was Flo’s promise. You’re going to get one Royal Beating.” The story actually introduces the conflict immediately, and from there the suspense slowly builds throughout. The conflict is extremely detailed and gripping. Munro is able to make the reader picture, or imagine, what is exactly happening in the kitchen. What makes the conflict more interesting is the fact the Flo, who initiated for the father to do the beating, wanted to stop it, “Flo is shrieking too. Stop, stop!” The end of the story makes the reader feel sorry or compassion for Flo, as it is now her that relied on Rose, before being put into a home. When Rose hears the interview, she wants to tell someone, and the first person that comes to mind is Flo. The reader is made to feel as if there is a reversal of guilt; Flo felt guilty for the beating, now Rose feels guilty for Flo’s
situation.
The single character feature of the short story “Royal Beating” was essential in making it a successful story as it helped develop a relationship with the reader. It was able to do this by making the reader believe the character, and feel compassion and sympathy towards her. The second successful feature of the story was that the conflict was able to build suspense, grip the reader, and show the guilt that the characters had. These are two of the most important features that make a successful short story.
Works Cited
Cassill, R. V., and Richard Bausch. "Royal Beatings by Alice Munro." The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction. New York: W.W. Norton, 2006. 1125-1141. Print.
In “Royal Beatings” by Alice Munro, Rose is the main character of the short story. She is a believable character that Munro describes in what clearly was hard time and place to grow up. Not only living in a poor area of town, Rose had a strained relationship with her stepmother, as Munro describes “she could not stand to know any more, about her father, or about Flo”. The character Munro has created makes the reader feel compassion and sympathy for her. She is a child, acting the way children do, with a stepmother …show more content…
who has been thrown into a mother’s role. The story is a successful one because Munro gets it right with the emphasis on Rose as the main character, and touching briefly on her sibling’s background, as well as Flo, Becky, and her father.
From the offset of the story, there is the threat of a “Royal beating.
That was Flo’s promise. You’re going to get one Royal Beating.” The story actually introduces the conflict immediately, and from there the suspense slowly builds throughout. The conflict is extremely detailed and gripping. Munro is able to make the reader picture, or imagine, what is exactly happening in the kitchen. What makes the conflict more interesting is the fact the Flo, who initiated for the father to do the beating, wanted to stop it, “Flo is shrieking too. Stop, stop!” The end of the story makes the reader feel sorry or compassion for Flo, as it is now her that relied on Rose, before being put into a home. When Rose hears the interview, she wants to tell someone, and the first person that comes to mind is Flo. The reader is made to feel as if there is a reversal of guilt; Flo felt guilty for the beating, now Rose feels guilty for Flo’s
situation.
The single character feature of the short story “Royal Beating” was essential in making it a successful story as it helped develop a relationship with the reader. It was able to do this by making the reader believe the character, and feel compassion and sympathy towards her. The second successful feature of the story was that the conflict was able to build suspense, grip the reader, and show the guilt that the characters had. These are two of the most important features that make a successful short story.
Works Cited
Cassill, R. V., and Richard Bausch. "Royal Beatings by Alice Munro." The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction. New York: W.W. Norton, 2006. 1125-1141. Print.