Alice Munro’s Narrative Art In Runaway

This thesis explores Munro’s unique narrative art in Runaway from the perspective of narratology.The first part analyzes Munro’s handling of time in terms of narrative time order and duration.Munro manipulates anaepsis in Runaway to connect characters’ past and present.By looking backward,the characters retrospect and reflect their past and then move forward.Ellipsis is used to make her stories dynamic.Descriptive pause is used to deepen the theme.The second part analyzes Munro’s handling of focaliztion.By arranging the extra-diegetic narrator to tell the story,Munro allows the reader to get an honest insight into the external realities of life : her outsider position in the town and her gender reality in the society.The intra-diegetic narrator represents the internal world the women experience: their struggling,suffering and self-questing.The third part discusses the open-ending narrative structure.Another unique skill Munro employs in Runaway is open ending.Munro never offers solutions and conclusions,leaving some space for the reader to reflect.The reason for open ending is also that life is uncertain and mysterious,according to Munro’s view.Munro’s narrative art lies in her unique way of telling the story.And this kind of storytelling makes Munro’s fiction and characters sophisticated and attractive.