Significance Of The Biblical Elements In Alice Munro's Fiction

As a famous Canadian woman writer and the winner of 2013 Nobel Prize for literature,Alice Munro and her works have been studied by more and more scholars in the world.However,a majority of foreign and domestic studies on Munro focus on feminist and narrative perspectives.There are not ample studies from a religious perspective.Therefore,this thesis aims to study Munro's fiction from a biblical/Christian perspective for biblical elements are reflected in some of Munro's short stories.The short stories I select for specimens of Munro's fiction are "Chance," "Soon," "Silence," "Friend of My Youth," and "The Progress of Love.”The reason why I choose these five stories is that they are decorated with intriguing biblical elements that share some similarities and differences.The case in one story can enlighten the case in the other,thus enabling me to draw relatively valid conclusions.I aim to detect significance of the biblical elements in Munro's fiction by studying these specimens in the hope of enriching Munro studies from a new perspective.This thesis adopts the theory of typology and biblical hermeneutics put forward by Northrop Fyre,a famous Canadian literary theorist.According to Fyre's theory in Anatomy of Criticism and The Great Code:The Bible and Literature,the Bible seen as a literary work has been affecting the imagination of Western literature.The term typology is defined as a figure of speech that moves in time.The type prefigures the antitype.Either type or antitype may be a person,thing or event.The biblical motif of sin and salvation,with its U-shaped narrative pattern,parallels in Munro's stories.What's more,Fyre divides imagery in the Bible into apocalyptic type and demonic type.Jesus Christ is a type in Fyre's category of apocalyptic imagery,and antichrist is a type in his category of demonic imagery.Both the antitype of Jesus Christ and antichrist are found in Munro's fiction,and they reflect the disagreement between the sacred and the secular,thus indicating the authorial attitude toward faith problemsThe motif of salvation is explored in the novella composed of "Chance," "Soon," and"Silence." The protagonist Juliet's radically feminist practice leads to a chain of unhappiness,making her life go downward.Juliet's salvation lies in repentance,through which she is redeemed and ascends to the former position of knowledge.Juliet's life trajectory follows the U-shaped pattern.Biblical elements in the novella are significant in creating a rebellious and repentant image of Juliet.Through the novella,Munro seems to express that a radically feminist protest of traditional Christian values may lead to adversities and unhappiness in real life.In "Friend of My Youth," the Calvinist Flora is the antitype of Jesus Christ and a character of apocalyptic type for she shows religious purity.Flora's religious purity is characterized by her cleanliness in her attitude toward sexuality,her forgiveness of sins,her love,and her adherence to religion.In contrast,the nurse Atkinson who looks after Flora's sister Ellie is the antitype of antichrist and a character of demonic type for she emanates impurity,like a devil and an enemy of Flora.Atkinson's impurity is characterized by her greed,being short of affection,and her defilement.Through telling the story.Munro expresses her pity for Flora's being crudely restricted by Christian dogma and her inability to pursue a physically satisfying life.Munro also conveys her appreciation of Flora's equanimity and optimism,as virtues bestowed by her religion.In "The Progress of Love," the Anglican Marietta is the antitype of Jesus Christ and a character of apocalyptic type for she has great religious piety.Marietta's religious piety is confirmed by her communication with God,her faith in God and in Christian doctrines such as love and marital loyalty.In contrast,her sister Beryl is the antitype of antichrist and a character of demonic type for she reflects profanity and brings about a collision with Marietta.Beryl stands in opposite to Marietta as she values truth over emotion,short on affection and obsessed with secular wealth and pleasures.Through telling the story,Munro exalts the positive effect Christianity has on humanity in making the graceful and elegant image of Marietta.She also expresses that faith-based marriage can bring about peace and love,which is good for children's mental health in the family.This is an enlightening moral in consideration of Juliet's case in "Chance," "Soon," and"Silence."All in all this thesis explores Fyre's typology of characters and narratives in the chosen stories.By textual analysis in light of biblical hermeneutics,Christian thoughts and values are revealed in the stories and I find that Munro holds a neutral attitude to region.The moral drawn from Munro's realistic storytelling is that women should avoid going to extremes in religious matters.They should neither blindly believe in religion nor repel it radically.Instead,they had better hold a neutral stance in their attitude toward the disagreement between the sacred and the secular.