Alice Munro’s “Walker Brothers Cowboy” tells a story of a family who has fallen hard on their luck, and their subsequent actions following. The story begins with the narrator and her father taking a walk, and later reveals the current job change the father is undergoing. The father used to sell silver foxes, but is now a traveling salesman of sorts due to owing everything the family had to the feed company.
The daughter/ narrator seems to still think very highly of her father despite his job downgrade. She is very descriptive in the way she speaks about her father’s new job, which gives off a tone of acceptance. She even makes note of her dad’s song in which he sings while trying to sell certain things. Following her seemingly knowledgeable and accepting tone of her fathers new career, she delves into her mothers side.
The mother’s new life following the father’s career change is very different. This is where readers get the theme of rejection. The mother seems to be stuck in past, which greatly contrasts with her daughter who is very aware of the new circumstance’s the family is in. The mother is very nostalgic, and speaks of the times before even her son was born. She is seen saying, “Do you remember” several times, showing her lack of acceptance for their new life. This portrays the mother in a somewhat immature way, and elevates the narrator to an even more mature persona because of their differences.
The narrator and her brother can then be seen going with their dad while he is working. This seems to isolate their mother even more, along with her aloofness to the family’s situation. The narrator, her brother, and their father all seem to be moving forward together, both literally in their trip with the father to sell his goods, and figuratively in the sense the kids are supportive of their father, unlike the mother.
The later half of the book, however; does show the mother is not the only one clinging to the past. There is the introduction of Nora, who appears to be an old flame of the father’s. She is very opposite of the mother, and brings the father a lot of joy. While he is undergoing all these changes in his life, he too tries to cling to the past of his old love.
The daughter seems to be the only one aware of the present day, and is accepting of it. The ending scene of the family (excluding the mother) in the car on their way back home shows a lot about the daughter and her awareness. She realizes there are things that are not to be said at home, but she also realizes all the things in her dad’s life and does not comment about them in a positive or negative way, more of just an accepting “this is how it is” way.
The parental figures, which typically are shown to be more of a voice of reason, are the backbone for the “lack of acceptance” and nostalgic themes. The daughter portrays clarity, and accepts everything that has happened in her life, with every member of the family. Her observing nature make’s her stand out in this story, and is the backbone for the contrast of acceptance in this short story. Additionally, her perception seem’s to also lead into a tone of isolation in which she feels for being the only one to accept the present.
Works Cited
Munro, Alice. “Walker Brothers Cowboy.” The Norton Anthology of World Literature. Vol. F. New York: Norton, 2002. 913-23. Print.
jessekeener 