FACE

Critical Analysis:

“Face" is one of the best story by Alice Munro.

What makes it different from others is In

“Face” Alice Munro makes one of her best

detours into the past to contemplate on the

present. It is quite similar as "karma". She

focuses on the quite complex effects that a

childhood event can have on adult life.

This story is very touchy though.

1) The story begins with a father’s dramatic

rejection of his newly born son because of a

birthmark covering the right side of the baby’s

face. The father was not happy with the boy

his wife had given birth to just because of

natural birthmark. Which one can not control

over it. It is totally natural. The boy grows up

facing the extreme polarity of his father’s

resentment and his mother’s devotion. His

father didn't like him even a bit and was quite

opposite of him every time. However, this

potential psychological trauma is not the focus

of the narrative. As the story progresses, the

narrator gives a rather standoffish tale of his

whole life, which appears to be an ordinary life

of an actor. But, he was totally living a normal

life. Yet, the dramatic turn in the story does not

involve anything from his family-life, nor his

career. The narrative energy is concentrated in

a freakish event that occurs in the middle of a

serious game acted out with a neighbor

playmate. Even though the boy does not

understand the full meaning of this event it has

a remarkable significance for him as an adult.

2) Munro uses emotionally restrained

language to deals with heart-breaking

revelations. For long jinx stretches, the story is

restricted to the surface details of things, but

when the narrator starts talking about the

event, what he has “come to think of as the

Great Drama” of his life, he becomes

vulnerable to his own romantic interpretation of

it, and even to an excessive dramatization.

Since this is ultimately a story about the

possibility of love, Munro balances the

unbelievable illusion of being destined for a

romantic love with the unnatural and

uncontrollable accidents, which pattern

behavior with a strong sense of fate. As a

reader we may choose to be weak to the

protagonist’s way of handling his sense of fate,

or you may not. The story is full of emotions,

love, hate and message. Apart from it, well

written and a masterpiece by Alice Munro.

Bibliography:

Pandey, Dr. Sanjay Prasad. “Beauty: Illusion or Reality.” The Achievers Journal 1.1. (2015) .pag. web <theachieversjournal.com>

By- Mamoon Rasheed

Reg. -11405133