Walker Brothers Cowboy

Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1972

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Background

Story Analysis

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Literary Devices

Important Quotes

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Literary Devices

Chronology

The chronology of a narrative denotes the order of events, or the sequence of the plot. Alice Munro is well-known for complicating the chronology of her short stories, a literary technique that was common in novels before it came to be used frequently in the short story genre as well. This is one of the many ways in which Munro has proven herself to be a pioneer of the short story genre.

In “Walker Brothers Cowboy,” the events don’t unfold in sequential order as the characters experienced them. The story opens with a walk after supper one evening. Then, as the narrator is describing her home and family, the story slides seamlessly into the description of the main action of the story—the afternoon drive to visit Nora Cronin. It is unclear if that drive was earlier the same day or on a different day in the recent past. This literary technique reinforces the story’s thematic interest in memory and the past. It also adds verisimilitude to the narrative, as the progression of the story feels natural and conversational, rather than strictly structured.

Setting

In some literary works, the setting is simply the place where the story happens, and one setting is often as good as another. However, in “Walker Brothers Cowboy” and many of Munro’s other writings, the setting significantly influences the plot and the characters. The setting of “Walker Brothers Cowboy” is rural Ontario, Canada, on the shore of Lake Huron, and the story explores the impacts of the Great Depression on that specific community. Both the place and the time provide important context for the events of the story, as the protagonist’s home life and the dynamic in their community are central triggers for the tensions between the characters and for their internal conflicts as well.

Lake Huron is a feature of the story’s setting and is also an important symbol, for it represents the narrator’s concept of home. Mistakenly viewing the lake itself as an unchanging constant in the world, the protagonist holds a child-like desire for her home and family to be just as simple and constant. However, when Ben Jordan’s descriptions of the lake’s birth reveal it to be a volatile and ancient landmark, the protagonist is forced to consider the true complexity of reality and the inevitability of change. In this way, the lake and the broader setting play a significant role in developing the theme of The Disillusionment of Fading Childhood.

Naming

Names often provide crucial information about a character’s background, offering hints as to their larger role in the narrative. In “Walker Brothers Cowboy,” Munro names only two of the characters, Ben and Nora. The mother and brother, while significant to the story, are only seen in the context of their relationship to the protagonist, and with the exception of Ben, the names of the Jordan family are never revealed. Since names and identities are inextricably linked, the lack of a name for the protagonist implies that the issue of her self-identity is one that she has not yet solved. Discovering one’s own identity is a classic trope in coming-of-age stories.

Assigning names to only two characters places the narrative emphasis on these characters alone. As a result, Ben and Nora become far more realistic and rounded than the unnamed characters, causing them to seem livelier and more relatable than the other characters. By naming these two, Munro declares their significance to the inner transformation that the protagonist undergoes. In some ways, Ben is given two names: his proper name and the nickname “Walker Brothers Cowboy.” Of course, he shares this second name within the story itself, further underscoring his importance at the heart of the story.

Conversational Style

Munro writes in a conversational style, using patterns of language and diction that are more often found in spoken conversation than in written literature. This conversational style becomes apparent in moments of authorial intrusion, when the voice of the author (or perhaps of the older, more mature narrator who is remembering this story) comments on the 1930s and how that era stands out in her memory (Paragraph 22). The narrator also poses rhetorical questions that reflect her thoughts in the moment, such as when she articulates her annoyance at her father’s attempt to give her mother a rest from taking care of the children: “What is there about us that people need to be given rest from? Never mind” (Paragraph 17).

The conversational style is also evident in the patterns of language and syntax, which is casual, full of sentence fragments, and makes use of asides. A prime example occurs in the narrator’s descriptions of her town, for she states, “This is in Tuppertown, an old town on Lake Huron, an old grain port” (Paragraph 2), and these straightforward details reflect a clumsy, almost rambling style that evokes the sense of someone who is speaking spontaneously rather than writing something down. Just like the fluid chronology of the story, the conversational style adds to the sense of verisimilitude, for the narrative style reflects that of a person who is casually talking about their memories. This technique renders the story just as impactful as a true story would be, for the narrative is aided by the similarities between many of the details in the story and the experiences of Munro’s own life.