31 pages • 1 hour read
Alice MunroWalker Brothers Cowboy
Fiction | Short Story | Adult | Published in 1972A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Symbols & Motifs
The Lake
The omnipresent Lake Huron plays a profound role in the story, for it is a symbol of the narrator’s idea of home. The girl has always lived near the lake; both the family’s previous home and their new home are close to it. As such, the lake has been a constant in her life. The lake therefore represents the narrator’s unquestioning belief in the stability of her home and family. The lake is also associated with Ben Jordan and with the idea of constancy. This connection becomes apparent in his whimsical opening invitation to walk to the lake and see if it is still there.
However, the initial image of the lake as an avatar of constancy is soon challenged when Ben explains how the lake was formed. As the protagonist struggles to envision the massive changes of the landscape amid the vastness of geological time, the author advances the theme of The Disillusionment of Fading Childhood, for the narrator struggles to comprehend the idea that the lake was created and has not always existed. Just as the story opens on the lake, it closes there as well. Now that the protagonist has experienced her shift in perspective, the way the lake is described also shifts. In the ending lines of the story, the lake is associated with seasonality, overcast skies, and a weather pattern that is “nearly always” there rather than “always” remaining the same.
Music
The motif of music is associated with Ben and highlights his habit of using humor to ease pain and forge connections. This motif also implies the hidden depths of his past relationship with Nora Cronin. The very title of the story reflects the title of Ben’s whimsical driving song, “Walker Brothers Cowboy,” which is a gently self-deprecating song that Ben sings to entertain himself and his children as he drives from door to door in search of sales. There is a warmth and humor to the song, which resonates with Ben’s characterization and helps to develop the theme of Finding Solace in Companionship.
The other notable instance of music in the story is the song that Nora plays on the gramophone while the Jordans are visiting her house: “Whispering while you cuddle near me. Whispering where no one can hear me…” (Paragraph 84) are the lyrics to the song. There is “buoyancy,” “strange gaiety,” and “laughter” (Paragraph 85) while they dance to the song, and the lyrics emphasize the undercurrent of tension in the scene as The Bittersweet Effects of Nostalgia raise the significance of this moment to something more than just a simple visit between old friends.
Clothing
The motif of clothing underscores the ways in which different characters choose to present themselves to the world, as well as how they relate to other people. This motif is therefore connected to the theme of Finding Solace in Companionship, or, as with the narrator’s mother, actively avoiding such companionship out of misplaced pride. The outfit that the mother chooses to wear to walk to the grocery is “a good dress, navy blue with little flowers [… also] a summer hat of white straw” (Paragraph 8). In this dark dress, the mother “walks serenely like a lady shopping” (Paragraph 8), creating a contrived persona that is proud and detached from the people around her. There is a stiffness associated with this outfit, which is also reflected in the uncomfortable clothes that she makes her daughter wear in order to complete the image of faux affluence.
Nora’s attire stands in sharp contrast to the mother’s approach to appearances, for when she changes into a nice dress to welcome Ben into her house, her chosen attire is colorful and lavish by comparison. Significantly, Nora puts this dress on to stay inside the house with Ben and the children, rather than putting it on to go out in public. Thus, while the mother chooses her clothes to set herself apart from others, Nora chooses her clothes to make her guests feel special and to stir up personal memories.
Related Titles
By Alice Munro
