Alice Munro

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What is the plot of Alice Munro's "The Found Boat"?

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In "The Found Boat," Alice Munro explores the relationship between genders, primarily between boys and girls. Earlier in their childhoods, the boys had all been friends, but as they got older the girls were no longer allowed to play with them because they were girls. Even after they find a boat and start to fix it up, the boys still make fun of the girls. However, once they go out on the water and have an adventure, the boys start taking them more seriously.

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"The Found Boat" is about a group of schoolchildren—two girls and three boys—who find a dilapidated boat in a river near their homes. The boys start out by ridiculing the girls and making fun of them. When the girls find the boat, however, the boys start to take them more seriously.

The girls are allowed to watch as the boys fix up the boat, and later, they are even allowed to help out in the process. Once the boat is ready to go on the water, all five children head out to try it out.

A visit to an abandoned train station and a game of "Truth or Dare" result in all five children ending up naked in a coming-of-age scene. While this scene is not overtly sexual in nature, innuendo is created by one of the boys spitting water onto one of the girls' breasts, and it is implied...

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that life will never be quite the same for the girls after finding the boat.

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