Discuss the characters in "An Ounce of Cure" by Alice Munro.

The first love is hard to get over especially when the love is not reciprocated.  Alice Munro’s “An Ounce of Cure” describes a teenager’s reaction to being dumped by her first boyfriend. How the main character handles her problem is the crux of the story.

Setting

The setting of the story is a small town in the 1960s.  This town is conservative and does not promote alcohol.   The two primary setting are the main character’s home and the home in which she baby sits—the Berrymans. 

Narration

The narration is first person point of view. The narrator is the protagonist of the story: an unnamed teenage girl.  The story is told primarily as a flashback from the adult narrator.  As a result, the narrator can tell her story with playfulness, self-deprecation, detachment, and even fondness.  While the incident caused her genuine pain at the time, she has long since come to terms with it.  

 Summary

The protagonist has been dumped by Martin. She is forced to see him with his new girlfriend which adds to the pain that she is already experiencing.  Crying all the time, she decides to commit suicide; however, she stops after taking six aspirins.

Her mother does not help. Noticing that something is wrong with her daughter, the girl tells her what is wrong and the mother responds that it is a good thing that the broke up. 

The girl has to baby sit at the Berryman’s.  When they leave her, she feels such pain and loneliness.  The Berrymans are new to town, and they do drink. After putting on some moody, sad music, she decides to fix herself something to drink to kill the pain. She drinks a full glass of rye with an ounce of scotch.  In the beginning, she feels a little better.  Then, she becomes drunk and starts vomiting all over the bathroom, herself, and the new rug.

Realizing that she needs help, she calls her friend to come over and help her. Her friend brings another girl and two guys with her.  The girls clean her up and place a blanket around her until her clothes dry.  The Berrymans come home early and discover the situation.  The narrator tells the Berrymans everything including the suicide attempt.   They fire the narrator immediately.

Oh, no, Mr. Berryman I beg of you, my mother is a terribly nervous person I don't know what the shock might do to her. I will go down on my knees to you if you like but you must not phone my mother...

Mr. Berryman drives her home and tells her that she has to tell her mother or he will.

When she walks in the door, she falls to her knees.  Finally, she tells her mother everything that has happened.  After her initial shock and “cry of pure amazement,” the mother handles the situation rather coolly.  She seems to accept some of the responsibility, perhaps believing she has been too absent from a daughter’s life—she only heard about all the events the night of the drunkenness, and she believes that she had made “a great mistake” letting her daughter date.  

Everyone in school knows about the incident; the narrator now is ostracized by everyone for a while until another student does something stupid.  The episode is one of those revealing and embarrassing moments in teenage life when the person is forced to confront how unsophisticated and how self-absorbed he is. 

The last incident in the story occurs when the narrator comes back after college, marriage, and children.  She returns home for a funeral.  Martin is the undertaker.  They exchange knowing looks. 

What is the plot of "An Ounce of Cure" by Alice Munro?

What happens when a girl gets dumped?  This is the problem faced by the main character in Alice Munro’s “An Ounce of Cure.”  The narration is first person point of view with the protagonist, an unnamed teenager, serving as the narrator.

Exposition-

The setting is a conservative southern town in 1960s.  The town does not really like drinking.  When the narrator was in the seventh grade, she signed an alcohol abstinence pledge.  Her mother never drinks and her father has an occasional beer outside of the house.  Surprisingly, almost no teens drink either.

The narrator babysits and has been labeled as really reliable.  She primarily babysits for some new people in town who do keep alcohol in their house.

Rising Action

At the beginning of the school year, the narrator goes crazy about a boy named Martin.  She thinks of him as her Prince Charming.  He gives her the “first kiss.” In two months, he dumps her for another girl.

The narrator is heartbroken.  She cries and thinks about him constantly.  One night, she tries a half-hearted suicide attempt. She takes six pills and stops.  Each pill represented her feelings: sorrow, anguish, depression, heartbreak, confusion, and frustration.   Mom notices something is wrong.  She tells her mother about Martin. Without thinking about the daughter’s feelings, she just tells the narrator that it was for the best. 

The Conflict Intensifies

The next weekend, the narrator babysits for the new people, the Berrymans.  She spots the alcohol in the kitchen.  It is like a hidden treasure that might help her heart.  She pours  a glass full of vodka with a half ounce of scotch.  She drinks the entire thing and is satisfied that it has helped ease the hurt. Of course, then it hits her.

The Climax

She is drunk.  She vomits everywhere including on the new rug and herself.  She has friends come over who help her.  The Berrymans come home early, and she is fired on the spot.  She tells the Berrymans everything from the boy to the suicide attempt to the drinking to the throwing up. 

The Falling Action

Mr. Berryman takes her home and makes her tell her mother everything.  Her mother tells a friend and all of the narrator’s friends tell their friends.  By Monday morning, the narrator has earned a new reputation which makes it sound like she is totally irresponsible and sinful.  The incident changes her.

Resolution

In the end, she forgets about Martin.  What changes her?  It was the reality of the situation. If what happened to her happened at parties, it was not worth it. 

I had had a glimpse of the shameless, marvellous, shattering absurdity with which the plot of life, though not of fiction, improvises.  I could not take my eyes off it.  I suffered a great deal from all of the exposure.

The girl goes off to college and gets married. She comes back home for a funeral. Martin has become an undertaker.  They see each other and give each other a knowing smile.

The narrator is a dynamic character.  As the story evolves, she changes and matures after her horrible drinking experience.  She faces the problem of accepting who she is and learning to live in the present and make good choices.  She is able to survive that Saturday night and make a new beginning.