Characters
Nora Cronin
Nora is a former girlfriend of the narrator’s father. She resides with her aging, blind mother in a farmhouse. Despite never marrying—a fact that brings her some bitterness—Nora still exhibits a lively spirit. She engages cheerfully in conversation and enjoys dancing with her guests. Nora stands out from the people the narrator typically encounters; for one, she is Catholic. Nonetheless, the narrator feels a connection to her, despite Nora’s somewhat rough appearance, marked by excessive sweating, a fleshy bosom, and dark hair above her lip.
The Father
See Ben Jordan
Ben Jordan
The narrator’s father strives to keep his family’s spirits high, even amid their recent financial struggles. His perseverance is evident in how he clung to the family’s fox farm until it was no longer feasible. Now, he channels that same determination into his new role as a "pedlar." He creates songs to entertain himself and embellishes his job experiences—including the unpleasant ones—to make his family laugh. His visit to Nora indicates that he, like his wife, is drawn to the past.
Mrs. Jordan
The mother frequently voices her dissatisfaction with the current state of her family. She criticizes her husband’s job, forbids her children from playing with the neighbors, and generally sees nothing redeeming in their present life. She lives in the past, reminiscing about more peaceful and prosperous times, and tries to involve her daughter in these memories. The mother also resists finding joy in her current life, despite occasionally laughing at her husband’s humorous stories about his sales calls.
The Mother
See Mrs. Jordan
The Narrator
The narrator is a preadolescent girl living with her father, mother, and younger brother. She shows a maturity beyond her years, being both responsible and perceptive. She keenly observes the subtleties in words and expressions, using this awareness to better understand those around her.
The narrator shares a close, trusting relationship with her father. She learns valuable lessons from him, even while recognizing his significant economic failures. In contrast, she has a more strained relationship with her mother. She sees through her mother’s pretenses and feels embarrassed by them, leading to a lack of respect. As a result, she resists her mother’s attempts to form a bond and instead empathizes with her father and his values.
The narrator’s interactions with people outside her family are not detailed in the story. However, it appears she is somewhat isolated from her peers, partly due to her mother’s snobbishness and her own maturity.
Themes and Characters
With straightforward clarity, Munro illustrates how the external world starts to infiltrate the life of a young girl. In "Walker Brothers Cowboy," the story follows a young, unnamed narrator as she joins her father, a traveling salesman, on a day that begins with a walk to town and ends at the home of an old acquaintance named Nora. Despite the brevity of the story, readers gain a deep understanding of the characters, particularly the narrator, her father, and Nora.
The narrator is highly perceptive, yet she takes her time in recounting her experiences, often pausing to reflect on her life more broadly. From the beginning, it is evident that she is on the cusp of adolescence. In the first paragraph, we learn that she leaves her mother in the middle of a dress fitting to take a walk to the lake with her father. She mentions that her clothes are made from hand-me-downs and mismatched items, and she feels "ungrateful" for her mother's efforts and the irritation of itchy wool. She describes this...
(This entire section contains 1357 words.)
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experience as a kind of ritual, noting how her brother sometimes kneels in bed a certain way and calls out for an ice cream cone, indicating that she is beginning to outgrow her role as a child in her mother's care. Though she still follows her mother's instructions, her mind is opening to external influences.
Throughout the story, the narrator undergoes a subtle emotional transformation, largely influenced by her experiences with her father. She joins him on his sales trip with some reluctance, knowing it will involve long drives on dusty, unpaved roads and waiting in the car while her father visits various farmhouses with his suitcases full of Walker Brothers products. However, when they arrive at Nora's house, which is not on her father's usual route, the children are allowed out of the car. As her father reconnects with Nora, the narrator becomes increasingly bold. While she previously never interacted with the people of Tuppertown and stayed in the car during her father's sales calls, at Nora's house, she steps out of the car and enters the home, encountering an elderly blind woman.
Blind! This is the first blind person I have ever seen up close. Her eyes are closed, the eyelids sunken down, revealing no shape of the eyeball, just hollows. From one hollow, a drop of silver liquid emerges—a medicine, or perhaps a miraculous tear.
She immerses herself in the new experience, observing the blind woman as she might scrutinize a new puppy. Later, she explores the rooms of Nora's house, absorbing everything intensely, letting her preconceived notions merge with the fresh experiences she encounters. She notices pictures of Mary on the wall, infers that Nora is likely Roman Catholic, and recalls the phrases her grandmother and aunt used to describe Roman Catholics. "So-and-so digs with the wrong foot," they would say. "She digs with the wrong foot." That was their comment about Nora.
A few minutes later, she watches Nora pour drinks for herself and the narrator's father. This moment, along with the narrator's reaction, marks a significant turning point. It is here that the narrator consciously chooses to understand from an adult perspective.
She and my father drink, and I know what it is. Whisky. One of the things my mother has told me in our conversations is that my father never drinks whisky. But I see he does. He drinks whisky and talks about people whose names I have never heard before.
The narrator suddenly realizes that her father has an entire life beyond their family and his relationship with her mother. She begins to understand that her father is a complex individual. She has already recognized his imperfections, noting his failures in the fox farm business and as a traveling salesman. But now, she starts to see his human side and, instead of judging him, her loyalty to him deepens. He does not ask her to keep the day's events from her mother, but she independently decides to do so. Simultaneously, the narrator starts to view the world from an increasingly broader perspective. She reflects on her grandmother's prejudiced words and thinks, "She digs with the wrong foot," finding the words sadder and more perverse than ever before. She has danced with Nora, "wrapped in her strange gaiety, her scent of whisky, cologne, and sweat," witnessed her father drinking whisky, and been treated with respect and equality by an adult, all of which have changed her.
The narrator's father, Ben Jordan, has lost his farm and now supports his wife and two young children by working as a traveling salesman. Despite the thanklessness of slammed doors and hostile dogs, he performs his job with evident charm, reflecting a deep loyalty to his family.
Through dialogue and the narrator's perspective, the reader forms a vivid image of her father: a composed man, resolute in facing any challenges with optimism. He is always joking with his children and shows immense patience with his wife, who is often sighing and lamenting their financial downfall. When she grumbles about her situation and refuses an invitation to go for a drive, the father suggests taking the children instead, giving her some time to rest. He is mindful of her sensitivities and instructs the children not to share certain things with her, such as crude stories and the off-color songs he sings to them about his work.
Despite his benevolent exterior, there are clear signs of discontent within him. While he refrains from sharing his coarser jokes with his wife, they remain a part of his humor, hinting that he and his wife struggle to connect as friends. Furthermore, on the day he joyfully takes the children out, he drives to the home of his former lover, Nora. There, he reveals a side of himself his daughter has never witnessed, especially not around her mother. He drinks whiskey, shares stories he would never tell his wife, and laughs freely. However, he draws the line when Nora asks him to dance. When he declines, she comments that she always thought he was a good dancer. He responds that she wouldn't think so now, implying that dancing and such revelry are relics of his past. Nora addresses him by name, and he quietly responds, "Not me, Nora," with his head lowered. It's acceptable for his children to dance with Nora, but for him, it would violate his principles. When Nora stops the music, the joyful atmosphere abruptly ends, and the father gathers his children into their old car and drives home.
Nora plays a crucial role in the story, subtly sparking a sexual awakening in the narrator. The narrator observes the rise and fall of Nora's chest as she eagerly waits for the father to dance with her and sees the years of unfulfilled love in her eyes when they leave. As the narrator dances with Nora, it momentarily feels as though Nora is stepping into the role of wife and mother.
We danced around the linoleum, my pride evident, while Nora laughed and moved with remarkable energy. She enveloped me in her unique joy, damp with sweat, small droplets forming along her upper lip and clinging to the soft black hairs at the corners of her mouth. She spun me around in front of my father...
The narrator keenly observes every interaction between her father and Nora, soaking in their camaraderie and attraction without explicitly naming it. Nora is a marvel to the narrator, even though "she digs with the wrong foot." Initially, the traits that set Nora apart from the narrator's mother are intimidating, but they quickly become endearing. Through Nora, the narrator gains a deep understanding of tolerance and compassion. All her descriptions of Nora are filled with a captivating blend of unattractiveness and lively energy. Nora "step[s] heavily on Cuban heels," has "heavy arms," and drinks whiskey. She speaks "cheerfully and aggressively." Yet, she shows interest in the children, includes them in conversations, and proudly talks to the narrator about her father's abilities. Nora's presence profoundly impacts the narrator, altering her perspective on both her father and the world.
