Introduction

Alice Munro's short story "Wild Swans" was first published in 1978 as part of a collection entitled Who Do You Think You Are? In the collection, Munro focuses on two women: protagonist Rose, who comes of age throughout the stories, and her stepmother, Flo. "Wild Swans" follows Rose's first trip away from her home in small-town Canada. She takes a train to Toronto to study at a university and is sexually assaulted by the male passenger who sits next to her. Before the train voyage, Flo warns Rose about all the dangerous characters Rose might encounter while traveling, but Rose experiences a strange sense of freedom due to the incident on the train. A Nobel Prize-winning author, Munro has been lauded for how she depicts and gives voice to women's internal lives and desires. 

Plot Summary

The story begins with Flo's ominous warnings to Rose about "White Slavers"—human traffickers who supposedly lure young women off trains. According to Flo, these criminals often use an old woman to drug their victim with candy, followed by a polite gentleman who pretends to offer help. Once off the train, the victim disappears, and after years of captivity, she will have forgotten her home entirely. Flo claims intimate knowledge of these dangers, warning Rose to beware of people disguised as ministers. Though Rose listens to these stories, she remains skeptical, imagining she could simply call the police if threatened. Flo, however, asserts that even the police are not to be trusted.

Rose leaves her town on a train to Toronto after winning a scholarship. Upon dropping her at the station, Flo tells the conductor that Rose has "never been away from home." As she watches "Flo receding," Rose relaxes. She recounts the items she'll need to buy in Toronto, including stockings for Flo and a depilatory for her legs. She dreams of buying new jewelry and clothes that "could transform her." 

A man takes the seat next to Rose and tries to make conversation; Rose wants to be polite but is also wary. The man claims to be "a United Church minister" but isn't dressed in any official garb. He tells Rose about how he saw "a whole great flock of swans" while he was driving in the country. Rose hesitates to respond because she doesn't want the man to start talking about religion. Replying with short, polite comments, Rose eventually faces the window.

The minister stretches out his newspaper, which seems to touch Rose's leg. She then realizes it's not the paper but the man's hand on her leg. Rose thinks about how she would like "to be somebody's object," as she considers her innermost sexual desires. In imagining this hand, she thinks she "created … a reality she was not prepared for at all." Rose clearly has no experience, having lived a relatively sheltered existence. She thinks about asking him not to touch her; however, Rose cannot say the words out loud. 

She looks over, and the man appears to be resting. She doesn't think to move the man's hand, and soon, despite feeling "resentful" and "trapped," she allows him to continue to move his hand up her leg. Rose feels not lust but "curiosity;" she wants "To see what will happen." She tells herself that if she keeps her legs tightly closed, "she could lay claim to innocence." However, she finds that her legs do open, and what the man does to her is both "Invasion, and welcome." She sees herself as both "Victim and accomplice." 

The man's touching continues as they travel for miles until the...