How I Met My Husband

“How I Met My Husband” Theme

Sabrina Moured

ENG 125: Introduction to Literature

Instructor: Mary Louise Phillips Becker

Date: Sep 17, 2012

I remember reading all sorts of short stories when I was younger, learning the different lessons from the stories. The lesson of the story is basically the theme. The author uses a combination of literary elements to convey the theme. In the story “How I Met My Husband”, by Alice Munro, the theme was a little difficult to figure out. After rereading, decoding, and researching the story, I came to the conclusion that the theme is hoping for true love. I will be explaining how Munro uses plot, point of view, and symbolism to describe the theme of the story.

The plot of a story describes a series of events that lead up to a climax, and eventually the down fall of a situation. In “How I Met My Husband” the plot starts off kind of slowly and speeds up around the middle. In the beginning we learn that Edie, the protagonist, is a hired girl for the Peebles family. She takes care of the children, cleans the house, and cooks for the family. One day, after she gets all dressed up in Ms. Peebles clothes, she goes downstairs and sees a man, Chris, outside the window. This is when all the action starts to occur. They have a small conversation, and Chris goes off to get his water. Edie is afraid that Chris will innocently tell the family about being dressed up so she goes and talks to him. Here is where the audience first gets a glimpse at, what we think, is the start of a true love. It seems as if Chris wants Edie to stay and talk to her longer, but she has to go and watch the children. Than Edie finds out that Chris has a fiancé, which comes as a surprise. When Ms. Peebles and Alice, Chris’ fiancée, go and have a picnic, Edie goes to tell Chris that about the picnic. Edie is sitting on the edge of Chris’s bed and he starts to kiss her with “those little kisses so soft” and “laying back on the cot and pressed together just...