An Analysis of the Love Relationship in “Amundsen” Anonymous 9th Grade

“Maybe someday you’ll count this one of the luckiest days of your life”, Alister said (63). This quotation from one of the short stories, “Amundsen” in Alice Munro’s Dear Life, illustrates that Alister regards this tragic end of the relationship between Vivien and himself as the luckiest day of Vivien’s life. Vivien, a teacher working in a medical institution, had a love affair with Dr. Fox, also known as Alister, and ended up being hurt by Alister who broke his promise to marry her. The love relationship between them had been extremely ambiguous and imbalanced from the beginning. To maintain a steady relationship requires two people’s strong and resilient mentality. In terms of that, Vivien is the weaker partner. Self-doubt, insecurity, and inferiority are constantly seen in how Vivien describes a scenario or an event. “A dry-lipped kiss, brief and formal, set upon me with hasty authority” (51). She depicts the kiss initiated by Alister as a manifestation of power and ownership. “Now, whatever else I was, I at least might turn out to be a woman with a man” (52). Being a woman is not enough but being “a woman with a man” might make Vivien more valuable as she describes, “My stock had risen” (52). “Would he agree to my having a...