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Thirty-four years ago Alice Munro published a short story entitled “How I Met My Husband”. Though Munro is a highly published author, this story is as unique as the others she has written in the past. As this story progresses, the naivety of the main character and narrator, Edie, becomes apparent. This naivety is consistent throughout the entire context of “How I Met My Husband”. When portraying Edie as naïve, Munro concurred with the general sense of the word, while staying original in every way. Despite the fact that there are many other elements in this story, the tone of youthfulness and inexperience is never once lost, thus keeping naivety as one of the more powerful elements in “How I Met My Husband”.

As one goes through life it becomes apparent that one will meet many different sorts of people. These people can be divided into two categories; people who are experienced and knowledgeable with the ways of the world, and those who are not. Those who are unaware of their surroundings are, more often than not, labeled as naïve. When examining Munro’s “How I Met My Husband” it is obvious that the most naïve character is Edie. Alice Kelling also proves to be quite ignorant, and is not ranked far behind. Both characters are so smitten that they eventually become oblivious to the reality of their situations. Thus, both women are looking for love and paying in naivety. The general clueless behavior begins during the first few pages of the story. This behaviour ends only in the concluding paragraphs of Munro’s narrative.

Growing up occurs in stages. People grow at individual rates, gain different experiences at different times in their lives, and develop their own characteristics. The main character and narrator of “How I Met My Husband” is said to be fifteen years of age. Edie is unaware of her surroundings and not yet accustomed to the ways of the world. She reacts to certain situations with certain innocence when compared other...