Wild Swans Essay

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Dallas Camp Dr. Trotter Eng 101-019 30 Jun 2013 Analysis of the short story “Wild Swans” This short story “Wild Swans” is about a young woman named Rose who takes an adventurous, yet awkward, train ride from the small town of West Hanratty, Canada to the metropolitan city of Toronto. Her stepmother Flo, owns a small store and knows a little bit about everybody in their town and seems to have an opinion about everything. Flo once worked in Toronto and tells Rose of a man getting his stomach cut open and whores fighting aimlessly, but Rose’s biggest concern should be the white slavers on the train. These white slavers offer young woman drugged candy and with the help of an accomplice, whisk the young lady’s off the train and into a life of drugs and prostitution. These stories of Flo’s keep Rose’s mind wondering what to expect on the train ride and again when she arrives in Toronto. Rose doesn’t have the best self esteem as she is always concerned with what people think of her. She often fantasizes about older men in her hometown and these experiences carry with her onto the train ride. Rose is a very shy young woman who is concerned about her appearance and what others will derive from it. The purpose of her trip to Toronto is to acquire some different things for herself and a few things for Flo, mostly cosmetics and toiletries. Munro shows us Rose’s self image, or lack thereof, when she states, “for herself Rose wanted to buy hair-remover to put on her arms and legs and if possible, an arrangement of inflatable cushions, suppose to reduce your hips and thighs.” She is obviously concerned with her appearance as she is trying to remove body hair and slim down her mid-section. When Rose drinks chocolate milk on the train, she notices it’s sour, but she is unwilling to say anything to the cart man from which it came. Probably for fear that he will think she is a
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