"How I Met My Husband"

“How I Met My Husband” by Alice Munro

Question #4

Edie is a sympathetic character through moments in the story of her being innocent and naïve. One instance where sympathy towards Edie is portrayed is when Alice Kelling interrogates Edie about seeing Chris Watters. “ ‘I’m wondering, if you knowwhat being intimate means. Now tell me. What did you think it meant?’ ‘Kissing,’ I howled,”(Munro, 144). Edie’s meaning of the word intimate is much more innocent than everyone else’s meaning of intimate. This example reveals Edie’s being naïve as society views intimate as more than kissing. The fact that Edie is a farm girl and has not been exposed to society evokes more sympathy in this situation. Moreover, being the help and farm girl adds to her naïve and innocent character. Another example in this short story is Edie waiting to receive a letter from Chris for a very long time. “It never crossed my mind for a long time a letter might not come,”(Munro, 145). She was unable to recognize through her innocence that Chris would forget about her. He had never settled down and did not keep his commitment to Alice.