Discuss the characters in "An Ounce of Cure" by Alice Munro.

“An Ounce of Cure” by Alice Munro explores the theme of
growing up in 1960s America as a teenage girl.  Teenagers have choices to make as they
become more independent from their parents and forget that for each choice that is made
there is a consequence.

The narrator of the story is an
unnamed fifteen year old girl who has been reliable and respectful toward her
responsibilities. She and her mother are the primary characters in the
story.

The
mother

The mother in the story would be
considered a flat character.The narrator describes her mother as “forthright and
unemotional.” The mother’s primary concern is alcohol.  She does not drink, nor do her
friends drink.     

The narrator’s mother has given the
girl the impression and that she does not have a lot of confidence in how she will be
when she grows up. In addition, the mother uses quotations and platitudes to make her
points. Even when the girl has been dumped by her boyfriend, it takes a while for the
mother to notice that there is something wrong.  When the narrator tells her what has
happened, the mother states:

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Well so much the better for that. I never saw a
boy so stuck on himself.

The
mother does help her daughter when she comes home after the incident.  She buys a
replacement bottle of liquor in another town and brings it back to the Berrymans.  Then,
she explains that her daughter is backward in her emotional development. 
  

The
protagonist

The narrator of the story is an
unnamed fifteen year old girl who has been reliable and respectful toward her parents
and responsibilities. The protagonist is a round character. The story is told as a
flashback by the adult narrator. 

 Throughout the story,
she encounters many situations that require the right decision.  It is true that a
person has to make their own mistakes, but several times, with no adult information and
a lack of mother /daughter communication, the narrator struggles to know what to do.  No
other children are mentioned in the story, so she does not have siblings with which to
discuss problems.  She is naïve and sometimes a little
dramatic.

The events that she experiences are emotionally
devastating to a teenage girl:

•  Falls for Martin
  and receives her first kiss 


• Martin drops her for another
  girl in the drama class 


• Makes a suicide attempt with six
  aspirins


• Goes to babysit the Berryman
  children


• Decides to drink a full glass of rye and with
  scotch mixed into the drink


• Throws up on herself and all
  over the bathroom


• Calls a friend to
  help 


• Washes her clothes and cleans up the
  bathroom


• Berrymans home early
   


• Fire her and take her
  home


• Tells her mother
  everything.

The incident was irresponsible
since she did have children that she was to be watching. The entire school knows of the
situation. For a while, she is labeled as the bad girl; however, she
survives. 

She is forced to grow up by her mother ensuring
that she faces the consequences of her actions. She regretted what she did and moved on
from the mistakes she made.

It is human nature to look for
a way to kill the pain that one experiences.  The narrator’s “ounce of cure” turned out
to be a difficult experience, and yet it did change the girl and helped her
mature.

The character did what she thought would give her a
particular effect, but she did not necessarily get that, instead she gained knowledge
and growth in the process.  The author showed how a teenage girl moves from being an
observant in life to a participant.