Defying Adult Assumptions about Female Sexuality

Fiona Thompson

In “Heirs of the Living Body” and “Lives of Girls and Women,” by Alice Munro, the young protagonist Del matures and begins to understand the difference between the fantasy of consensual sex and the harsh reality of nonconsensual sexual interactions. In the former story, Del’s child-like innocence does not allow her to recognize nor comprehend the trauma that her cousin, Mary Agnes, experiences from being sexually assaulted. In the latter story, Del is infatuated with the idea of sexual interactions, wanting to experience it in all of its “glory.”

However, when Del is sexually assaulted by a trusted male figure, the once innocent curiosity of sex is replaced by an event that is starkly inconsistent with the ideal she imagined. The comparison of Del as young child to becoming an adolescent woman portrays how her understanding of sex develops from an innocent idea to an unexpected reality, as well as how a similar trauma can manifest differently in individuals.

In “Heirs of the Living Body,” Del is a child, too young to consciously comprehend the realities of how unwanted sexual interactions can change a person’s life. The sexual assault of her cousin Mary Agnes is not revealed to the reader, who is left to surmise that it has occurred. Similarly, Del is unaware of that trauma that Mary Agnes has endured; however, she does recognize from a child-like perspective that “it would never be mentioned that there was anything the matter with Mary Agnes. And in fact there was not much the matter; she was almost like other people” (45). Her innocent lack of understanding causes Del to not recognize what her family members know - that Mary Agnes was sexually assaulted. In fact, Del is almost jealous of Mary Agnes who “was received with a more unmixed, and shining, confident affection” (45) from her family members. The reader is torn between wanting to show compassion for Del’s childlike desire to receive the same attention as her cousin, and awareness that no amount of attention will ever compensate for the impact of Mary Agnes’ trauma.

In“Lives of Girls and Women,” Del has matured into an adolescent woman with an eagerness regarding the idea of sexual interactions. Throughout her time in high school, she and her friend “held almost daily discussions on the subject of sex, but took one tone…[that was]... fanatically curious” (162). This curiosity is an identifying characteristic of Del, shifting from her curiosity of understanding why her cousin was more liked, to now having an insatiable interest in sex. Despite her maturation, her understanding of sex is still innocent, as she “liked to imagine [herself a] victim of passion” (162), which she fantasized as something glorious. This desire soon becomes a miserable reality when she experiences a predatory sexual interaction with a once-trusted male figure in her life - Mr. Chamberlain.

Mr. Chamberlain is the first person in Del’s life to give her the sexual interactions that she has been infatuated with; only with him, his actions are initially misunderstood by Del. When these interactions first begin, Del is excited to be touched by Mr. Chamberlain, viewing it more as a fun secret than a predatory act on a victim. These “fun secrets” quickly derail on Del’s drive home with Mr. Chamberlain when he writes on a piece of paper: “Del is a bad girl”(180). Her mindset changes from believing sex to be a freeing experience to now understanding what it is like to be the accused—though she had perpetrated no wrong. This triggers a mature and insightful response from Del as she notes: “Mr. Chamberlain assumed without any trouble at all that there was treachery in me, as well as criminal sensuality, waiting to be used” (180). This event is a major turning point in Del’s view on sex, as Del realizes that despite her victimization, she will be blamed for what has been nonconsensually done to her because of a predator’s justification of Del having a “criminal sensuality” within.

Del does not seem to be intensely traumatized by this assault, behaving in contrast to her cousin, Mary Agnes whose life was wrought with anxieties. In “Heirs of the Living Body,” Del can not imagine Mary Agnes “going into a store by herself, and buying something, going anywhere by herself; she had to be with her mother” (45). Although it is not explicitly stated, this apprehensive behavior seems to be a result of the sexual trauma that Mary Agnes has experienced. Unlike her older cousin, Del does not seem to personally carry the effects of the sexual assault of which she was a victim. Rather, in “Lives of Girls and Women,” Del seems to be more upset about how, in the world, “being female made you damageable” (194). Del has confronted the reality that Mary Agnes and herself are just two of the countless victims of sexual assault, and Del seems angry about being damageable. She does not want to be perceived as able to be hurt or weak, rather, she wants to do the same as men — “experience and shuck off what [she] didn’t want and come back proud” (194). Del uses her sexual assault as fuel for her desire to be as undamageable as men; her solution is to ensure she is not the victim again.

“Heirs of the Living Body” and “Lives of Girls and Women” show the development of Del from a child to a maturing adolescent who is beginning to understand how trauma manifests differently in the victims. At first, Del, due to her child-like naive nature, does not understand Mary Agnes’s experience. This naiveté develops into an infatuation with sex, but she still has a sense of innocence surrounding it. When she is sexually assaulted by Mr. Chamberlain, Del’s infatuation is replaced by the dark reality of being taken advantage of; however, the trauma manifests in a less visible way than her cousin. Mary Agnes responds to her sexual trauma by becoming hesitant and anxious in everyday situations, while Del responds to her sexual trauma by becoming an advocate for women, not wanting females to be inherently damageable. Neither Mary Agnes nor Del’s response to trauma is right or wrong, as it is not another’s position to judge how the impact of trauma should manifest in the victim.