Gender Roles in Society
...een watching the local boys swim under a tunnel that was under the water. Jerry, then one day decides to go to the “wild beach” where boys are yelling, running around wildly, and jumping off of high rocks into the water. His mother goes to the calm and quiet beach while Jerry goes to the “wild beach.” Jerry’s mom is therefore not as tough as a boy because she can’t handle the “wild beach” and decides to go to the calm beach. When Jerry goes to the “wild beach” he decides he wants to swim through the tunnel. Jerry then must have much determination and be a tough boy to accomplish his goal of being able to hold his breath underwater for long periods of time. When Jerry finally trains himself and makes it through the tunnel, he feels like he has become a man. Jerry then feels much accomplishment for what he has achieved. The story Boys and Girls relates to the story Through the Tunnel in the way that men and women have stereotypical jobs in society. The narrator in Boys and Girls comments on how unusual it is to see her mother outside of the house by the barn. This implies that women should be inside the house doing chores, cooking, and other various tasks indoors. The narrator of this story tries to accept the roles of a male. From the beginning of the story she comments on how she enjoys the smell of dead foxes being skinned and the way Henry, the hired man is able to make his stomach growl at...