The Shining houses by Alice Munro - Marxist Literary Criticism

In the short story The shining houses I believe Mary is the greater victim. At first I thought it was Mrs.Fullerton because she was the elderly women, with the run down house, that was having trouble selling eggs therefore had a low income. Whereas Mary lived in the new well kept houses with the people who wanted Mrs. Fullerton's house to be demolished.

Throughout the story you get to know a bit of Mrs. Fullerton's past. We experience her husband leaving her abruptly. To me she seems to be a very strong optimistic women. After her husband leaving she didn't think of the worst thing possible, she had refreshing thoughts such as change being good for her egg sales, or his possibly memory loss and he would wind up coming home again some day. She wasn't dependent on anyone, it seemed as long has she had a familiar place to live she was fine. It also shows her independence through her egg selling company, her fight against the supermarkets.

Mrs. Fullerton shared her story with Mary. With Mrs Fullerton living in the new well kept houses, she had many friends which did too. These were the people who wanted to have Mrs. Fullerton's house demolished. Mary did not agree with this although she refused to sign the petition, she was unable to express herself to her family and friends. Mary being the only one who knew Mrs. Fullerton's story was the only one who could potentially change the mind of those who were against Mrs. Fullerton. She gave up, she had the perfect chance to stand up for the old house but was unable to and walked away, escaping from the problem.