THE QUEST FOR INSIGHT AND EMPATHY IN ALICE MUNRO’S STORIES OF DEMENTIA

Abstract

Alice Munro’s dementia stories provide narrative tools for illuminating otherwise impenetrable brain territories and for gaining insight into and empathising with mental illness. The protagonists of “The Bear Came Over the Mountain” and of “In Sight of the Lake” set out on a quest for insight, involving readers in the process, who can narratively explore cognitive deterioration from two different perspectives (internal and external). In “The Bear Came Over the Mountain” we can access the ‘Alzheimer’s mind’ from the point of view of Grant, who bears witness to his wife’s illness; in “In Sight of the Lake” readers witness the protagonist’s progressive cognitive decline. The processes of reading and comprehending throw light on the Alzheimer’s mind, and show readers the connections between acts of seeing and understanding, and acts of caring and empathy.