On Ethical and Moral Education from the Domestic Violence in Alice Munro’s Dimensions

Abstract

The short story Dimensions was written by Alice Munro, the winner of 2013 Nobel Prize in Literature. It tells us a miserable family story between the husband Lloyd and the wife Doree, in which domestic violence resulted in the family tragedy. Their three children were killed by their father Lloyd when Doree left her house to her female friend Maggie to escape abuse at home. This paper explored the ethical and moral themes in Dimensions through the ethical literary criticism to find out why Munro created this bloodcurdling murderer and what were the factors of the tragedy. The research and analysis have interpreted that Munro wants to give us ethical and moral education. Happy family should be established in prudent marriage choice and correct outlook on life. Everyone should find one’s own dimensions and self-reliance is the effective way to self-salvation.