How I Met My Husband

In Alice Munro's How I Met My Husband, the main character is the hired girl, Edie. She is a very sympathetic character, meaning her hardships bring out emotions from the reader. Often, the reader feels for Edie because her innocense and niavety make her vulnerable. Her status as "the hired girl" contributes greatly to the feelings of sympathy the reader has for her. She has little to look forward to in life, a lack of education and money limited her future to working for the Peeble family. She is forced to work for this wealthy family, in awe of their wonderous lifestyle, but also in constant fear she will be fired or shamed. It is this fear that really makes the reader sympathize with her. She lives in fear of disappointing Mrs. Peebles, not wanting the woman to think ill of her. She is so afraid of Mrs. Peeble's bad opinion that she overcomes her shyness to beg Chris not to tell of her dress-up activities. She implores him, "I wisht you wouldn't say anything about the dress" (pg 136). This innocence and fear makes her a sympathetic character.