"The Shining Houses" By Alice Munro

I think Mary is the victim of social oppression in this story because her "friends" are trying to force her to take their side against Mrs. Fullerton. When Mary refuses to sign their petition for a lane, she realizes that she has served herself up as a "conversational delight for the next coffee party". Because of this, her group of friends do not respect her opinions and did not even listen to her side of the story. In this story Mary does not really have the freedom to do as she chooses because she knows that there will be consequences for her doing what she thinks is right. She does not really have freedom of speech either because none of them even listened to her and they all just thought she was being ridiculous and will most likely talk about her behind her back as soon as she leaves. They "listen" to her politely but don’t really listen, and as soon as she’s done they ignore her opinion and start trying to convince her that their way is the right way and the only way. Her group of friends think that they are the victims because they have to look at an ugly old eyesore house and they can’t make the old lady get rid of it. Mrs. Fullerton, if she knew what was going on, might think she is the victim because she is being driven out of her home by a bunch of unfriendly neighbors who don’t like her because her house isn’t geometrical. However, I think Mary is the victim of social oppression in this story because she isn’t given what should be her right to voice her opinions or do what she thinks is right without paying the price for it.