Narrative plays often depict life as an acute roller coaster, with extreme moments of happiness and pain occurring in sequence. However, human nature and experience can be more accurately described as a slow, constant change between states and emotions. This leads to a constant feeling of uncertainty of varying degrees, a state that Alice Munro masterfully describes in the short story “Floating Bridge.” The structure of “Floating Bridge” serves to reflect, both in its content and narrative techniques, the symbol of life as a floating bridge, from the title to the conclusion of the story. The author structures the short story according to several movements to describe the uncertainty that we inevitably experience on a daily basis. Jinny, the main character, suffers from cancer. She manages to accept this news, but now she must experience another change. Using a three-part flashback narrative technique, the author presents readers with the latest news regarding his health at the end of the story. Jinny remembers the doctor saying, "I don't want to say the battle is over, it's just a good sign...we don't know if maybe there won't be more problems down the road." future, but we can say that we are cautiously optimistic” (76). ). Jinny remembers this crucial change during a casual conversation. While readers would expect this change to the positive side to bring her joy, Jinny actually reacts negatively, as shown in her inner reflection: “It was too much. What he said made things more difficult. This forced her to go back and start again this year” (77). Jinny had finally gotten used to knowing that she might soon die of cancer, and now she had to face the likelihood that she would survive. This is the... middle of paper...... At the end, Jinny has now moved, as a result of all her experiences with the teenager, to a happier state of being: "this What she felt was a kind of light compassion, almost like laughter. A rustle of tender hilarity, overcoming all its ailments and its hollows, for the allotted time” (85). The author ends the story with the words "for the allotted time" to describe how life will always continue to be a slowly evolving pontoon bridge, for Jinny and for all of us. Jinny seems to realize that not only is she futile in her attempts to keep the bridge of life stable and certain, but that among all the changes, there are many positive ones. She decides it's better to accept the whole process rather than fight it. Works Cited Munro, Alice. "Floating bridge." Hate, friendship, courtship, love, marriage: stories. New York: Vintage Contemporains, 2002. Print.