Virgin Suicides 4

"At night the cries of cats making love or fighting, their caterwauling in the dark, told us that the world was pure emotion, flung back and forth among its creatures, the agony of the one-eyed Siamese no different from that of the Lisbon girls, and even the trees plunged in feeling." pg158-159

The repetition of the hard "c" sound gives this passage a rough and serious tone. "Cries of cats making love or fighting" is ironic because it hard to differentiate between making love and fighting, two polar opposites. "The trees plunged in feeling" is ironic as well because trees are inanimate objects and do not have feeling.

Love this book!!

~Sarah

"He had purchased the liqueur with a fake I.D. that afternoon, and had carried it in the lining of his jacket all evening...He held the bottle to Lux's lips saying "Don't swallow"...Her throat gurgled with captive mirth. She laughed, a trickle of schnapps dripped down her chin where she caught it with one ringed hand, but the grew solemn..." pgs 129-130

I think that this passage has significance to it because it is making the reader realize what a tight leash the Lisbon girls are on. In the novel, Lux and Trip share peach schnapps. A peach is significant because it symbolizes longevity. It's ironic that they drank the peach schnapps since a peach represents the duration of life, and from the title, the reader can easily infer that they all commit suicide. This forshadows all of the Lisbon girls' deaths. The girls are all rebelling and going against their parents by drinking, and killing themselves slowly.

The Virgin Suicides 2

"The fluttering wedding dress added to this circusy effect. Mr. Lisbon kept trying to lift her off, gently, but even in our ignorance we knew it was hopeless and that despite Cecilia's open eyes and the way her mouth kept contracting like that of a fish on a stringer it was just nerves and she had succeeded, on the second try, in hurliung herself out of the world."

At the beginning of the novel, I wasn't able to understand the significance of Cecilias wedding dress. Although I still don't fully understand it, I can make an educated guess as to why Eugenides made Cecilia wear the dress. I think that it signifies her youth, and that she will never be able to mature into a young woman and become married, but instead stay youthful. I think that Eugenides word choice was very simple and easy to understand, so that the reader can understand the sorrow of Cecilia's suicide. The word circus was used to represent Cecilias youth and her "open eyes" was Eugenides was of characterizing her as a child. Cecilia was never able to grow up and experience maturity.

The Virgin Suicides 1

"On the morning the last Lisbon Daughter took her turn at suicide- it was Mary this time, and sleeping pills, like Therese- the two paramedics arrived at the house knowing exactly where the knife drawer was, and the gas oven, and the beam in the basement from which it was possible to tie a rope...thirteen months earlier when the trouble began." pg 1

Although I have read almost half the novel by now, I am still stuck on the first page. This first sentence gives me the most horrific picture in my mind. I can vivdly picture the paramedics walking into the house slowly, taking their time, knowing there is no chance in saving one of the daughters. The way the first sentence drags along with the use of dashes and commas parallels the rate at which the paramedics are moving. Although the whole novel is giving me a very good picture of what is happening, I can't seem to keep this picture from flashing through my head. I love this book!

Sarah