The Virgin Suicides by Jeffery Eugenides - Thesis Example

XXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXX The Virgin Suicides The Virgin Suicides is a novel by Jeffery Eugenides which revolves around the livesand deaths of five sisters. In the novel each of the five sisters commits suicide. The reasons for this act are not fully explained but a few subtle hints are given. The girl’s lives are restricted due to their strict mother and a slightly eccentric father. First the eldest daughter Cecilia commits suicide by jumping off from the second story window. This creates a panic among the girl’s parents as they try to be flexible with their girls in order to avoid repetition of such incident.

A handsome young teenager named Trip Fontaine manages to charm Lux and also impress Ronald (the girl’s father). He gets the parent’s permission to take Lux along with other three girls (Bonnie, Mary and Therese) to a homecoming dance. That day on a football ground Trip and Lux have sex. This makes Lux miss the curfew and hence starts a torturous time for all of the sisters. They are taken out of the school and restricted to their house and their liberty is curtailed. In one incident the mother even orders Lux to destroy all the music records she has.

After some resistance Lux submits to the demands. From here the lives of the sisters takes a downturn. Smoking and sex on rooftop become common features. A strange smell comes from the house and permeates the neighborhood. All these spectacles create a big interest of the neighborhood in the lives of these girls. It is during this time that the neighborhood boys, who are infatuated by the Lisbon girls, communicate with them by using various methods. For example, they play music records over the phone.

All these activities don’t continue for a long time as in the end all the girls kill themselves. When invited by the girls to the house, the boys enter it and find all of them dead. Bonnie is found hanging in the house, Theresa takes overdose of sleeping pills and Lux dies of Carbon Monoxide poisoning. Although Mary doesn’t die immediately she takes overdose of sleeping pills and dies one month after putting her head in the oven. The girl’s parents sell the house and leave the neighborhood.

For the senior thesis I would like to explore the relationship between parents and their teenage girls. In the novel parents tried to make their daughters happy by being more lenient in terms of permitting interaction with the opposite sex. But probably what the girls needed was more displays of love and affection. The theme of difference between perception and expectation of parents and teenage daughters will also be explored in the senior thesis.