The Story Virgin Suicide - Term Paper Example

The virgin suicides Introduction The story Virgin Suicide is told by anonymous narrator who focuseson adolescence boys much obsessed by Lisbon girls when they are in their youth. The characteristics of the boys continue to be held by them about the Lisbon girls even as they are in middle age. Boys in the book keep in touch to each other with stories of girls as they meet in the parties. Boys in Virgin Suicide treasure much of evidence that concern Lisbon. Virgin Suicide is set in a town environment Hook Hook in the book is continuous suicides that occur in Lisbon family due to several factors with the death of one stimulating attempt of another to commit suicide. Mr. and Mrs. Lisbon despite actions and strategies are not able to stop the deaths of their daughters. About the author Author is Jeffrey Eugenides Country of the author is United States Language used by the author is English Publisher of the book for author is Farrar, Straus and Giroux Publication date is 1993. Book information The book is about a catholic family that lives in Michigan that is set in 1970s. Father of the family, Ronald is a teacher that teaches math in a private school but the mother is a home maker. Ronald’s family constitute five daughters. Life of the family changes during summer when Cecilia who is not a member of the family attempts suicide. The attempt of suicide is due to effect of the family that is in the neighborhood. Characters in the novel are Cecilia Lisbon, Lux Lisbon, Mary Lisbon and Bonnie Lisbon. Cecilia Lisbon is a sister to Mary Lisbon. She is the main character in the novel with her being shy and this is known by her elder sisters. She is found of invoking Virgin Mary and spend most of her time listening to Celtic music. She commits suicide and after her death it is discovered in her diary entries that she was trying to speak of her sister and her being a single entity. Cecilia attempts suicide several times with firs attempt being slitting her wrists during a bath. The second successful attempt of suicide that becomes successful is during her menstrual cycle when she jumps onto a spiked fence. Lux Lisbon gets in love with Trip Fontaine. Trip Fontaine asks the parents of Lux so that they could be able to attend a dance. The request leads to the girls being locked in the house for most part of winter with dare consequences. This leads to the death of lux in June during winter. Bonnie Lisbon who is the middle child in Lisbon family and sisters to Cecilia and Lux. She becomes thinner and thinner after the deaths of her sister and also dies in June. Mary Lisbon is the second oldest in the family. She tries to keep her appearance after the death of her sisters through wearing of brighter sweaters. She attempts suicide on the night of June fifteenth but does not die. She spend most of her time sleeping after the attempt. She later dies in July after taking sleeping pills. Therese Lisbon is much fascinated by science and uses most of her time reading text books. She is more awkward than her sisters and will die in June after she mixes sleeping pills and gin. Book portrays neighborhood boys as children and later they become middle aged men in their childhood memories. Thesis statement The book, the Virgin suicide was written by Jeffrey Eugenides. Suicide topic is portrayed in the book with involvement of a Lisbon girls engaging in suicide with unknown reasons. Devices that are used in the book bringing about major topics in the story. Overview of the research topic Research topic in the book, virgin suicides is about suicides where suicide that is acted by one person catalyzes others to engage in the same act making coming about of cluster suicides. In the book there is death of two sisters due to suicides in a period of two days and exactly a year after the death of Cecilia. Research in the book has mainly examined what brings about reaction of one that is young to cope up with a suicide in the family where they belong with the circumstances that are described in the book (Eugenides, 35). Research in relation to the book comes with relation in attempts to commit suicide and family psychopathology due to factors such as depression and capacities that drives to action of conduction of the act. Genetic make-up of an individual also through the research can lead to causing of suicide. In research about causes of suicide, the results that comes out is that there is high probability for one from a family who had conducted or attempted suicide to be involved in the act (Eugenides, 76). Through the research it was clear that suicides that occurred in Lisbon family were not independent to one another. Research also brings about the risky sexual behavior and choices that they make. Lux’s choice are demanding and pressure from her sister make demands well. In suicides that occur among the Lisbon girls, it is evident that the girls share a biological link that leads to attempt to suicide. Character analysis in the research topic Trip Fontaine The character comes on his own after he had a trip to Acapulco with his father and the lover to his father where he comes to know about love and alcohol. From the day of trip, the boy is much interested and engage in drug and substance abuse. He is also much interested in naked women. Due to the characters, boys in the neighborhood are impressed on life that he lives with the admiring girls who went to him, baked him food, helped him in the preparation of his bed and left sweet notes in the car (Eugenides, 201). The relationship between trip and his father differs from those of the other boys and their fathers as Trip is treated equal to each other by his father. Homosexuality by trip is a taboo and he does not talk about his sexual adventures with other boys in the neighborhood. In the use in the research topic it shows that one need not to be worried about fragile things such as love. Lux Lisbon In the narration the boys watch through the window as she laughs with other boys. She also responds to the arrests in their houses by having sex with men on the roof. Sexual characteristics of the girl impresses other boys in the neighborhood. According to the boys, her partners are able to go deep her mind and top determine thoughts that she had on Cecilia’s death. Insists that she has on sex brings suggestion that she had choice of self-destruction and performance and these are characteristics that are needed from her (Jarosz, 12). The characters make her interact rarely with other girls in the neighborhood apart from her sister. She tries to interact with others but she keeps being left alone. She waits for homecoming as her sister commits suicide. She covers her test for pregnancy in school by faking a burst appendix and this brings out her command charade. Neighborhood boys The boys are a group of adolescent boys who are united by gender, age, residence and friendship. Interest of the boys and actions that they do are similar making them to envy the knowledge that their older brothers have (Jarosz, 456). There is no clear identity of the boys until when they are realized to be middle aged men that are reflecting on actions that they had in their childhood days. The boys are seemed to have had different experiences including sense of opinion, despair, longing and suspicion. The boys later find life less interesting as there is just the triggered memories of the past as they try to concentrate. The boys had earlier tried to remain objective with the continuous mentioning of facts in their discussions. There is the fading of the characteristics as the boys remain in the meditation on melancholy and the losses that they have had (Simončič, Nuša and Jerneja, 231) . There is evidence of research topic on the factors that lead to causing and the triggers that lead to characters in the play attempting to commit suicide. Evidence from an outside source The causes and influence of getting involved in the causing or committing suicide depends on different environmental factors, relationship that one has in the family and life challenges that one has. Instances of suicide has occurred majorly in the youth. Statistics from the World Health Organization gives the statistics on the high increasing rate and the causes that leads to involvement in the act. In areas such as China the number of women that involve themselves in the committing of suicide is high as the act is considered by them as a way of conveying a message (Kelly, 342). There is increase suicide in the schools due to the stress that the students have during the exam period and the need of the students to secure seats in schools that are luxurious. Conduction of the act in many countries is considered illegal. The main attributes to the committing of suicide is due to the factors that are psychological, environmental and biological. The confirmation of the factors shows that the youth are the ones that are involved with the low educational achievements and the stress that comes due to examination (Davis, Todd and Kenneth, 89). Presentation of factors that lead to performance of suicide among the youth will be mainly through the reduction of educational pressure to the teenagers. Strong relations in the families will also help in the reduction in the instances of suicides. Sources from outside the novel also brings out factors that results in actions of committing suicide. Commentary about above evidence In the book, author did not cover extensively the causes of the suicidal activities in the book that relates to the neighborhood and girls in school. This provides further instinct to the book. The factors that the girls had in schools that could result to suicide such as pressure due to the education and the exams are not much brought well in the book. The factors that were in the environment and the actions that were done by characters such as Lux are the major causes of the suicides but the instinct are under rates and not brought out as the some of the factors. Relationship that Trip had with his father after being introduced to alcohol and substance abuse by his father could lead to him being involved in conduction of suicide. Instinct is also not brought well in the book (Davis, Todd and Kenneth, 25). Sexual characteristics of Trip that made him to be away from other boys in the neighborhood could lead to him being depressed and probability of engaging in the performance of suicide was high but was not brought out well in the book. The remembrance of the childhood memories by the neighborhood boys on them watching sexual characteristics of Lux and action of other boys that brought them feeling low on their elder brothers could result in them having depression. Depression is a major factor that result in the actions that leads to committing of suicide. Evidence from the book regarding character analysis In the book there is the factor of sex to the virgins that leads to performance of the act, suicide. Evidence from Lisbon sisters and the neighborhood boys who through the act find themselves much depressed and have no other option but resolve to the committing of suicide. The idea of teenagers in the book to think of each other in the acts that they do also is an evident that brings about the act of performing of suicide in the book (Heusser, 234). They think that the talking to their parents on some of the issues is scary and they consult their fellows who do not give them solutions to problems that they have resulting to performance of suicide. Boys in the book fall for the girls and the girls also fall for the boys but the girls end up committing suicide with unknown reasons (Heusser, 24). What is left behind after the suicides is the memories of the Lisbon with the admirers that they have still struggling to explain the deaths. The sisters that remain also try to remove themselves to experience love and sex after they move from the locked homes. They try to leave their homes where they are protected by their moms to experience the outside world. They try to move from the communications that were only through the window and through telephone. Relationship between the device and the research topic There is horror of Mundane. In the book there is the consideration of love, sex, memories and adolescence as the key causes of suicide in the teenagers as per the research topic. The death of the five characters are precise as the presentation of the book in the town environment where there are conflicts and crisis that are the fuel that brings the issues causing the suicides (Carr, 45). The consideration of the boys that the girls were in the normal laws in houses was not normal as the months pass and this relates to the research topic due to thinking of ways that was not expected. Superficiality of vision is also a relationship that occurs in the device and the research topic. In the device, the boys admit that they are not able to play justice to the Lisbon girls. In the research topic, there are instances that one is not able to play any form of justice to one that is likely to be involved in suicide (Carr, 78). The boys are aware of what the girls are going through and their increase in the visuals that they make does not make them suspect any instance that can lead to the cause of deaths to the girls. Ravage of time and impermanence of memory brings relationship between device and the research topic. After death of Lisbon sisters, the novel is still concerned with life of people that still remains in the neighborhood and in families of those that involve in suicides (Baechler, 14). Need of happiness by boys and girls in the device is seemed to be a major cause in involvement in crime by Cecilia and Lisbon girls. Research topic comes with look for happiness in families and in neighborhood by most teenagers to be a major cause in involvement in deaths through suicide. Evidences in cause of suicides makes parents to know how to treat teenagers as they are the ones who are majorly exposed to committing suicide. Conclusion Virgin suicide novel is effective in addressing the teenagers and brings out issues that makes them get involved in suicides. Reading the book by the teenagers and their parents makes them to be able to be advised on best ways to control their depression and other factors leading to the acts of committing suicide (Baechler, 154). The topic that is researched is also brought out well through the use of Virgin Suicides. Universality of research topic has been achieved through use of the book. Teenagers that are addressed as main audience in research topic. Universals have been created in reading the novel as connection of factors resulting to committing of suicides have been dressed making teenagers aware of other practices that makes them get to depression and inability to control from their parents. The scope of using the novel in research topic have been achieved. Characters and environment that has been used in the novel has well addresses themes that research topic tends to cover in the topic. Achievements of bringing out factors in the novel leading to committing of suicide can be used in research topic and more factors linked with the ones that occur in the novel. Work cited Eugenides, Jeffrey. The Virgin Suicides. New York: Farrar Straus Giroux, 1993. Print Baechler, Jean. Suicides. New York: Basic Books, 1979. Print. Carr, John Dickson. The Case Of The Constant Suicides. Bath: Black Dagger, 2002. Print. Davis, Todd F, and Kenneth Womack. Postmodern Humanism in Contemporary Literature and Culture. Basingstoke [England] ; New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2007. Print. Heusser, Martin. ET In Arcadia Ego: The Pastoral Aesthetics Of Suburbia In Jeffrey Eugenides The Virgin Suicides. Print. Jarosz, Maria. Suicides. Paris: LHarmattan, 2005. Print. Kelly, Adam. American Fiction In Transition. Print. MacCabe, Colin, Rick Warner, and Kathleen Murray. True To The Spirit. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011. Print. SparkNotes. The Virgin Suicides (Sparknotes Literature Guide). Print. Simončič, Nuša, and Jerneja Petrič. A Comparative Analysis Of Narrators In Jeffrey Eugenidess Novels The Virgin Suicides And Middlesex. Ljubljana: [N. Simončič], 2008. Print. Read More