The Virgin Suicides - Case Study Example

After his trysts with Gina, Trip changed from the person his friends once knew. He seemed to have transformed from a chubby boy to a muscular and striking young man. The trip has now changed his manner of dress. He deviated from "schoolboy shirts and pants" to "western outfits" which resembled the outfits worn by admirers of Gina, his first love. His voice deepened both owing to his physical development and the confidence that comes from being loved and initiated by an adept older woman. His scent also changed from a boyish freshness to the musky scent of a confident young man who knows what he wants and how to get it.

Eugenides alluded to the fact that Trip was a responsible A student before his Gina experience. Although his friends bemoan that "no one was going to love us for our good grades" (69) they could not help but notice that Trip "stopped studying for tests because of all the girls who came over to cram with him in bed." Trip formerly would have had to work diligently to obtain a good grade. But now, he need not study at all for the swooning girls was more than willing to supply him with the school papers he needed for an A.

He merely had to ask for a favor and it was guaranteed to be handed to him. He now had more time for extracurricular activities that are not even school-related, marijuana-smoking included. His fixation with marijuana can be compared to a diabetic who needed insulin three times a day. Having been taught the art of loving and the power of his sexual appeal, he set out into the world, or at least his world, to use it. And use it he did. He knew how to take care of his woman, how to make her feel loved, and to keep her coming back for more.

His nights, formerly spent alone, were now spent in the company of his lady love who was perfectly glad to wildly abandon herself to the touch of a renowned lover. Trip Fontaine changed so drastically, both physically and in his manners because he was indoctrinated by an older woman. One who was learned in the ways of the world and how to deal with it. Had he thread this delicate period in his life with girls his age, he would have changed slowly and experienced what every other boy goes through during adolescence.

He received too much knowledge in too short a time.