The Five Lisbon Sisters In Jeffrey Eugenides The Virgin Suicide

Dissonance from hindsight and the fostering of an external perspective allows for the dictation that in any timeline there is no hope for true survival, whether it be from death itself or obsession and regret. The Virgin Suicides, by Jeffrey Eugenides, focuses on the lives and demise of the five Lisbon sisters in a suburban community. The narration of the first chapter initially seems to be presented as third person. As the narrative progresses after the foreshadowing of the end of the story, the narrative voice transforms into first person plural. This perspective is one of a group of neighbourhood boys that are not individually identifiable, reflective of the initial representation of the Lisbon girls as one entity. This cohort of voices contracts and expands depending on the amount of knowledge that they have …show more content…
This perspective and hindsight questions the objectivity of their surveillance even if they were made from a distance. It is a common belief that the further away they are from the situation the more rational thoughts can be. Withal, this is a reflection of men, with years that have elapsed since these events. Visual memory and, thus perspective, insight and clarity is what they wish to achieve. The narration continues as though they are sleuths, collecting evidence for cause and motives of the suicides. The inevitable truth is none of their injections into the story really shed light into the consciousness of these girls and their deaths, only able to image scenes that they did not witness. The audience discovers that infatuation driven scrutiny will inevitably lead to a flawed rendition of their subjectivity. This objective analysis is inconclusive and the desire for the truth is driven by the association of the guilt and loss that they