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The Virgin Suicides by Jeffery Eugenides is coated with symbolism from beginning to end. Eugenides utilizes many metaphors, comparing increment objects with abstract ideas. The author inputs these abstract ideas, comparing the condition of the house relating to the decay of the Lisbon's, the behavior of the characters to animals, and the insects to death and despair. As the snapshot shows, the slate roof had not yet begun to shed its shingles, the porch was still visible above the bushes, and the windows were not yet held together with strips of masking tape. (5) This photo was snapped before the first suicide attempt, when the soul of the Lisbon's still contained spirit and hope. However, the narrators description of the picture foreshadowed what would occur to both the house, and more importantly, the Lisbon family.
As struggles began within the Lisbon family, the house slowly showed the first signs of decay. The house receded behind its mists of youth being choked off, and even our own parents began to mention how dim and unhealthy the place looked. (145) Metaphorically what the parents really meant, but didnt know how to communicate, was that the family's outlook was becoming dim and unhealthy. From this point on, the condition of the family was spinning in an uncontrollable downward spiral. The girls remained on house arrest, and had no chance to socialize with others. This alone could drive a person crazy, being locked up in a prison type environment. The rate of suicide in prison is extremely high due to the same type of isolation that faced the girls.
As the family deteriorated further, with Mr. Lisbon losing his job and Lux screwing around on the roof, Eugenides began to more vividly demonstrate the dimensioning house, The first slate of tile slid off their roof, missing the porch by an inch and embedding itself in the soft turf, and from a distance we could see the tar underneath, letting in water. (159) The water leaking into the house is very significant, because this showed the Lisbon's actions actually beginning to take a hold of their souls and demeanor's. Eugenides refers to the dwindling affect of the family as a disease, slowly creeping into the girl's bodies after being released by Cecelia. In the bathtub, cooking in the broth of her own blood, Cecelia had released an airborne virus which the other girls, even in coming to save her, had contracted. (158) Everyone can draw the conclusion that there is no actual disease, but yet the readers receive another image of the family's problems getting inside of their minds and bodies like a foreign syndrome taking control over one cell after the other, affecting not only the way they live, but also function. We noticed how tattered the curtains had become, then we realized we werent looking at curtains at all but at a film of dirt. (160) The house had become a pit of despair, as had the family's spirit, crushed like a thousand pounds of bricks. The outlook of a happy future for the Lisbon's has been long since shattered, and now is covered by dirt, dust, and ruins, opening themselves to public ridicule.
After the suicides of the remainder of the Lisbon girls, there was only one thing for Mr. And Mrs. Lisbon to do, and that was to try to erase the memories of their fateful life. Symbolically, the memory of the girls began to be erased by stripping the Lisbon house of all its features, however all of the events which unfolded could never be forgotten, as Eugenides demonstrates here, It felt as though the house could keep disgorging debris forever, a tidal wave of unmatched slippers and dresses scarecrow ed on hangers. (229) Even in the aftermath, the narrator described the girls through their objects and belongings, really wanting to describe how the house will never really be empty of memories of the girls, but not being able to find words to describe their emotions. Throughout the novel the girls emotional, physical, intellectual, and spiritual states were all revealed through their possessions and home.
The narrators, though many years after this traumatic event, still had trouble explaining their emotions, feeling words alone would not do justice, therefore compared the family's spirit and state of being to not only their house, but also to animal life. Two beasts lived in the car, one above, snuffling and biting him, and one below, struggling to get out of its damp cage. Valiantly he did what he could to feed them, placate them, but the sense of his insufficiency grew, and after a few minutes, with only the words Gotta get back before bed check, Lux left him, more dead that alive. (86) Pure imagery displayed here, presented the reader a sense of awe and wonderment, not truly understanding why and how this occurred, yet allowed the reader to conclude that these girls still possessed desires, wants, and needs, and were not supportive of their parents decisions. Most civilized humans may not realize that if not treated with respect and given opportunities to grow by their parents, a human being will revert back to animal instincts, not knowing any other mode which to live by.
Later, Lux shows that the lifestyle she has been forced to live has stripped her of emotions. Lifting their heads from the soft shelf of Lux's neck, they found her eyes open, her brow knitted in thought; or at the height of passion felt her pick a pimple on their backs. (148 - 149) To Lux, sex became just a physical action, and meant nothing to her, draining all emotional meaning from sex. She even treated the act like a small chore (149) losing all touch with her emotional, spiritual, intellectual, and even physical state of being. Lux probably didnt even understand her reason for sleeping around, but only continued by instinct, much like an animal. The book mentioned the fish flies periodically throughout.
The fish flies represented death and scum and were not just mentioned randomly, but rather, were very specifically placed. Early in the novel, the first mention of fish flies described their overabundance and mortality rate. Theyre dead, she said. They only live twenty-four hours. They hatch, reproduce, and then the croak. They dont even get to eat. (4) These, bugs resembling a thick layer of scum, foreshadowed the first tragedy, Cecelia's attempted suicide.
Later in the novel, Eugenides again describes the swarm of fish flies, which should have cued the readers that another tragedy would soon occur. Fish flies began streaming through the window, and we put the lamp out. We could hear their bodies battering streetlamps, a hail of hairballs, and popping under the tires of passing cars. The scum of their dead or dying bodies darkened street- and headlights, turned house windows into theater scrims poking out light. (203) In this instance, the general disgust and sickness was revealed through descriptive imagery, filling the readers mind with darkness and death. The reader should not lose that image, for soon the great tragedy takes place, as death transfuses itself from the bugs to the Lisbon girls. Symbolism in The Virgin Suicides forces the reader to look into the characters deeper, as well as make comparisons between the characters and objects.
Overall, the symbolism in this novel helped create more imagery, which allowed the reader to get a broader sense of the struggles the Lisbon's were forced to deal with.
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Research essay sample on Symbolism And Characters In The Virgin Suicides
