Grosse Pointe Community's Destruction In The Virgin Suicides By Jeffrey Eugenides

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Through its mockery of the Grosse Pointe community’s response to the suicides, The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides exposes civilization’s destructive and futile systematic denial. The transformation of the Lisbon house subsequent to the final suicides illustrates civilization’s discomfort with facing reality. Before the Lisbons could move out, they commissioned Mr. Hedlie to clean their home. Afterwards, the new homeowners made more of an effort to decontaminate the house. “A team of men in white overalls and caps sandblasted the house, then over the next two weeks sprayed it with a thick white paste…When they finished, the Lisbon house was transformed into a giant wedding cake dripping frosting, but it took less than a year for chunks …show more content…

The tree outside the house served as a monument for the girls, as they devoted themselves to saving it and it bore Cecilia’s handprint. Eliminating the tree was mandatory for the community to restore order because cutting down the tree represented the termination of the Lisbon girls’ legacy. “Everyone stayed inside during the execution of the Lisbon’s tree, but even in our dens we could feel how blinding the outside was becoming, our entire neighborhood like an overexposed photograph” (Eugenides 237). The blinding quality of the neighborhood after the tree is gone relates to the themes presented in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. In Heart of Darkness, light, which usually represents clarity, is presented as blinding. Conversely, darkness, which usually represents a lack of clarity, is presented as truth. Conrad uses light to represent civilization. This implies that although civilization seems to be the better option, it is equally if not more destructive. Conrad uses darkness to represent the wilderness, which is although usually representative of savagery, allows for spiritual and emotional freedom. Eugenides relates the Grosse Pointe community to the blinding light of civilization Conrad addresses in his novel. To further connect the two pieces of literature, Eugenides includes a comment by the narrator that labels the Lisbon house as “the whited sepulcher” (Eugenides

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