Virgin Suicides Point Of View Analysis

Point of view is very important when it comes to writing, especially fiction books. The point of view determines through whose eyes the reader experiences the story. There are various types of different point of views and each one has their strengths and weaknesses. In the Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides, the point of view used is an unusual one. The narrator speaks in first person plural, “we” which allows the reader to see things from the perspectives of a group of teenage boys. Although the "we" narrator is meant to form a connection between the narrator and the reader, the reader is not able to rely on the narrator for reliable information. Eugenides had structured the book to include an unreliable “we” narrator for various reasons.

We learn of their old age at the end of the book with their “thinning hair and soft bellies” (243). Since the boys are telling the story in the future, they are able to put the story in chronological order as well as give evidence for particular events when needed. The boys are basing their information on their memories, exhibits they’ve collected, and by interviewing people who’ve come into contact with the Lisbons. Since they are partly relying on their memories, their reliability becomes a question. After decades, memories tend to be altered or even forgotten. The boys themselves, even mention that “The truth was this: we were beginning to forget the Lisbon girls, and we could remember nothing else” (180). Just a year after Cecelia’s suicide, the boys were beginning to forget how the Lisbon girls looked. If the boys weren’t able to actually physically see the girls, it was as if they forgot who they were and how they looked. It came to a point where they couldn’t figure out whether the girls were just in their dreams or real people. Not until the girls had contacted them through the Virgin Mary cards and Chinese lantern signals did the boys remember who the girls were. If the boys started to forget who the girls were only after a year, there is no doubt that some of their memories of the girls had been altered or even forgotten decades. Therefore, it is

The boys idolize them and think of them as perfect, dreamlike, mythical creatures. We get a sense of how young boys think of girls, as well as their lack of knowledge towards femininity. When Peter Sissen visits the Lisbon house and sees a bloody tampon he describes it as “…a beautiful thing, you had to see it, like a modern painting or something…” (8). After visiting the Lisbon house, Peter goes and tells the rest of the boys everything he saw, including the twelve boxes of Tampax, lipsticks, deodorants and perfumes that belonged to the girls. This whole scene shows the childish nature of the teenage boys telling this story. Not only does Peter describe it as if it was something special, but also he goes and tells the boys all about it, which further proves how immature the boys were. The narrators of the books were clearly young childish boys who were fascinated by anything that had to do with girls. The fact that the “we” narrators are males have an effect on the story. They viewed the girls almost as sexual objects rather than actual human beings. They were so obsessed with knowing everything about them and their femininity. If the group of narrators were instead, a group of girls telling the story of the boys’ suicide, the story would probably be more about the actual suicides rather than idolizing the boys. Boys and girls are different beings and have a different way of thinking when it