A Turn for the Worse

As I have continued my reading of Lullabies for Little Criminals by Heather O’Neill, Baby has lost even more of her dwindling childhood innocence. As her relationship with Jules diminishes, she seeks happiness in other things such as drugs, and her newfound relationship with the local pimp, Alphonse. During this phase of her life I have taken notice to various archetypes in the characters, as well as some symbolic items.

Both Alphonse and Jules represent the trickster archetype throughout the plot. This is someone that uses their knowledge to play tricks and break the rules of common society. Alphonse showers Baby with gifts and affection, something she is not at all used to in her life at home. Despite how this appears to Baby, she is still naive, and Alphonse is using their strengthening “relationship” to convince her to sleep with him. Baby had come to accept this for a while, until Alphonse takes it even a step further, and manipulates her into selling her body to strangers. After her first encounter she notes, “I stank differently. I didn’t smell like myself. I smelled like cigarettes and somebody else’s hands” (O’Neill 222). Baby can feel herself drifting further away from the child she once was, with the help of Alphonse’s trickery.

 

Jules also represents the trickster archetype, but in a different way than Alphonse. Jules heroin addiction is one that continues to get the better of him throughout the plot, even after going to rehabilitation centres. He will consistently bribe Baby to leave the house so he can get high with his rotating crowd of friends. Baby, still being naive, believes this is what is best for Jules, and obeys his wishes. She falls for his bribes continuously and seemingly ignorant to the fact that her father’s drug addiction is increasing in severity by the day.

Another character archetype I observed was Baby as the victim. The victim archetype is represented by the underdogs and the disadvantaged, and typically start with tragic circumstances that they don’t have the tools to process. For Baby, this tragic start began with her mother dying when she was very young, and her teenage father starting on his path towards drug addiction. Because Baby has never had very much affection from Jules, she seeks it from any other person who will give her their attention. However, because she has always lived in run-down areas of town, the people who are giving her the attention she is desperately looking for are addicts, pimps, and other abused children. Her lack of strong relationships leaves her alone more often than not. After getting in a large fight with Jules, she has only herself to turn to for comfort. She says, “I felt so sorry for myself that I hugged myself like a baby. ‘It’s okay. It’s okay sweetie,’ I whispered to myself until I felt better” (O’Neill 157).

Representation of the Victim Archetype

A symbolic item that I took note of is the rag doll that was given to Baby by her mother before she was born. This doll is the only thing she has to remember her mother by, and she treasures it quite dearly. She explains, “The doll also made me feel sweet inside, too, because it made me feel that at some point, even before I existed, I had been loved” (O’Neill 97-98). As well, this doll in its worn-down state represents the childhood innocence that Baby is still holding on to by a thin thread. It is falling apart in many aspects, but is still surviving, just as Baby is.

“Beth Parson’s Toy”

Another symbol that this doll represents is Baby’s relationship with Jules. The doll starts out tattered and falling apart, but she still loved it, similar to how she loved Jules despite all the rough patches in their relationship. But later in the novel, Baby comes home to find Jules has completely torn apart her doll leaving its remains all over her floor. Suddenly, something that she had loved so dearly made her sad to look at. She recalls sadly, “I’d never get another one. Jules never thought to buy me pretty things like that. That doll had been like a miracle to me. It had reminded me that I’d been loved by a mother. Now I was a nothing, a real nobody” (O’Neill, 119). This represents the beginning of the downfall of her relationship with Jules, as they slowly begin to communicate less and less until their father-daughter relationship is near completely broken.

Baby’s life is currently on a downhill slope, and though it is not looking too promising, I would love to see her pick herself up and out of it.

Works Cited

O’Neill, Heather. Lullabies for Little Criminals: a Novel. HarperCollins, 2006, New York. Print.

 

 

Lullabies for Baby

The novel I have chosen to read for my culminating task is Lullabies for Little Criminals by Heather O’Neill. This plot follows the challenging life of Baby, a lanky thirteen year old girl who lives with Jules, her young father. Jules is a heroin addict, and the pair live in a run-down apartment in a small Montreal town. Baby’s mother passed away when she was very young, so she has no recollection of her, but Jules manages to change the topic whenever she brings it up. Jules is in and out of hospitals and rehabilitation facilities, which often leaves Baby alone to figure out the world for herself. However, she is naive and tries to make the best of her situation, truly believing that it is best for Jules when he is on heroin, to keep him happier.

I have greatly enjoyed this novel so far. The author incorporates a good deal of emotion in to her writing that makes me want to keep reading, as well as uses Baby’s childhood innocence to leave room for the reader to make inferences about details of her life.

The cover of “Lullabies for Little Criminals” by Heather O’Neill

The plot and setting of the novel is realistic, and I have been able to connect to many of the things Baby speaks of to scenarios in my life that I have either witnessed or personally experienced. For example, Baby lost her mother when she was very young. This is a situation that I have witnessed multiple times, within my own family and friends, as well as in other novels or shows. This reminds me of another novel I have read, “Room” by Emma Donoghue, where a young boy named Jack is raised in a singular room by his mother. He has never seen the outside world, and this makes me think of Baby’s situation, being raised by just Jules, and not experiencing many things outside of her own apartment building.

The cover of “Room” by Emma Donoghue

O’Neill uses the emotion in her writing to demonstrate how even though Baby does not know her mother, she misses her. For example, she says, “I put the conch up to my ear, as I often did. Sometimes I didn’t hear the sound of the beach at all. Sometimes I was sure that I could hear the sound of my mother laughing” (O’Neill 59). The way the author writes allows the reader to really imagine how Baby must be feeling in that moment, as well as possibly connect to a situation in their own lives.

Jules’ substance abuse problems began shortly after Baby’s mother died. This is another thing I was able to make a connection to, as I have observed many people in my own life and in other novels deal with tragedy in various ways, including with the use of drugs and alcohol. “A Million Little Pieces”by James Frey is a novel that I read that I can connect to this. It goes in depth on exactly how substance abuse affects a person, and gives me a better understanding of what Jules is going through.

The cover of “A Million Little Pieces” by James Frey

However, Baby does not view Jules’ use of drugs as an issue, but rather as something that keeps them both happy. She explains, “When he was stoned, he was honest. I love it when he told me secrets” (O’Neill 18). Because Baby still holds her childhood innocence, she blissfully ignores the major problems of drug addiction, and focuses on what she sees as the positive side: Jules is happier, and their father-daughter relationship is seemingly stronger. She does not have a true parent-figure, so she clings to each little moment she can get with her stoned father.

Another thing I have noticed about O’Neill’s writing throughout this novel is that it is very descriptive, and allows me to really visualize what is being seen or felt. For example, Baby describes “I closed my eyes and the roof was gone. I could see the stars while the piano tinkled. I could see Jupiter and it was blue, and Neptune was silver like a tennis ball sprayed silver. I could reach out and touch it, like cold water” (O’Neill 87). Here the author uses similes as well as detailed description to paint a picture of what Baby is seeing.

About halfway through the section I read, Jules is sent to another rehabilitation centre, and Baby is sent to live with in a foster home. This is where she meets Felix. I believe that O’Neill included Felix to give Baby a companion, and someone she can relate to. Felix struggles with many of the same things as Baby, such as lack of a strong parental figure. They quickly become close friends, and he helps her discuss things that she could not talk about with Jules, such as her mother’s passing. Felix makes Baby feel like she is not truly alone.

The plot line throughout this novel has been intriguing, but it seems to be building up to something bigger. I predict that a major event is going to occur within the next section of the book that I read, that will change Baby’s life drastically. I would like to see her quality of life improve, and possibly find a new companion now that she is not living with Felix anymore.

Works Cited

O’Neill, Heather. Lullabies for Little Criminals: a Novel. HarperCollins, 2006, New York. Print.