Blog #3 - Identifying the Problem

In the novel Lullabies for Little Criminals, the main character Baby has been exposed to drugs, alcohol and thieving almost her entire life. This novel is set in Montreal, Quebec. Baby and her father Jules have been all over Montreal living in different apartments with a different setting surrounding them. Drugs and alcohol never seem to leave the picture, exposing Baby to it at a very young age. Baby experienced many situations that are not normal for a twelve-year-old girl.

Baby’s father Jules has a huge impact on her life.  He has taught her to trust no one, and setting up the idea that if she stays out past 9 o’clock, she must be a prostitute. Having a parent, who is addicted to a hardcore drug, sets their mind in a different perspective. They view things a lot different than someone who is not addicted to drugs. Jules is more like an older brother to Baby than a father figure. He has not cared for her the way a parent should care for their child. He has brought drugs, foster homes, angry “friends” that have had trouble with Jules. Baby thinks her dad is right about everything, because that is an instinct you have as a child. . Dr. Howard Samuels said, “ if parents take drugs, sooner or later their children will take drugs too” If Baby kept listening to what her father was telling her was right, she would end up in the same footsteps as her father, and eventually she did. Baby experienced drugs, alcohol and thieving at a very young age. Baby was not exposed to a typical childhood. She would hangout with kids and adults that were not appropriate for her, only being twelve years old. With her father having no guidance towards her social life, resulted in her hanging out with her drug abusing father, drug dealers and pimps.

As Baby likes to go out and experience things so she could fit in, she finds herself in situations where she has to think on her own and not get the input from her father on what is right and wrong. Baby learns over time what is appropriate and what is not, since she lacked the experience of a normal childhood and education.