Blog Post #6 - First Person Perspective

This novel is a tragic memoir of the author Heather O’Neil. She wrote this novel from past experiences and memories from her early childhood. This novel is told from a first person perspective and is portrayed very well as the author has experienced most of the things the main character Baby did. Heather O’Neil wrote this novel through the eyes of a child to portray the harsh environment that Baby grew up in. when Baby was just a kid; she was exposed to heroine and bad experiences from the people she hung out with, as well from her father Jules. The harshness of reality was shown before she was ready.

Thesis: Heather O’Neil’s novel Lullabies for Little Criminals is based is based upon a first person perspective. This shows that Baby becomes accustomed with the harsh reality of drugs and prostitution causing her to loose her innocence. Eventually she became are of he problems she endures at a very young age. Once Baby looses her innocence, it will be hard for her to recover.

As I said in my previous blog post “Having Baby as a first person narrative, brought the story to life as if it was happening to you. As she describes what she is feeling, you can put yourself in her shoes and sympathies with her and understand why she made the decision she did,” If the story did not have a first person narrative, it would be difficult to make a connection with the character because you don’t understand the emotions they are feeling or why they are making the decisions they do.  Heather O’Neil’s past experiences made the story realistic because she had experienced them first hand and was able to write about in in explicit detail.  First person narrative is the best way to write this kind of story because you are showing how the character feels instead of telling the reader. Heather O’Neil makes a lot of comments for Baby saying, “When you’re a kid…”  as if she had already experienced adulthood and knows there is a difference between the two. “Becoming a child again is what is impossible. That’s what you have a legitimate reason to be upset over. Childhood is the most valuable thing that is taken away from you in life, if you think about it.” (O’Neil, 69) Heather is using her own past experiences and characterizing them in the main character Baby.

Blog post #5 Reader Response Theory

Having grown up in a different setting and a different life style then Baby, I found it heard to relate to her experiences.  I grew up with a mother and father who care very much for me and made sure that I had a life that was the best they could give me. Baby on the other hand, had no mother and an absent father who abused drugs. It was difficult finding experiences to mine own, but instead of looking at the bug topics such as prostitution and drugs, I looked at the other things that I could relate to, like fitting in.

I can relate to moving schools and have the excitement of meeting new people in a new environment. I had to move to a new house and a new school because my mom got remarried. Baby had to move to a new apartment and new schools because Jules had misunderstandings with his drug “friends.” “My new school was within walking distance of many more houses, so I didn't have to worry about having enough students. It took up most of the block and was made out of large grey stones, like a museum. I didn't mind changing schools at all and was very optimistic about it.” (O’Neil, 97)

Having Baby as a first person narrative, brought the story to life as if it is happening to you. As she describes what she is feeling, you can put your self in her shoes and sympathies with her and understand why she made he choices she did. Reading through this novel, I like to compare my life to hers. Although they are completely opposite, I find my self-relating to her feelings rather than her experiences.  In elementary school, I was bullied a lot so I felt isolated from everyone else. When Baby was trying to reconnect with her friend Zoe, it turned into Zoe and her friends against Baby. “All of a sudden, without saying where I was going or good-bye or anything like that, I climbed over Greg and out of the car at a red light. I heard Cherie laughing hysterically as I sloshed down the slushy street. Zoe got out of the car and called after me. (O’Neil, 270)

With the society we live in, there are not a lot of thirteen-year-old girls who have been through the experiences that Baby has. Prostitution for example isn’t common for young girls to do to fit in and feel loved and wanted. The way Baby would describe her experiences and emotions with situations, made it feel as if you were right beside her through out the whole book.

Plog Post #4- Feminism

In the novel Lullabies for Little Criminals by Heather O’Neil, women are portrayed as sex figures or someone who will stay at home to cook and clean while their husband works. Later in the novel, Baby is a prostitute as she starts to hangout and have sexual relations with her pimp, Alphonse. Alphonse is a pimp who suddenly gets obsessed with Baby when he first meets her. Since Baby was not familiar to all the attention that Alphonse was giving her, she really liked it. Alphonse made Baby feel wanted and needed, and not a neglecting relationship that she has had her whole life. He spoiled her, took her out and made her feel like she was the prettiest girl on the street with his compliments. “Do you ever notice how when you walk down the, everybody turns around to look at you? That's because you’re the prettiest girl in the neighbourhood.” Baby felt as if Alphonse was using her for her prostitution. She knew that she didn't need him in her life and could find someone who likes her for her, and not what she can provide. She stated hanging out with a boy from school who made her happy.

Baby had always longed for a mother. She looked for qualities in everyone she met to try to meet a standard. When Jules was in rehab, se stayed with her friend who had a mother that Baby thought was the perfect mother figure.  Baby also found these characteristics in Alphonse. “When Alphonse came into my life, it strangely felt a little bit like he was a mother figure. Every good pimp is a mother. When Alphonse spoke to me, his voice had the same tempo as a lullaby.” With being exposed to two different roles women can portray, Baby has yet to figure out what the role of women should portray.