The Virgin Suicides Point Of View Analysis

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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 reader, the reader is not able to rely on the narrator for reliable information. Eugenides had structured the book this way in order to allow the reader to supply their own details for the suicide, to keep the book interesting and intriguing, and to allow the readers to connect their own lives to that of the narrators. At first, it might seem …show more content…

They aren’t able to get to know who the girls really are because of the isolation Mrs. Lisbon puts them through and therefore, the town including the boys couldn’t find out reliable information on them, but instead they states things they thought to be true. They can’t be sure of the things they know to be true which affects the story. As we are reading the book it’s as if we are trying to uncover the truth together with the boys. By reading and interpreting the text on our own, we are also trying to find the reason for the girls’ suicides and come up with our own reason for it. Even though the information may not be reliable or completely true, the boys would rather live with a not completely true explanation than living with no explanation at all regarding the reason for the suicide. The boys know that even their “evidence” is enough, yet they rather stick to their story and believe it than having to accept the fact that they will never find out the