Character Study

Lux Lisbon- Although there are five unique Lisbon sisters, Lux is the prominent in the book. She is the ideal image of a “Lisbon sister”.  The narrators, who curiously study the five sisters, have a preset image that all the sisters are identically beautiful and eccentric. However, as more is revealed about the sisters, the narrators realize that Lux is the only sister that accorded to their predetermined image.  The narrators described her by saying, “She radiated health and mischief. Her dress fit tightly, and when she came forward to shake our hands, she secretly moved one finger to tickle our palms, giving off at the same time a strange gruff laugh.” She is the only sister who is mischievous; she breaks her parents’ rules by sneaking out, meeting up with boys, and smoking cigarettes. All the boys at school chase after Lux, but the relationships she has with them are described as: “Lux’s brief unions were clandestine. They sprouted in the dead time of study halls, bloomed on the way to the drinking fountain, and were consummated in the hot box above the auditorium, amid uncomfortable theatrical lights and cables.” Most of the boys she meets are stupid and selfish. However, the only reliable boy Lux meets is Trip Fontaine. Lux is a typical teenage girl, who seeks rebellion from her over bearing parents. Therefore, she rebels sexually. The psychiatrist in the book points out that Lux seeks these short lived sexual interactions because she is seeking love that she doesn’t receive at home.

Cecilia Lisbon- Cecilia is the youngest Lisbon sister. In the opening paragraph it is stated that she slit her wrists in the bath tub once, but this first attempted suicide failed. After this attempt the doctors suggested that the Lisbon parents be less strict. Therefore, the Lisbon’s allowed their daughters to have a party. At the party we first see the different personalities of each sister. While all the other sisters are trying to impress the boys, Cecilia is sitting in the corner wearing a vintage wedding dress. The way the author describes Cecilia in the passage makes her seem crazy: “She had colored her lips with red crayon…”, “She was wearing a collection of bracelets taped to her arm to hide the scars…”, and she had spots of hospital food still on her dress. The boys at the party knew to stay away from Cecilia, because unlike the other girls she secluded herself from the party. Later, she asks to be excused from the party, this is the first time that the boys hear her talk. They describe her as sounding mature, old, and tired.  A few minutes after being excused, the party hears an abrupt crash of her small body onto the fence below her window. Although not much is found out about Cecilia, she seems to be the trigger to the following suicides. It is never explained why she killed herself, but the neighbors did find one of her journals, which may later explain why.

Trip Fontaine- Trip is a prominent character because of his sexual interaction with Lux Lisbon. He is described as the only reliable boy that Lux has been with. He doesn’t brag or flaunt the things he does with Lux, instead he respects her and keeps quiet. The author tells us that Trip use to be just a regular young teenage boy, but that he matured to be a man much faster than the boys around him. This is because of his week-long romance with Gina Desander. Gina was an older woman that taught Trip how to be a man sexually and mentally. Not only did Trips personality change, but so did his looks. After that week with Gina, all the girls at school and their mothers fell in love with Trip. He could have any women he wanted, but for some unexplainable reason he became secretly in love with Lux. He was the first boy to enter the Lisbon house alone and later Lux snuck out to be with him. He was amazed at their sexual interaction. It was nothing he had ever experienced before. The author described Trip’s feelings by saying, “… he was still amazed by Lux’s singleness of purpose, her total lack of inhibitions, her mythic mutability that allowed her to possess three or four arms at once.” Trip had a lot of experience with other girls, but he felt inadequate to Lux’s sexual needs. He described her as a creature, but in good way. He has never experienced love like that one and all of the women that followed Lux didn’t even compare. Trip never understood what attracted him to her or why he was so obsessed with her.

Mr. and Mrs. Lisbon- Mrs. Lisbon is an over-bearing Christian who creates strict guidelines for her daughters to live by. She doesn’t allow boys to come over, the girls to go out, tight clothing, risqué tv shows, or many other forms of entertainment. Although it seems like Mr. Lisbon is strict too, we believe that he is just afraid of his wife. Both parents love their daughters, but they both believe in different ways of raising them. Throughout the book you can see Mr. Lisbon’s attempts at being “normal”. For example, in the book the author describes how all the fathers in the neighborhood join together each autumn to burn the fallen leaves. Mr. Lisbon each year would join the fathers in doing this because of his longing to be normal and fit in. However, Mrs. Lisbon’s paranoia over the fire getting out of control would diminish Mr. Lisbon’s enjoyment of being normal with the rest of the neighborhood. There is no question that Mr. and Mrs. Lisbon love their daughters, but Mrs. Lisbon strict believes about life may be the thing sparking the girls’ rebellions and eventual suicides.