In this Chapter of the book you discover Dolly's life. Dolly is an assistant for the General who is a dictator and her job is to make him look better to the public. During the first few pages it shows the basics of her job and how she has to talk to a co-worker named Arc. Dolly realizes that the General's picture in the newspaper wasn't very bright looking so she talked to Arc and gave a suggestion which was to cut the ties off the hat and smile for the picture. Later she goes to meet the General but she encounters some problem when the General isn't there, she is bringing her daughter but hiding the truth, and she has to bring a famous movie star. When they arrive at the General's house, they get told that the General is gone, so they then decide to meet with him where he is by traveling with Arc. As they walked through the town they discover how everyone acts around certain people, including Arc. Arc then asks them if they wanted any fruit from the vendors and Lulu, Dolly's daughter, says yes. She then asks for a star fruit and takes a bite and becomes excited and says, "Mom, you have to try this". Dolly then realizes that she hasn't heard Lulu say mom for about a year because she had been in jail for manslaughter. Finally Dolly relieves that she has been hiding that Lulu was an "accident" and Dolly would show Lulu pictures of an old ex-boyfriend and say he had died.
The theme of this chapter is innocence. Lulu is the definition of innocence because she isn't harmed by anything. Even though she walked through a city of people ruled by a dictator, she still managed to find happiness and smile. Lulu doesn't know about her actual dad who was a one night stand and a movie star client of her moms. In this chapter Lulu doesn't see the world like how most people see it and she is that light of innocence that keeps things in motion and keeps everyone believing.
Interesting that you found Lulu to represent innocence. When I read this chapter, I thought she represented strength in how she could find happiness in such a bleak setting. Seeing Lulu as innocent brings a whole new meaning to the story.
ReplyDeleteFor Heidkamp: Good work! You connected the thing to the other thing really well!
ReplyDeleteFor you: This is an interesting take on Lulu's representation, both by you and Luke's explanation. I saw Lulu as a representation as the burden of Dolly's past and present, like the "La Doll Incident," the 1 night stand, working for a genocidal dictator, and just having Lulu in general. Lulu, like her problems, were kinda tolerated and watched instead of actually solved/taken care of. Until Lulu ended up going to see the General with Dolly, everything was crashing down on her. As Dolly's little adventure ended, most if not all of the things were solved with the pacification of Lulu's discontent for her mother. Nobody knew Dolly as La Doll, she retired from attempting to pardon criminals and psychos, and Lulu appreciates her again.
I can definitely see how Lulu embodies innocence. When I was reading the chapter, another motif that I saw come up a lot was that of control. For example how Lulu was the leader of all the girls at her school, how the general was a leader, and even how Dolly was once a leader in her field. Perhaps it speaks to the idea that even though we attempt to control our lives, ultimately we cannot control their outcomes.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete