CHAPTER II REVIEW OF LITERATURE
A. Review of Related Studies
Some criticisms about this novel help the writer in understanding this novel. The writer life style influenced
The Virgin Suicides’ style writing and content. As what is stated by Jay Mcinerney in his review about The Virgin Suicide.
From the review that has been done by Lisa A. Kirby, Ph. D, the assistant professor of English at North Carolina Wesleyan College, she states that the five
teenage Lisbon sisters are the objects of desire and interest of the neighborhood boys Kirby, 1994:3. Lewis Mumford in the Social Critics also states that the
main cause of the Lisbon’s to commit suicide is external factor. In his review, he states that the family is also a subject of all manner of gossip as the neighbors
speculate who is to blame and what will happen. Among the neighbors, there is an illusion of concern and sympathy for the Lisbon family; however, there is a
darker, more voyeuristic element at works as well Lewis, 1993: 1. Based on Kirby’s and Lewis’s statement about the cause why Lisbon’s daughters commit
suicide, Kirby and Lewis say that the cause why Lisbon’s daughters commit suicide is merely just because of friends, neighbor, and gossip. This thesis tries to
reveal that the factor is not only gossip, friends, and neighbor but the factor also comes from their mother, Mrs. Lisbon, who never lets them out to have an
interaction to the outside world.
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Kakutani in her review states that there is a traumatic effect that causes Lisbon’s daughters to commit suicide. Kakutani says that the cause is Lisbon’s
daughters are feeling haunted by their ’s sister death. Kakutani, 199:54. This
thesis thinks that what Kakutani says is true but what makes them commit suicide is not only because of feeling scared, but there are also other factors. There is also
a research that is done by Adam Green entitled The Virgin Suicides Critical Analysis. Adam Green states that the cause of the Lisbon
’s daughters to commit suicide is because of supernatural factor. He states in his analysis that a suicide is
an extraordinary event. When someone takes their own life, especially in a tight- knit community, the support for that person’s family from the community takes
almost a supernatural form, as people with differences, and sometimes even feuds, who would never band together under normal circumstances, band together in
support. The weakness of Adam’s research, Adam still cannot answer some question. Such as
“Why?”, “Why would someone feel the need to take their own life?” “Why were their demons great enough to overpower all of the great
opportunities they would have had in life?” This thesis also thinks that Adam only focuses in the spiritual side. This thesis thinks that supernatural side is
something that is so extensive; it is why, this thesis wants to observe the basic cause of the decision to commit suicide which is more realistic.
This thesis also points out two reviews that observe character’s decision to
commit suicide. Nunung Marganingsih ’s research entitled “The Contribution of
Conflict toward Eustacia’s Decision to Commit Suicide in Thomas Hardy’s The Return of the Native, Marganingsih says that decision to commit suicide as the
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