Loss of Innocence in Lullabies for Little Criminals by Heather O’Neill

645 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Essay on heroin addiction

Young adults are losing their childhood innocence; replacing it with the world of adulthood. The most reoccurring theme throughout the book, Lullabies for Little Criminals by Heather O’Neill is the loss of innocence. The protagonist named Baby, lives with her father, Jules who is a heroin addict. Jules and Baby are constantly moving to different apartments in Montreal, where Baby is exposed to drugs, juvenile detention and forced into prostitution by her pimp. Baby experiences many obstacles in her life at the age of thirteen because she doesn’t have a father that loves her enough to guide her into the right path of life. Therefore it did not take long for Baby to lose her innocence.
In society, many kids are exposed to drugs at a very young age such as Baby. Since Baby’s father is a heroin addiction, she would always experience Jules under the influence of drugs. Jules influenced Baby the most by exposing her to drugs which made her lose her childhood innocence. “I was very firm on the idea that I would become a drug addict too now. I didn’t care what drug I was going to be addicted too” (O’ Neill 72). Baby does not have any knowledge about drugs. She believes that her knowledge of drugs comes from her father and her father’s friends; majority of them were “junkies”. Jules’ addiction eventually got worse and he began to release his problems by abusing Baby; the relationship between her father and her becomes more distant. She feels that if she tries heroin, she will be able to become closer to her dad. At this point in time Baby is very vulnerable because she’s basically raising herself on her own; her dad is not there for her which leaves Baby with no choice but to let go of her innocence, due to adult temptation.
The l...

... middle of paper ...

...ts to go back to her childhood days, but she continues to ruin her life with situations that she shouldn’t be involved in.

Throughout Baby’s life she has experienced many cases where she has lost her innocence. Baby is young enough to bring her dolls around in a vinyl suitcase, yet old enough to experience more than she should about the world’s hardships. Baby and Jules had a lot of misfortunes in their life, and Baby’s vulnerability contributes to her misfortune, in being unable to differentiate between right and wrong, due to her desire to be loved; which Jules always failed to show her. There are many reasons why young adults feel the need to grow up fast in the adulthood world but in the end it’s not worth it. The childhood stage is overlooked and that’s the most important stage of life that young adults should cherish, because you only live through it once.

Show More
Related

  • Death in Gabrielle Zevin´s Elsewhere

    889 Words  | 2 Pages

    ... that no matter what she does, she can never get her old life back, and in the end accept this fact and moves on with her new life in Elsewhere.

    Read More

  • Eleven By Sandra Cisneros Analysis

    659 Words  | 2 Pages

    Have you ever felt like you can’t get the words out of your mouth? When you do manage to talk, does it come out like you are a little kid? Sandra Cisneros’s “Eleven” is about a girl named Rachel who just turned eleven. She is accused of owning a sweater which was left in school for a month. Through this traumatic period of time, Rachel feels a lot of emotions and sometimes, she thinks or acts like her younger self. Throughout the story, the author tries to convey the fact that we all carry with us the years that come before, sometimes reverting to the child within us through our thoughts, actions, and/or emotions.

    Read More

  • Kristina's Relationship With A Friend Character Analysis

    481 Words  | 1 Pages

    As if Kristina’s troubling relationship with her father is not enough for her to deal with, she must also cope with the disconnectedness between her and her mother, who is too self-absorbed to bother with her daughter. Kristina recalls, “I’ve been alone since my mom met Scott. He sucked the nectar from her heart like a famished butterfly. No nurture, no nourishment left for Kristina” (Hopkins 13). This horrific confession makes it blatantly obvious why Kristina eventually turned to drugs to deal with the stress of her everyday life. Kristina feels neglected and unimportant not only in the eyes of her father, but her mother, too, which is a difficult realization at any age, but especially difficult as a teenage girl. When Kristina gets off her returning flight, Marie knows “she caught sight of something not quite right,” but she ignores her motherly intuition and the fact that Kristina is still high on meth (Hopkins 186).

    Read More

  • Growing Up Too Fast Analysis

    137 Words  | 1 Pages

    In the articles “Growing Up” by sweetdollsarah and “Growing Up too Fast” by jadeharrison6457, the author conveys growing up to be both fun and dreadful. Sweetdollsarah from Hemet, CA contrasts growing up to be much like cough syrup; helping your sickness but leaving a sour, bitter aftertaste in your mouth. The author of “Growing Up” connects to the audience with something they have most likely experienced, drinking cough syrup. In “Growing Up too Fast”, the author jadeharrison6457 leads the audience to believe growing up is full of regret through their assertive tone throughout the article. The goal of both articles is to let readers know to take advantage of childhoods before they’re gone and to live in the moment. Growing up is different

    Read More

  • Maturity In Holden Caulfield's The Catcher In The Rye

    1931 Words  | 4 Pages

    In a world so said to be steeped in immorality and despair, the idea of purity and children, the vessels that embody said characteristic, are idealized above all. Those said to be adults gravitate towards their blinding light as if moths to a flame, and constantly try to recapture the feelings of naivety, honesty, and joy, as if by revisiting old memories they may be able to be closer to the happiness they felt as a child. However, the unyielding passage of time locks the adult in their place, entombing them with the inevitable truth that all things come to an end, and forcing them to abandon the childhood vision for what they are now. For centuries, the simple madness for accepting things as they are is what has been, and always should be,

    Read More

  • Pearl And Syrian Refugee Children In The Scarlett Letter By Nathaniel Hawthorne

    961 Words  | 2 Pages

    Throughout most of society today the concept of innocence is either greatly present or just lost and there is no in between. But the idea of innocence and children holding is dependent on the social status of the child and that family, since the more exposed the child is to the world and technology the quicker they will lose innocence. As opposed to a child living in a society such as a Puritan society where things were not as developed and opportunities for children were limited. Hawthorne illustrates the timeless theme of innocence through the development of Pearl’s in The Scarlet Letter, and thus allows the reader to draw parallels between Syrian refugee children as they battle to keep hold of their innocence.

    Read More

  • The Effect of War in Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis

    1117 Words  | 3 Pages

    ... growth where a child is forced to start looking for solutions for everything that is wrong instead of simply being a child. This analysis prove that children have their own way of seeing things and interpreting them. Their defense mechanisms allow them to live through hard and difficult times by creating jokes and games out of the real situation. This enables then to escape the difficulties of the real world.

    Read More

  • Shameless Parent Addiction

    478 Words  | 1 Pages

    Drug abuse impacts the users and the people involved in their life. Beyond the harmful consequences to health, finances, and occupation; children of addicted parents are perhaps the most affected. Growing up with and addict can mean having to handle varies unethical situations. For instance, not being their parent’s main priority. Their relationship with their drug of choice surpasses the bond they share with their kids. Likewise, living without established rules or any form of guidance. Their so undependable that the child has to find ways to fend for oneself and take on responsibilities normally performed by the parent. Furthermore, parental addiction can cause the children to live in constant fear because it’s uncertain what mood the parent will be in at any given time. What happens if the parent decides to get sober and start acting like a parent?

    Read More

  • Loss Of Innocence In The God Of Small Things

    1145 Words  | 3 Pages

    Maturity is a state of mind that suddenly shatters the past state of mind of innocence, and leaves it destroyed. It becomes irretrievable. Maturity is then forced upon the person’s mind until it is accepted as a normality. In The God of Small Things, written by Arundhati Roy, children named Estha and Rahel recall the biggest tragedy of their lives. Rahel feels responsible for the death of her cousin, Sophie Mol, and must come to terms with the horrible trauma she experienced. This event transforms the book into a tragedy with a grim tone. The tragedy and aftermath are caused by their reckless behavior.They both are forced to mature when they experience that tragedy and the aftermath of it.

    Read More

  • Soft Piano Drug Addiction

    333 Words  | 1 Pages

    Narrator: Mothers everywhere are suffering from these monstrous addictions that do nothing but eat away at you. These women are so addicted to these drugs that they don’t even stop to think about the harm they are causing their children.

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Childhood In Coming Of Age Story

    750 Words  | 2 Pages

    During childhood, we learn some of the most important things in life; right and wrong, stranger danger, the abc’s, but, as a young kid, you don't know much about growing up - yet, that's all you want to do. In the following stories, children go through an important event that may change how they look at the process of growing older and realize how everything changes. As a child, you are assumed to be pure by most, with a clean slate, but as you mature, and become more independent, a lot of things change. In other words with maturity, comes the loss of innocence, and the gain of responsibility. In coming of age stories, the author utilizes dramatic details to highlight the protagonist’s innocence and how it changes and develops through

    Read More

  • Losing Your Innocence Research Paper

    248 Words  | 1 Pages

    When you are a child your life is very simplistic in comparison to an adults life. All you do is live in the moment and have fun and you don't have to worry about paying the bills or putting food on the table.When you are a child you aren't expected to understand everything about the complex world and you always have someone looking out for you because you can't be expected to understand certain things such as politics. Everyone in the world loses their innocence at different times because sometimes people are just needed to grow up faster. Losing your innocence in today's world is necessary because you can't live independently in the world if you don't understand it. Your parents or role models play a huge part in you life play because it's

    Read More

  • Loss Of Innocence Research Paper

    638 Words  | 2 Pages

    Inconsistency at any age is difficult to deal with. Especially when the constant changes involve schools, friends, and locations. Growing up I was known as the girl who was always moving. I’ve lived in various places from Massachusetts to Dominican Republic, Georgia, Texas and California. There’s no specific reason to why we were always moving, we just did. The memories of all the cities, schools, and apartments we've lived in begin to fade. Moving was very challenging, I was trying to develop my social skills while trying to find comfort within all these new places. Nothing was consistent. The worst was never being able to form a secure friendship. I never noticed how much of a toll this left on me until 6th

    Read More

  • Loss Of Innocence Essay

    1093 Words  | 3 Pages

    Tennyson’s poem, Ulysses, is about a man who changed from his experience at sea, and was never the same when he returned to his home, Ithaca. Likewise, I have changed from my experiences in a society that is very different from my own. Gender discrimination is a major social problem that exists all over the world, especially in third world countries. It is very common for girls to be strangled, abused, and mistreated in India. Orphanages provide these girls with a shelter, an education, good health, food, and clothes. My trip to India left me in complete shock, as I realized just how blessed I truly am. After travelling to the ‘Unique Home for Girls,’ an orphanage in India, I learned to be more grateful for everything in my life.

    Read More

  • Exploring Familial Absence and Addiction in 'Lullabies for Little Criminals'

    1475 Words  | 3 Pages

    The novel Lullabies for Little Criminals by Heather O’Neill is narrated by Baby -- the 12 year-old protagonist and daughter of single father and heroin addict, Jules. Baby never knew her mother and is unaware of any extended family. She lives in various shabby hotels with her father in Montreal’s red light district. This paper is an exploration of the pathway effects caused by lack of familial support and how Jules’ addiction created a milieu that Baby entered at birth. Suggestions are offered to alleviate their struggles.

    Read More

More about Loss of Innocence in Lullabies for Little Criminals by Heather O’Neill

Open Document