Lullabies For Little Criminals Summary

“Lullabies For Little Criminals” is an award-winning novel by the Canadian novelist, poet, short story writer, screenwriter and journalist Heather O’Neill. The book won the Hugh MacLennan Prize for Fiction and was shortlisted for the Orange Prize for Fiction and the Governor General's Award. Born in Montreal, Heather O’Neill grew up with divorced parents, and is now a single-parent to her daughter. The story is centered on the twelve year old protagonist, Baby, who lives and moves frequently with her young heroin-addicted father, Jules, around the province of Montreal. Baby was born while Jules was in high school with her mother, who died soon after Baby was born. As the plot unwinds, the reader learns about the challenging life that Baby

Although this may have seemed like a wonderful event for Baby, Alphonse was unfortunately a bad influence for Baby. Teaching her to steal, to consume drugs and alcohol, and introducing her to prostitution, it can be said that he stole her innocence, however, giving more depth and excitement to the plot of the novel. Prior to meeting Alphonse, Baby spent her time away from Jules, who often left her from a week to over a month at a time, with delinquent kids at the Community Centre, or just by herself and her dolls. She often found herself wandering the rural streets of Montreal alone. Everytime Jules leaves, Baby gets up to something interesting, whether it be a good or bad thing, creating many subplots in the novel. When Jules is sick with Tuberculosis, Baby is sent into a foster home by Child Protective Services, where she makes friends with other kids her age. Many weeks later, Jules recovers and promises her that everything will be okay, but Baby was too naive to believe that everything was actually going to be normal again. Despite of her young age of only 12 years, Baby is as pure as the colour white, but at the same time, she is very mature, and takes care of her dad, especially when he is high on heroin. No matter how much Jules would hurt her due to his addictions, Baby would still love him unconditionally. It is then that Baby runs away from home and encounters a

Nonetheless, this quickly changes when she meets a pimp named Alphonse, thus illustrating the theme of the Loss of Innocence. Baby no longer dragged around her suitcase filled with dolls, and “little-girl things”. She was now experienced with drugs and alcohol, and has been having sexual interactions with strangers for money. It could be possible that Baby would not have taken this wrong path if she had a better caring father, or if her mother hadn’t passed away. According to Psychology Attachment theories, specifically that of John Bowlby, initial relationships with parents, especially with the mother, is crucial for child development. He states that “What cannot be communicated to the [m]other cannot be communicated to the self.” Since Baby lost her mother when she was a Baby, her entire childhood was altered due to the lack of mother-love, and support. This absence of good parenting guidance is one of the main factors to Baby’s poor decisions. Despite baby’s increase in maturity and loss of purity, she still has moments where she does not be the cool girl. Sometimes, she would rather be playing with dolls and reading books, but Alphonse forces her to continue what she has gotten herself into. Baby, herself, was aware of “growing up” too fast, which was shown when she stated:“Becoming a child again is what is impossible. That's what you have a legitimate