Protagonist

Character Role Analysis

The Lisbon Sisters

There isn't just one protagonist in the novel (though if we had to choose we'd pick Lux). The Lisbon sisters function as a single unit, acting together. We, the readers, identify with them, are fascinated by them, and wish, so so much, that they'd stay alive. We're pretty much in the same boat as the narrators. We're fascinated by the details and want to know why they did what they did.

But wait: Time for an opposing viewpoint. How about the narrators as protagonists? They're the ones telling the stories. The Lisbon girls only exist for us because they're telling us about them. They're the witnesses. Isn't the story really their story? A story of obsession and longing, of trying to understand things that happened long ago and that you just can't shake? One New York Times reviewer wrote:

The reader becomes even more interested in why this "we" persists in its fascination with the five Lisbon sisters of suburban Grosse Pointe, Mich., than in why each of the girls "took her turn at suicide."

We report. You decide.