Fire and Light
The girls are sometimes described as seeming to be "possessed" (1.2), and that otherworldly quality often comes with a light that illuminates them. The image first shows up in a snapshot that the n...
The Fish Flies
The narrators mark time in the book via the arrival of the fish flies, an insect that lives a short life before dying and stinking up the Great Lakes. They first appear when Cecilia makes her first...
Virgin
In the idea of the virgin, several themes of the novel collide. First, there's the sexual element. Although we know not all the sisters are virgins (Lux is quite promiscuous), we know that they've...
The Elm Trees
The neighborhood where the Lisbons and the narrators live is attacked by blight; specifically, all the elms are dying. One by one the Parks Department is condemning the neighborhood trees. The neig...
Evidence
Throughout the novel, the narrators tell us they've been collecting "evidence' about the Lisbon sisters, both before and after the mass suicides. They steal stuff from the girls' bedrooms, go throu...