What Has Happened To Lulu?
STANNZA 1
Persona = Lulus sibling (younger brother/sister)
Questions asked by Lulus sibling
Child-like simple phrases present tense
repetition
mysterious and sudden disappearance
of Lulu.
An old rag doll = innocent, childlike left
behind no self-power = being controlled/
manipulated
-Symbol = Lulu leaves her childhood/family
and a shoe was left behind.- in hurry
STANZA 2
Curtain flapping because window is open
Moneybox missing = Lulus belonging
STANZA 3
Mother turned- did not answer
Tear drops = mother cries
= disheartened = guilt = mothers fault
-regret
Questions no answer mother withholding info
refuse to answer = protective
Because the truth may hurt - affect sisters image
Mothers opinion
Mother cares too much
Over protective guilt
= mother too sad
Mother ashamed guilty
Mother protects younger child
NOTE Runaway? idnapped?
Crumple getting smaller = mothers getting
weaker lose hope..give up
Fire = red = DANGER
By Charles Causley STANZA 4
What has happened to Lulu, mother? Voices = argument
What has happened to Lu? Lulu = rebelious
There's nothing in her bed but an old rag-doll Engine = vehicle. Car? Motor?
And by its side a shoe. Roar = in hurry. (angry)
Why is her window wide, mother, Stanza 5
The curtain flapping free, The persona heard someone cry "in
And only a circle on the dusty shelf anger or in pain".
Where her money-box used to be? The mother says it was just "a gust of rain".
Why do you turn your head, mother,
Stanza 6
And why do tear drops fall?
And why do you crumple that note on the fire Wander = roam, meander, amble
And say it is nothing at all? Persona is concerned - t the mother's
distraught behavior,
I woke to voices late last night,
I heard an engine roar. Lu" is an affectionate shortened form of
Why do you tell me the things I heard "Lulu".
Were a dream and nothing more? ** ** ** *** **
I heard somebody cry, mother, Setting Place
In anger or in pain,
Probably in England - "money-box" is a
But now I ask you why, mother,
You say it was a gust of rain. typical British word. (U.S= piggy bank)
Lulu's room
Why do you wander about as though The fireplace
You don't know what to do? Time - In the past
What has happened to Lulu, mother?
What has happened to Lu?
Charles Causley Themes
1. The end of childhood and the loss of
It is a story of a mother grieving innocence
because her elder daughter, Lulu run 2. Parent-child relationship
away. 3. Grief and love
The mother is distraught and ends up
tells her child a series of lies.