What Happen to lulu-Note & Meaning

FIGURATIVE MEANING OF POEM

Nowadays, many young people, especially teenage girls, run away from home. Parents restrain them by advising them not to trust anyone and simply leave home. But they still disobey and run away only to regret later. These young girls get cheated and are always in serious trouble. The family feels the pain and sorrow of the loss of their loved one.

In this poem, the persona's older sister, Lulu, runs away with someone late at night in a car. Her younger brother, a young child, wakes up and finds her missing He is innocent and puzzled. He knows that something is seriously wrong but he does not know what has really happened.

This poem also describes how parents deal with children when they do not want them to know that something terrible has happened. They dismiss what children see or hear. In this poem, the little boy has some valid knowledge of what has happened but his mother, does not tell him about it. His sister has gone with her money-box but left her rag-doll and a shoe. He repeatedly asks his mother what has happened to Lulu but she remains silent. He feels the pain and anger in his mother as she cries and bums a note. Yet, when, he asks her about it, she denies anything is wrong. He does not understand the adult world so he asks his mother about the voices and the sound of the car engine that he heard the previous night. But she dismisses them as just a dream and he is confused by her false answers.

The voices that the persona heard could be his mother's and/or Lulu's. His mother might have tried to advise and stop his sister from running away but she might not have listened to her. Now, his mother is grieving the loss of his sister and she does not want her little boy to worry and suffer the pain of the loss too.

SUMMARY OF THE POEM

In this poem, the persona is a young child (Lulu's younger brother or younger sister). He tells us that his older sister, Lulu, is missing. Actually she has run away but when he asks his mother, she does not tell him what has happened. He sees Lulu's old rag-doll on her bed and a shoe by its side. Her window is open and her money-box is gone. When he asks his mother why she is crying and burning a note, she says that it is nothing. He is puzzled and asks her what has happened to Lulu but she is silent. Then, he tells her that he heard voices and a car late at night but she says that he must have been dreaming. Next, he says that he heard somebody crying in anger or in pain but she explains that it must have been the rain. He is confused. He notices that she is confused too and wants to know what has happened to his sister. But she remains silent.