Review Of Heather O 'Neill's Lullabies For Little Criminals'

Childhood Morals and Values Children are like sponges—they absorb and model everything a parent does and incorporate what they learn into their own lives. Due to this, it is essential that parents set the right examples for their children as setting negative standards can be detrimental to a child’s development and induce bad behavior. In Lullabies for Little Criminals, Heather O’Neill, through characterization, reveals that external factors present within childhood affect an individual’s development and shapes their disposition. The connection between a child’s environment and a child’s development are explored through the character of Baby, as she becomes a product of her surroundings. She is raised in an environment that is pervaded with
Witnessing how carelessly she takes the drugs displays how she has become accustomed to the negative factors in her life and does not think about the consequences of her decisions. Furthermore, she believes that taking the drugs will make her seem “cool and troubled” (O’Neill, 114). This displays that she is intellectually corrupt, as she associates dishonourable acts which have deleterious effects, with positive results: to be labeled ‘cool’ and ‘troubled.’ Her innocence further diminishes as she “walk[s] down the hall [and] notice[s] that it [is] snowing” (O’Neill, 114). As she experiences the effects of drugs, her consciousness melts away along with the remainder of her purity. Baby continues to fall further and further into a hallucinatory state, and distinguishes the snowflakes as “tiny origami cranes that had taken flight” (O’Neill, 114). These tiny origami cranes are part of her hallucinations as they allude to her father making cranes in rehab, which he is in for his drastic heroin addiction. Therefore, the cranes act as a symbol of her father due to the fact that he is her biggest role model, and she is willing to do anything, including drugs, if it means she is able to spend time with him. In addition, O’Neill uses a simile to portray the sensation Baby is experiencing as an
Living life with the absence of a mother figure is one of the most significant factors that has majorly influenced the outcome of her life. Having a mother to guide, encourage, and mold a child is essential in developing their character, and as Baby does not have one, it has prevented her from learning valuable lessons in life. Due to this, Baby is left in the care of her single father, Jules, who has always been involved with narcotics, and “trie[s] to be a mother, but [has] always kind of fallen short on the mark” (O’Neill, 186). She recognizes the fact that her father is unable to take care of himself, and is not considered a true authority figure due to his immature tendencies and vacuous decisions. Baby is, hence, forced to take on the parental role, and is deprived from her childhood and the nurturing environment that is necessary in order for a child to properly flourish. This forces her to learn how to be self reliant and independent, however, without guidance, Baby turns to what she knows best and succumbs to the life of drugs, alcohol and prostitution —a fate that was inevitable due to her circumstance and the external factors that surround her. As Baby does not comprehend the feeling of unconditional love that children are supposed to feel from their parents, she searches for love in all the wrong places. When she meets Alphonse, a pimp in her