WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO LULU?

CHARLES CAUSLEY

What has happened to Lulu, mother?

What has happened to Lu?

There’s nothing in her bed but an old rag-doll

And by its side a shoes.

Why her window wide, mother,

The curtain flapping free,

And only circle on the dusty shelf

Where her money-box used to be?

Why do you turn your head, mother,

And why do the tear-drops fall?

And why do you crumple that note on the fire

And say it is nothing at all?

I woke to voice last night,

I heard an engine roar.

Why do you tell me the things I heard

Were a dream and nothing more?

I heard somebody cry, mother,

In anger or in pain,

But now I ask you why ,mother,

You say it was a gust of rain.

Why do you wander about as though

You don’t know what to do?

What has happened to Lulu, mother?

What has happened to Lu?

POEM ANALYSIS

ELEMENT OF THE POEM

SETTING

Place : Probably England – based on the word ‘money-box’ which is commonly used by the British, Lulu’s room, fireplace.

Time : Some time in the past

PERSONA

·         An observant, inquisitive, and precocious child

·         Either the younger sister of brother of Lulu, the main subject of the poem

THEMES

·         The end of childhood and loss of innocence

·         Parent-child relationship

·         Grief and love

MESSAGES

·         We should seek help in the face of challenges

·         Families should be havens of love and understanding

·         Be open and honest with children

MORAL VALUES

·         Love and appreciation

·         Obedience and respect

·         Honesty

·         Freedom and responsibility

TONE AND MOOD

·         Tone : confusion

·         Mood : sadness, irony

LANGUAGE AND STYLE

·         Written in six stanzas of four lines each; second and fourth lines rhyme

·         Regular and simple form fits the voice of the narrator/persona, a young child

·         Literary devices : rhetorical questions, imagery, alliteration, onomatopoeia, contrast, symbolism.

THE POET : CHARLES CAUSLEY

·        He was born in 1917 in Launceston, England and died in 2003.

·        His first play Runaway was published when he was nineteen. Besides poetry Causley also wrote articles, short stories, plays and opera librettos.

·        In 1958. Causley became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and was awarded a CBE in 1986. Thereafter, he received more awards and became a notable figure on poetry.

OVERVIEW OF ‘WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO LULU’

·        The poem tell the story of a mother grieving because her elder sister daughter, Lulu has run away.

·        Observant and curious about tell-tale signs of a hasty getaway, the child narrator questions her mother about the incident in a series of rhetorical questions.

·        The mother is distraught and tells her child a series of lies

MEANING OF LINES

STANZA 1

The persona is questioning her mother about the mysterious and sudden disappearance of Lulu. Two pieces of Lulu’s childhood have been left – an old rag-doll and a shoe.

STANZA 2

The persona observes that the windows are open wide and the curtain are ‘flapping free’ in the wind. The persona notices the ‘dusty shelf’ where ‘her money used to be’.

STANZA 3

The persona asks the mother why she is hiding her tears. The mother crumples up a note (most probably from Lulu) and throws it into the fire. Then, mother tells her child that ‘It is nothing at all’, but the persona disbelieve her.

STANZA 4

The persona tells that she was awakened by ‘voice late last night’ and heard the sounds of an ‘engine roar’, probably a car starting up and being driven away. The mother says that the child was only dreaming.

STANZA 5

Undaunted, the persona insist that she had heard someone cry ‘in anger or in pain’. The mother says it was just ‘a gust of rain’.

STANZA 6

Puzzled about the mother‘s distraught behaviour, the child narrator wants to know why the mother is pacing about, uncertain what to do. The use of ‘Lu’ in lines 2 and 24 is an affectionate shortened form of ‘Lulu’.

ELEMENT OF THE POEM

SETTING

PLACE

·         Probably England as indicated by the ‘money-box’ which is typically British.

·         Lulu’s room, the fireplace

TIME

·         Some time in the past

PERSONA

·        The ballad is recounted from the unlimited is either the younger sister or brother of Lulu

·        The persona is observant, inquisitive and precocious – asks question bout Lulu based on sharp observation of Lulu’s room and the mother’s distraught behaviour.

·        Through the child’s voice, the reader is drawn to make intelligent conclusions about the drama in the poem.

THEMES

The end of childhood and the loss of innocence

Ø  Lulu is probably a young teenager based on the tell-tale signs in her room: ‘old rag-doll’, ‘shoe’. Lulu probably ran away based on the note that her mother crumpled and threw into the fireplace. The missing ‘money-box’ suggests Lulu took her savings to start a new life with a man who drove her off with ‘an engine roar’. Lulu has left her childhood behind – literally and emotionally. The ‘dusty shelf’ suggests the end of childhood and she embraces her new-found freedom (‘window wide’, ‘curtain flapping free’).

Parent-child relationship

Ø  The mother–Lulu relationship could have been a sense and strained one. Lulu, a rebellious teenager, perhaps dislikes her mother’s restrictions on her freedom and emerging interest in the opposite sex. She keeps secrets from her mother, especially her relationship with boys or men.

Ø  The mother-child narrator relationship is less dramatic. The child is obedient and respectful towards ‘mother’ (not ‘mummy’, a more affectionate term). The narrator loves mother very much and observes her pain and distress.

Grief and love

Ø  Grief over the loss of a loved one through death, separation or an elopement is difficult to deal with. The ones left behind can feel empty, lost and depressed or go through denial. In the poem, the mother is grieving over the loss of her child, Lulu.

   Love binds parent and children. The mother clearly loves Lulu. She could have harshly disciplined the girl to guide and protect her.  The mother might feel regret for this. Lulu’s running away causes her anguish and she tries to deal with her pain. The child loves the sister, calling her by the pet name ‘Lu’ and is worried about the sudden disappearance of the elder sister.

MESSAGES

We should seek help in the face of challenges

Ø   The child narrator’s mother is depressed over the disappearance of her daughter, Lulu. Instead of seeking help, she crumples her  daughter’s note and throws it into the fire, saying ‘it is nothing at all’ even as her ‘tear-drops fall’

Ø  If we are confronted by problems or crises, we must be optimistic and seek help from those we can trust. For example, there are the Befrienders who can listen to us and help us find solutions.

Families should be havens of love and understanding

Ø  We can infer that there is love in the family of the persona but it may not always be openly expressed because of problems or circumstances. Love is expressed in verbal and non-verbal ways, and we must not tae family members for granted.

Ø  Children must understand that their parents have their best interests in mind. Parent are more mature, so it is their duty to lead and guide children.

Be open and honest with children

Ø  Perhaps Lulu finally shares her honest thought in the note.

Ø  Parents need to be open an honest with their children instead of lying, evading or dismissing queries and observations as the mother does in the poem. Children might learn the same way of communication from parents.  

 MORAL VALUES

Love and appreciation

      Both parents and children should express love and appreciation in tangible and non-tangible ways. This help to build a loving, united family.

Obedience and respect

      Children have to be obedient and respect their parents who brought them into this world. Children owe this to their parents who sacrifice a lot for their sake.

Honesty

      Honesty is important for creating basic trust and thus a more loving, harmonious home. Children must also be honest with their parents. Keeping secrets especially in making important life choices can have a negative consequences. 

Freedom and responsibility

      Parents have their right to curb the freedom of their children as they are their providers, carers and life teachers. Children must also realise that freedom comes with responsibility. Boundaries are necessary for their own safety.

TONE AND MOOD

Confusion

      This is reflected in the voice of the persona who questions why the mother give evasive replies or tell white lies

Sadness

      A mood of regret pervade the poem. We see this in the plaintive questions of the child, the mother’s tear and distraught actions which betray her sense of loss and regret.

Irony

      There is an undertone of irony in the child’s persistent and pointed questions which put the reader in the position of the child. The mother denies that anything is wrong, thinking that her younger child is unwary of her lies.

LANGUAGE AND STYLE

      The poem has six stanzas with four lines each. The second and fourth lines rhyme.

      It has a regular and simple rhyme form befitting the voice of the narrator, a young child. This simple, direct form suggest the child’s innocence.

LANGUAGE AND STYLE

LITERARY DEVICE

Rhetorical questions

      The rhetorical questions (which provide no answers) of the child narrator, the key one in the title, are the same questions which readers are also asking.

      The innocent and direct questions give us clue about what has happened. Thus, readers are challenged to read between the lines.

Imagery

      Empty bed with an old rag-doll, a shoe and missing money-box stress the innocence and youth of Lulu (stanza 1, lines 3-4 and stanza 2, line 4)

      ‘window wide’, ’flapping free’ (stanza 2, lines 1-2)

      ‘circle on the dusty shelf…money-box used to be’ – a tell-tale sign that Lulu fled with her money (stanza 2, lines 3-4)

      ‘engine roar’ (stanza 4, line 1-2)  

      ‘somebody cry…pain’ (stanza 5, lines 1-2)

      ‘tear-drops fall’, ‘crumple that note on the fire’, ‘wander about’ – images of the mother’s grief and distress.

Alliteration

      The alliteration of the ‘w’ sound in ‘window wide’ (stanza 2, line 5) emphasises the new, vast world out there awaiting Lulu.

Onomatopoeia

      ‘flapping tree’ – imitates the sound of a bird’s wings as it flies freely in the skies, symbolic of freedom

      ‘an engine roar’ – suggests the anger, abruptness and speeding away of the car that carried Lulu away.

Contrast

      The child’s innocence and openness in her questions and observations is contrasted with the evasion and lying of the mother.

Symbolism

      ‘an old rag-doll’, ‘a shoe’, ‘money-box’ symbolise Lulu’s innocence and abandoned childhood.

      ‘window wide’ and curtains ‘flapping tree’ symbolise Lulu’s and new-found freedom.