Lullabies for Little Criminals by Heather O’neill

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other children may seem as “cool” but have no idea how greatly it can effect the development of the child. Jules bad parenting style causes Baby to grow up fast and make her own decisions at an age where children don’t have to do such things, while she is surrounded and exposed to a lot of things normal children just aren’t exposed too.

At the end of my first part, the last sentences Baby said: “ I was just going to have to start being my own person”(87) I thought this was very twisting because throughout the entire first part of the novel Baby kept talking about how she looked up to Jules and wanted to be just like him and have more in common with him, she accepted the fact that would be an addict just like him so they could have more in common. The way you raise your child and what you show them, is what they will become. Baby being exposed to prostitutes and drugs her whole life makes it seem like the norm to her, but after experimenting with Magic Mushrooms Baby realizes that it wasn’t her thing and then realized she needed to start being less like Jules and more like herself. This is a very important part in the story, the author meant it as the point of interest in which Baby realizes that just because her father is an addict and she was raised around it and a certain way doesn’t mean she has to be the same and just because they don’t have things in common doesn’t mean she needs to change herself, just her thinking.

Due to drugs and love being such a big part of the story, the themes I found most critical at this point in the novel are the value of family, love, and drugs. Drugs are a major part of Jules’ and Baby’s lives, since Jules’ addiction to heroin determines many of their choices in life, such as where they live, or who Baby lives with. Love is also apparent, since all Baby desires is to be loved, and doesn’t understand how it works. “I was still clingy like a little kid with Jules and I hated when he dumped me like that. I was so lonely all of a sudden” (12) She struggles to understand Jules’ love for her, as well as the love she receives from Isabelle at the foster home, “for a second, I wasn’t sure whether I wanted her to let me go” (47) Also Mary, the neighbor she lived with. The value of family is unclear for Baby and she is unsure how a family is supposed to act. She doesn’t know what’s normal, or expected in a family, all she knows is Jules, Lullabies for Little Criminals plays with the feeling of home being with a person more then a place, and that person is Jules “Home was wherever Jules and I were together” and being with him is what she feels and considers home.

Due to her father’s drug addiction Baby’s world is corrupted and strips her of childhood innocence. Her world is constantly changing. She is forced to grow up too fast and take care of herself, which untimely leads her down the wrong path. Baby if confused and forms many unhealthy relationships in hopes of feeling a stable relationship with someone. As a reader I could not help to be curious as to what is going to happen to Baby. I anticipate that Jules will eventually overdose or hopefully stick in rehab and Baby might be left to defend for herself on the streets and will become a drug addict.

O’Neill, Heather. Lullabies for Little Criminals, HarperCollins Publishers, 2006. Print.