Lux's Illuminance

Kate’s blog post from this week addresses the point that, “The novel casts these girls as exact copies of each other.” While I agree that Eugenides (infuriatingly) has a tendency to do this, I found Lux to be the one sister that stands out. As far as the boys and we know, Lux is the only sister to stray into the forbidden realms of sex, love, alcohol, and cigarettes. She is the only one who actively fights to live outside of the rules that Mrs. Lisbon attempts to restrain her daughters with, mostly through sex and relationships. Lux is also the sister who bridges the outside world with the world of the Lisbons. Through her interactions with Trip Fontaine, a rare outsider is allowed into the house. She also shows her purpose as an intermediary when we see her, and only her, wait for the dates on Homecoming night and meet the neighborhood boys on that fateful night when the remaining sisters committed suicide. As a bridge between two worlds, Lux becomes the center of the boys’ attention and we begin to see an emphasis on her instead of the other sisters who, as Kate said, are stereotypical faceless copies. Interestingly, the lux is the the SI unit of illuminance (equal to one lumen per square meter, in case you were wondering). Thus, Lux's unique purpose may be to illuminate and expose for the boys and the readers some of the happenings of the Lisbon house and the lives of the ill-fated sisters.