Lust by Susan Minot Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Lust by Susan Minot - Essay Example The narrator is a young girl. The theme of the story revolves around male and female sexual patterns and expectations. In this essay I will examine some of the questions raised by this interesting story. â€Å"Lust† is set in the 1960s and 1970s and has a teenage girl as its narrator. She is involved in relationship with many boys. The story narrates how the girl gets connected to each boy and the relationship and sex life she has with each one. The tone is so somewhat impassive, which may mean that the girl is not moved by any relationship or feels attached to anyone. This is one of the surprises of the story. You expect, from the title, that the characters would be full of passion and desire, but they act more like robots or people lost in a mist. The title is probably therefore meant ironically—or perhaps the author didn’t realize how little feeling was in her depictions. The title of the story, â€Å"Lust,† hints at a story about passionate sexual relationships, but the voice the reader encounters is one of despair, indifference-- unexcited and cold. The narrator is involved in the relationships, but describes them with little color and individuality. The narrator takes the readers through each event in her sex life. She also shares her thoughts after her sex acts and the tone is quite casual and could be shocking to conservatives. The tone brings out the attitude of the girl towards sex and morals. This is one of the central conflicts of the story: between what the girl wants and what the girl gets. She is clearly looking for something more meaningful, but never really finds it. A lot of her unhappiness is an expression of this unresolved conflict. This trouble really resides in her own character. She has trouble generating meaning. The narration gives the events in the form of a list evoking the idea that the sexual acts are just thought an d acted out in an order or executed as planned