Sex Talk: An Introspective Look

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A "Lullaby" Dealing with Death, Possessed Cops, and of Course, Radical Romance

What is love?  What makes two people so attracted to each other that they would be willing to share each others body? And what makes romance so radical?  The story I chose to write about is a novel is called Lullaby, written by the innovative Chuck Palahniuk.  For those unfamiliar with this story, I will provide a detailed synopsis, explaining why the romantic scenes are so radical.

Lullaby centers around a journalist named Carl Streator.  While out on an assignment, he discovers a culling song.  A culling song is an African lullaby designed to peacefully kill the old or infirm, and one such culling song is found in an anthology called Poems and Rhymes from Around the World.  It can kill when read to, or even thought about.  When Carl learns that unsuspecting parents are accidentally killing their children by reading this poem to them, he begins a cross-country quest to destroy as many of these books as possible, before the poem falls in the wrong hands.  He is aided by Helen Hoover Boyle, a real estate agent, her assistant Mona and her boyfriend Oyster. Eventually, it is revealed that many years ago, Carl Streator unwittingly killed his wife and daughter after reading them the poem.  It is also revealed that Helen is well aware of the culling song and its power, and she also unintentionally killed her son.  Mona and Oyster, who intend to use the culling song for their own sinister purposes, betray Carl and Helen.  Not only will they have to destroy every copy of Poems and Rhymes from Around the World, but the must also stop Mona and Oyster from obtaining this poem.  Given this, the idea of power and knowledge appears to be an important theme in this story.  The knowledge of the culling song and the power to use it against one is similar to Foucault's arguments regarding these topics, stating that power "forms a dispersed capillary woven into the fabric of the entire social order." (Barker, p. 92).  In Lullaby, Mona and Oyster intend to use that power to disrupt that social order, changing society and turning it into what they want it to become.

Signs of radical romance begin when Carl and Helen make love for the first time.  This is possibly as a result of them sharing something in common; both are responsible for the deaths of their family, a connection so tragic and horrible, but it gives them a sense of closure.  I find that there is a loose correlation between this and “The Graduate,” when Benjamin and Elaine fall in love.  They’re both brought up on a privileged upbringing, both with expectations from their parents, and to point the obvious, are of the same age.

 Another way this scene is so radical is how they had sex.  In chapter 37, it is shown that there are other poems that have different kinds of spells when they are read.  When Carl and Helen are alone, she reads a poem that causes them to defy gravity, floating through the air.  While suspended in mid-air, Carl and Helen start to undress each other, and they make love.  This sex scene is relatable to the lectures and class discussions that were held in Steve Wexler’s class.  Human beings all have sexual urges, as discussed in class, whether it is practiced with a significant other or someone you met the first time.  Lullaby displays the example for the sex scene as an act of love, thus roughly following the sex comedy pattern of “Boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl, boy has sex with girl, loses girl, and gains her back.” While reading this, I found that Carl Streator and Helen Boyle actually follow this pattern, but done in a completely different way than the standard romantic comedy.

To summarize the near conclusion of this story, Helen is eventually killed by Oyster, showing the “Boy loses girl” stage of the story.  But using one of the many spells she knows before her death, Helen takes the possession of a nearby police officer, who Carl simply refers to as “The Sarge.”  Helen’s body has died, but her mind lives on through this policeman’s body, so in its own twisted way, Carl does “Get the girl back.”  Here then, another sign of radical romance ensues, as Carl reveals to the reader that he and Helen, through the body of the Sarge, continue to have sex despite the fact that Helen is within a male body.  This may leave the reader wonder: does this make Carl homosexual, Or is he still straight because it is still technically Helen that he is with, or is he a little bit of both? Carl's sexuality is open to interpretation, but Helen's situation correlates with Barker's arguments about sex regarding gender, stating the multiple modes of femininity, which are 'enacted not only by different women, but, potentially, by the same woman under different circumstances.' (Barker, p. 291).

The story concludes with Carl and Helen still on the hunt for Mona and Oyster, leaving an open ending.  The ending to Lullaby goes against the convention of “Living happily ever after,” as found in the majority of romantic tales.  Again, I find this ending relatable to The Graduate, where Ben and Elaine run away from their family, realizing their love for one another.  This may be the ending for the film, but their lives are not yet over, as shown in the changes of their facial expressions, transitioning from happy and ending with uncertainty.

Given the contents of this book, Lullaby is by no means, a romantic comedy.  But it is in its own way, a satire-horror novel where relationships play an important role, helping to further enhance the story. 

Bibliography
1) Barker, Chris. Cultural Studies, 2008. Sage Publications

2)  Palahniuk, Chuck. Lullaby, 2002. Anchor Books

3) Wexler, Steve. Classroom lectures, 2010. English 313

4) Nichols, Mike. The Graduate. 1967.