Rich In Love Essay, Research Paper

The Transformation of Lucille Odom

Rich In Love, by Josephine Humphreys offers a vivid view of the transformation of a young girl in her late teens. The young girl?s name is Lucille Odom and her changing life is brought on mainly by hardships that she must face. In the beginning Lucille?s thoughts, beliefs, and ideas about life are innocent and with her interest in nature, but later that all changes. To hidden secrets and risky desires about love. The three main causes of her transformation are her family members, her father Warren, mother Helen, and sister Rae. It is through their actions that these three people cause harms to Lucille?s outlook on life.

The first person in Lucille?s family and probably the most devastating to cause major change in her life is her mother Helen. She really starts the ball rolling and causes Lucille to take on more responsibilities than she is ready for. She does this by just up and leaving one day. Without telling anyone why she is leaving, she just leaves a letter to Warren which, before Lucille?s editing, seems very disheartening:

Moody 2

Dear Warren,

I should have discussed this with you in person,

but the bus is coming and I have to run, so I will call

you when I get settled. This is not just a sudden whim,

I have thought it over carefully. We can get together

and talk about it later, but to make a long story short,

it is time for me to start a second life. Please tell Lucille.

Helen (17-18)

Though this letter hurts Lucille she tries to deny it to herself and hide it from her father. She acts like she is looking out for him by changing the letter to make it have more concern. With the new responsibility of taking care of her father and the normal chores of a mother Lucille soon realizes that although she isn?t a kid she doesn?t want the life of the woman of the house. Lucille asks Rae to come and take over the position, ?Well, you don?t have any choice. It happened. Come home and help me.? (29).

After Lucille?s mother has left, her father soon starts to cause problems in her life. Warren becomes depressed and concerned for Helen and his attitude starts to bring Lucille?s life down with his. Since he doesn?t have a license, Lucille must drive him around while looking for Helen Lucille says, ?After ten days I wanted to stop looking altogether,?? (25). This causes Lucille to miss out on her daily activities including school, to the point where she misses her final exams and doesn?t graduate. The situation with her father causes her to grow distant and begin to lose her faith and love in her parents. Lucille says,

Moody 3

?Sometimes I felt a strong urge to quit loving my father. Just quit, ?? (77). At this point Lucille has lost her belief that she has the ?perfect? family.

The last person to bring disturbance into Lucille?s life is her sister Rae. To Lucille, Rae is the in-control and always-knowing-what-to-do type. The problem now is that Rae doesn?t want to come in and take control after her mother leaves. Lucille?s next problem comes when Rae brings her husband Billy home, ?Who is we, I wondered in a panic? (41). This is Lucille?s reaction since no one else in the family has met yet. It?s Billy that causes Lucille to become more aware of the world around her and lose her innocence. Lucille soon leaves her fantasy world involving family and nature and turns to love. This is made easier through Billy?s understanding of what she is like and his own desire for true love and happiness.

Lucille?s transgression throughout the past year is symbolic of what many young people are going through right now. The question is, do the actions of her family members help make her a stronger person or does it all just make her untrusting? The use of Lucille?s changing thoughts, beliefs, and ideas allows the author to keep the reader guessing just how she will react to the next situation she is faced with. And does Lucille perform better in life in the beginning as an innocent child or in the end as mature young adult that has experienced some of life?s hardships?