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Cruel Beautiful World


Cruel Beautiful World examines the intricate, infinitesimal distance between ...
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Why is Lucy so affected by Charles Manson and his "family"? Why do you think the fascination with these young women continues to this day?

Created: 08/04/17

Replies: 6

Posted Aug. 04, 2017 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
davinamw

Join Date: 10/15/10

Posts: 3442

Why is Lucy so affected by Charles Manson and his "family"? Why do you think the fascination with these young women continues to this day?

The shadow of Charles Manson and his "family" seems to provide a kind of backdrop to the book. Why is Lucy so affected by the distant characters? Do you feel that she is similar to those in the Manson family? Why do you think the fascination with these young women continues to this day?


Posted Aug. 06, 2017 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
elizabethh

Join Date: 06/25/11

Posts: 23

RE: Why is Lucy so affected by Charles Manson and his "family"? Why do you think the fascination with these young women continues to this day?

I think Lucy saw similarities between her situation with William and Manson and his family, in that she gave up who she really was and for a time went along with William allowing him to control her life, just as the Manson girls allowed him to control their lives.


Posted Aug. 07, 2017 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
susiej

Join Date: 10/15/14

Posts: 363

RE: Why is Lucy so affected by Charles Manson and his "family"? Why do you think the fascination with these young women continues to this day?

I agree with elizabethh here - Lucy began to recognize that she had relinquished her character to William - he controlled not only who she was but what she was capable of doing. Those young girls were not acting, but rather reacting as Manson instructed, and she saw herself doing the same with William.
I am not sure that fascination is the word that describes how I see the women involved with Manson today. As a younger person, clearly I was fascinated, but today I look at them, what their lives have become, how they have lived, and I am not fascinated. If anything, I am saddened or sickened that such a thing ever was allowed to happen. I want to believe there is more help available now - that young women today might see the need more clearly than they did - but through the character of Lucy, perhaps Leavitt is making me question that thought/belief.


Posted Aug. 08, 2017 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
alwaysdaddygirl's Gravatar
alwaysdaddygirl

Join Date: 09/04/16

Posts: 110

RE: Why is Lucy so affected by Charles Manson and his "family"? Why do you think the fascination with these young women continues to this day?

I feel it is due to her fascination with Willow. Lucy felt out in her family. Charles Manson gave the image to her of family and love.


Posted Aug. 08, 2017 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
rebeccak

Join Date: 05/26/12

Posts: 78

RE: Why is Lucy so affected by Charles Manson and his "family"? Why do you think the fascination with these young women continues to this day?

In one way, I think the mentions of the Manson family serve to indicate that everyone at the time knew about Manson. Even Lucy, who had very little contact with the outside world and rarely saw newspapers, knew about them.

Lucy may have even felt a connection with the female members of the Manson family. Their fates were set in motion by a man who controlled every aspect of their lives, as was Lucy's. Though it didn't seem that Lucy knew the entire story behind the Manson killings, I think she saw a bit of herself in Man's female followers.


Posted Aug. 08, 2017 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
reene

Join Date: 02/18/15

Posts: 497

RE: Why is Lucy so affected by Charles Manson and his "family"? Why do you think the fascination with these young women continues to this day?

I think Lucy saw herself in these girls. She became a follower and gave up control of her life to a man. She was beginning to see William becoming more and more demanding things of her. When he bought the gun, I think she felt that she and William were just like the Manson family. I don't think that people today are fascinated with Manson. So much has been studied about his personality and the defects and how he was able to attract the girls that he is no longer considered fascinating as he is considered sick.


Posted Aug. 19, 2017 Go to Top | Go to bottom | link | alert
Lerrgoo

Join Date: 03/02/17

Posts: 16

RE: Why is Lucy so affected by Charles Manson and his "family"? Why do you think the fascination with these young women continues to this day?

She was under Williams's spell, just like the Manson girls.


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