Visual Analysis

The cover of Jeffrey Eugenides’ 2009 edition of The Virgin Suicides features children playing in a lush, green valley. There are five young girls and one young boy in the image. The children are white and varying in age but share a connection, whether it be friendship or family. A few girls share similar features, such as their hair color. Most likely they are friends. All the children are relaxed and seem to be amicable with each other. The children are playing in a thriving, dense valley that seems to be in the middle of the wilderness. At the center of the visual, there is a large tree where two of the children are playing. The tree in the center of the valley is the focal point of the image making it important to the visual’s message in connection to the message of the book. The children are doing activities near the center tree in pairs. One pair is sitting near the tree braiding one another’s hair. Another is climbing the center tree. The last pair is one of the girls and the boy who is looking at something in the girl’s hands. There is one lone girl in the foreground of the visual. She is laying in the grass watching the others below her. 

Besides the children at play, the wilderness seems to be important to the message in the image. The branches of trees in the foreground are angled towards the tree in the middle of the image. The foliage is a mixture of greens with spaces of dark brown. The branches of the trees are in focus, and details are able to be seen. Moving past the foreground into the background, the wilderness is a dark green streak that meets the pale blue sky. The paleness of the children’s complexions stand out in their colorful surroundings. The natural, unmanaged wilderness and the relaxed children in the image are vital to its message. The wilderness symbolizes a wild, untamed nature. The children symbolize youth. Combining these two elements reveals the message of the image which is that youth is meant to be untamed. It is meant to be expressed freely and not judged. 

The cover image is set in the middle of the book cover. Above and below the image are white spaces where the title, author, and information about the image and author are written. This makes the image stand out on the cover and make it isolated. The white spaces frame the image. All but the title of the book is written in grey or black. The title is written in a green that matches the foliage of the image. All of the text is in a thick, blocky font. The title of the photograph is Orchard. An orchard is a place where vegetation grows. It is kept orderly and neat which is the opposite of the photo. The vegetation in the photo is wild and unruly; it is untamed. The neat connotation of the word “orchard” contrasts with the wild appearance of the orchard in the photograph, but it matches the relaxed composure of the children.

The cover image was taken by Justine Kurland, a photographer from New York. Kurland is famous for her collection of photographs called Girl Pictures, from which this particular photo came. From 1997 to 2002, Kurland traveled across America taking pictures of young girls in urban and rural areas (Artnet). Kurland’s Girl Pictures were taken during the same time as the third wave feminist movement. Justine Kurland spoke about how the girls in her pictures are supposed to embody female solidarity and the leaving of societal institutions (Wrigley). The third wave of feminism began in the 1990s with the purpose of initiating female empowerment and the movement from the patriarchy (Burnell and Burkett). In her collection of photographs, the young girls were shown in a pack-like nature while they roamed the wilderness. Kurland sees her groups of girls as small armies fighting against the patriarchy (Wrigley). The purpose of her collection was to showcase young girls as independent, wild, and free individuals. 

When comparing the cover image to the text of the book, there are clear connections between symbolism in the image and the plot of the story. In Jeffery Eugenides’ The Virgin Suicides, the main characters are five young sisters whose parents are strict and restrictive of their daughters’ actions. The girls are not allowed to experience any of the normal activities of being a young girl, such as listening to popular music of the time period and going to social gatherings. The book took place in the 1970s when rock music was at its highest. During the 1970s, and into the 1980s, parents were outraged over such music, calling it satanic and evil. They believed that rock music was a gateway to commuting sins. The presence of rock music intensified the parents’ restrictive nature. The girls’ parents drove them to find their own freedom, which meant suicide. The girls believed that the only way to free themselves from the suppression of society and their parents was to kill themselves. They would be the only ones in control of their lives. The cover image depicts five young girls, just like the characters in the book, being carefree and acting like children their age should. The image expresses freedom and contentment through the children’s relaxed forms.

A few young boys in the girls’ neighborhood watch and take note of the girls. As the story progresses, they track the girls’ actions until their deaths. The boys have few physical interactions with the girls, and from what they witness; they form their own image of the girls. They believe that the girls are perfect and become obsessed with the images they have created in their minds. It’s not until the end of the book that they realize the image of girls they had constructed was what the sisters only wanted them to see. The boys realize that the girls had put in a facade to hide the truth that they were tormented by society and their parents. Even though shocked by the sisters group suicide, the boys understand that it was the only way they saw themselves as being free. The understanding of the girls’ suicide by the neighborhood boys is reflected in the the book’s cover image. The cover image portrays the girls finally achieving freedom and peace from society by being able to roam free in a place without rules and expectations. 

Henry Sene Yee was the man in charge of choosing the cover image for Eugenides’ The Virgin Suicides. Upon seeing Justine Kurland’s Girl Pictures, he believed that she would be perfect for helping design the cover. Sene Yee found her photographs of feral young girls to be a perfect visualization for the book (Sene Yee). Her photo, Orchard, is what appears on the cover of the book. Sene Yee found this particular image to be the perfect embodiment of how the boys who narrate the story envisioned the main characters of the book (Sene Yee). 

Naomi Fry, a writer for The New Yorker magazine, analyzed Justine Kurland’s Girl Pictures. She remarks that Kurland’s photographs are tightly controlled despite their carefree nature. Fry takes note of the boldness captured in the photos calling it “menacing” and “feral.” She also uses the word “utopian” to describe Kurland’s photos. Fry believes that Kurland’s photos describe a world where women and young girls are not held to society’s standards of beauty and poise (Fry).

I first read The Virgin Suicides in middle school. Middle school symbolizes a transition between adolescence and young adulthood. Middle school is a time to begin understanding who you are as a person and to make plans for the future. It is also a time to enjoy what is left of your adolescence and innocence. I believe that the cover image of this book also portrays that same idea. The remote and lush valley of the cover image resembles the Garden of Eden. The Garden of Eden was a place where innocence once flourished but was tainted, and the damage was irreversible. The cover image resembles a time of innocence and tranquility; a time before maturity corrupts the innocence of youth.