Girl Interrupted

Girl Interrupted Prezi

The Dress Lodger

Set in a time where women had the rights of children, none, Sheri Holman's The Dress Lodger is a tale about 15 year old Gustine. Gustine has a sick baby with a heart deformity and in order to take care of herself and her child she is forced into a life of prostitution. During the day she works as a potter's assistant and by night, she rents a blue gown from her landlord so that she can attract a higher clientele. Gustine is imprisoned in many ways throughout the book. Her sickly baby, although she loves him with all of her heart, imprisons her daily by essentially making it necessary for her to prostitute herself in order to keep clothes on his back, a roof over his head, and food in his belly. The blue gown she wears itself is a prison for her. The "eye", an elderly woman paid by Gustine's landlord to follow the dress and watch over it, follows Gustine throughout the streets and alley ways as she gives herself to men for money to pay the rent. Imprisonment can be physical or mental and Gustine suffers in both ways. She is forced into a life she has to lead in order to keep herself and baby alive. Up until her child's death, Gustine's prisons continuously haunt her on a daily basis. However, once her child is buried in the ground,  she is able to make a life for herself and make decisions based on her needs and wants, and only hers. The dress is no longer necessary and she is eventually freed from the prison she once called life.