Lust by Susan Minot
"Lust" by Susan Minot explores the experiences of a young woman navigating her sexual awakening in a coed New England school during the sexual revolution of the 1960s. The unnamed narrator, privileged and sheltered, recounts a series of sexual encounters with fifteen different boys, illustrating both the thrill and the emotional detachment she feels during these interactions. Despite her acceptance of birth control and an apparent sense of freedom, she reveals the psychological toll that casual sex takes on her identity and ambitions. The narrative highlights her alienation from her parents and teachers, as well as the lack of guidance in a culture that seems to normalize her experiences without addressing their complexities.
As she reflects on her encounters, the narrator grapples with the dichotomy of her desires and societal expectations, feeling increasingly diminished and objectified. Through her observations, Minot captures the stark differences in how boys and girls perceive and engage with sexuality, emphasizing the emotional weight that often accompanies the physical act for women. Ultimately, the story conveys a deep sense of sadness and introspection, as the narrator realizes that her pursuit of acceptance through sexual relationships leaves her feeling nameless and unfulfilled. "Lust" invites readers to consider the intricate interplay between desire, identity, and the impact of societal norms on personal experiences.
On this Page
Lust by Susan Minot
First published: 1984
Type of plot: Social realism
Time of work: The late 1960's or early 1970's
Locale: New England
Principal Character:
The narrator , an unnamed adolescent girl who attends an exclusive private school
The Story
At the age of seventeen or eighteen, the narrator attends Casey Academy, a coed school somewhere in New England. She is a child of privilege who vacations at ski resorts, at summer houses on sunny islands, or on camping trips in Colorado. She is also an active participant in the sexual revolution of the 1960's. She does not fear pregnancy because she has been taking birth control pills since she was fifteen years old. The psychological consequences for this young woman, however, become the important focus of her narration.
She begins by listing and briefly describing sexual encounters with fifteen different boys, starting with Leo in the bottom of an empty swimming pool. With Tim it was in the woods off campus; with Willie it was while she tried to do the dishes; with Eben it was at night on the beach; with Mack it was during the hottest summer ever on an island; with Paul it was in Colorado with their sleeping bags zipped together; with Simon it was in the balcony of the school chapel. She concludes her itemization with Wendel Blair, an experienced lover who knew many expert angles.
During these encounters, the narrator usually is emotionally removed from the experience. For example, when Tim returns to her after closing the door, he finds merely a body waiting on the rug. The boy to whom she is attracted, Philip, does not notice her, and she observes that the less a boy notices her, the more she thinks about him.
The narrator's parents are unaware of her promiscuity and of the unsupervised weekends that she and her friends arrange at their parents' beach houses and unused New York apartments. She is alienated from her parents and teachers, holding them in contempt for their naïveté about who she is and what she does. The school doctor gives out birth control pills like aspirin, with no concern about instructions that should accompany his prescriptions.
The narrator admits that she can do certain things well. As a child, she could play whiffle ball just as well as the boys next door, but the boys still would tie up her ankles until she showed them her underpants. Now she is good at math, painting, even sports, but sex interferes with all these skills and dampens her ambition until, she remarks, "it became like sinking into a muck."
She realizes that casual sex is different for a girl but seems helpless in response to male desire. If she does not look when boys yell at her from cars, they call her a bitch and leave her feeling like she has done something wrong. The worst thing, she believes, is to be called a tease, so she feels compelled to comply. She wants to believe that sleeping with someone is perfectly normal, but she discovers problems. She observes that boys who are quite sexually experienced look brighter and have more stories to tell, but for a girl, "it's like a petal gets plucked each time."
She finds that most boys are completely unself-conscious about the act of sex itself, but she cannot get them to answer her when she asks who they are and what they are thinking. As her narrative comes to a close, she admits to feeling like a piece of veal, overwhelmed by sadness and worry. She continues to do everything that the boys want, but afterward she always feels nameless and unknown. The boys just stare at the ceiling as if the girl were not there anymore, and all she can do is "curl up like a shrimp" with something deep inside "ruined, slammed in a place that sickens at slamming."