The persona questions their mother about the disappearance of their sister Lulu, as her room is now empty except for an old rag doll and open window. The mother is seen crying and burning a note, telling the persona it was nothing, though voices and a car were heard in the night. Puzzled by the mother's distress, the persona seeks answers about why Lulu is gone and their mother is pacing uncertainly, hinting that something undisclosed has happened to Lulu.

1. Presented By: Nurul Syahirah Bt Azamil
Siti Nur Nafissah Bt Ahmad Rofizan
Nurul Hadirah Bt Mohd Zabidi
Nur Atierah Bt Mohammad Rozy

3. Meaning of lines
Stanza 1
• The persona is questioning her mother about the mysterious and sudden
disappearance of Lulu. Two pieces of Lulu’s childhood have been left behind- an
rag-doll and a shoe.
Stanza 2
• The persona observes that the windows are open wide and the curtains are
’flapping free’ in the wind. The persona notices the ‘dusty shelf’ where ;her
money-box used to be’
Stanza 3
• The persona asks the mother why she is hiding her tears. The mother crumples
up a note (most probably from Lulu) and throws it into the fire. Then, mother
tells her child that ‘It is nothing at all’, but the persona disbelieves her.

4. Stanza 4
• The persona says she was awakened by ‘voices late last night’
and heard the sounds of an ‘engine roar’, probably a car
starting up and being driven away. the mother says that the
child was only dreaming.
Stanza 5
• undaunted, the persona insists that she had heard someone
cry ‘in anger or in pain’. The mother says it was just ‘a gust of
rain’.
Stanza 6
• Puzzled about the mother’s distraught behaviour, the child
narrator wants to know why the mother is pacing about,
uncertain what to do. The use of’Lu’ in lines 2 and 24 is an
affectionate shortened form of ‘Lulu’.

5. • A child is asking his mother what has
happened to his sister, Lulu. There is
nothing in her room, and her money-box
has gone, with only an open window and an
old rag-doll left behind. His mother is
crying and burning a note. He thinks he
heard voices and a car in the middle of the
night, but his mother tells him he was only
dreaming.

6. Themes
Parent-child
relationship
Grief
and love
The end of
childhood and
the loss of
innocence

7. Setting
Place
Probably England as
indicated by ‘money-
box’ which is typically
British
Lulu’s room,the
fireplace
Time
Some time in the past

8. Moral values
Love and
appreciation
Obedience
and
respect
honesty
Freedom and
responsibility

9. Video

11. Who is lulu?
Lulu is the elder sister of the
narrator.

12. Why do you think the mother is
crying?
She is very upset by what she read in
lulu’s letter./she is depressed and
blaming herself for her failure as a
parent.

13. What do you think what has happened
to Lulu ?

14. The End