The Suicide of Lux Lisbon

Lux Lisbon died as she lived, cigarette in hand. To me, this symbolizes that her downfall was men, or more loosely, masculine power overtaking her life. It also shows that she was rebellious, even until death. She was the last to go, the best liar, the one who had to talk to the boys as she planned her final moments. Lux chose to go in the family garage, dying of carbon monoxide. Like her sisters, she chose a characteristically female way of ending her life, and the way involving the least pain possible. However, I see her as a strong enough character that she was able to die alone, in a totally different area of the house.

"They found her in the front seat, grey faced and  serene, holding a cigarette lighter that had burned its coils into her palm" (Eugenides 281).
It is for this reason that I don't think the sisters wanted to draw attention to themselves. They never wanted publicity of infamy as some would suggest. They chose to end their lives, not in a bloody spectacle or gory extravaganza, but quietly as they lived, taking their leave from the world in an almost polite manner.

"He spoke of the incredible cleanliness of the girls' bodies, the youngest he had ever worked on, showing no signs of wastage or alcoholism. Their smooth blue hearts looked like water balloons" (Eugenides 287)
I find this line interesting, only because the boys discussed in great detail earlier the state of Lux's frail body, her missing hair and her (most likely) darkened lungs from the sheer amount of cigarettes she puffed daily. On the inside however, her lifestyle had apparently not caught up with her. She was still young and extremely healthy, with her exterior showed signs of being a hardened woman. She was beyond her years on the outside, but still a young girl on the inside.