What Has Happened To Lulu?

What has happened to Lulu, mother? 

What has happened to Lu? 
There's nothing in her bed but an old rag-doll
And by its side a shoe. 
Why is her window wide, mother, 
The curtain flapping free, 
And only a circle on the dusty shelf 
Where her money-box used to be? 

Why do you turn your head, mother, 

And why do tear drops fall? 
And why do you crumple that note on the fire 
And say it is nothing at all? 

I woke to voices late last night, 

I heard an engine roar. 
Why do you tell me the things I heard
Were a dream and nothing more? 

I heard somebody cry, mother, 

In anger or in pain, 
But now I ask you why, mother, 
You say it was a gust of rain. 

Why do you wander about as though ?

You don't know what to do? 
What has happened to Lulu, mother? 
What has happened to Lu?

Charles Causley
What Has Happened To Lulu?

What has happened to Lulu, mother? (To whom is the persona/speaker asking the
question?)
What has happened to Lu? (Why is he repeating his question?)
There's nothing in her bed but an old rag-doll (Why does he think(suspect) something
had happened to Lulu?)
And by its side a shoe. (In what manner did Lulu leave the room?)How do you think
Lulu left the room?)(Was it in a leisurely manner?)
Why is her window wide, mother, (How did Lulu leave the room?) (Did she use the front
door?)
The curtain flapping free, (What does this line signify? What can we imply from this
line? What does this line say about Lulu?)
And only a circle on the dusty shelf (How does the persona know something was
missing?)
Where her money-box used to be? (What did Lulu take with her?)

Why do you turn your head, mother, (Why does the mother turn her head away?/How is
the mother feeling?)
And why do tear drops fall? (Why do you think she is crying?)
And why do you crumple that note on the fire (What do you think is written in the
note?)(Why does the mother throw the note into
the fire?)
And say it is nothing at all? (Why is she hiding everything from the persona?)

I woke to voices late last night, (When did the persona hear voices?/Whose voices do you
think they were?)
I heard an engine roar. (What can we assume/say from this line?)
Why do you tell me the things I heard (Who is ‘you’ and ‘me’ here?)
Were a dream and nothing more? (Why does the mother keep saying nothing is wrong?)

I heard somebody cry, mother, (The persona keeps wanting to find out what had
happened to Lulu- how is he feeling?)
In anger or in pain, (Who do you think were arguing in the night?) (What do you think
they were arguing about?)
But now I ask you why, mother, (What is the mother trying to do?)
You say it was a gust of rain.  (How does the mother avoid answering the persona?)

Why do you wander about as though (What is the mother doing?)

You don't know what to do?  (How is she feeling?)
What has happened to Lulu, mother? (The questions are repeated...So do you think the
persona has found out what has happened to Lulu?)
What has happened to Lu? ***(Now....who do you think is Lulu to the persona?)
For average to weak students.

This happened one windy (curtain flapping free) night. A young boy goes into his sister’s
room. He finds it empty (There's nothing in her bed but an old rag-doll). His sister
seemed to have left in a hurry(And by its side a shoe). The sister seemed to have left the
room through the window (Why is her window wide, mother). The young boy’s sister
seemed to have wanted her freedom. (The curtain flapping free). She seemed to have taken
her savings with her (And only a circle on the dusty shelf :Where her money-box used to
be?) It is apt to assume Lulu has run away from home.

The young boy asks his mother what has happened to his sister. (What has happened to
Lulu, mother? What has happened to Lu?) He seems to be very close to his sister. He
refers to her as ‘Lu’. He is very worried about her. He wants to know why his mother turns
away to hide her tears. (Why do you turn your head, mother, And why do tear drops
fall?) There is a note. The mother reads it. She throws it into the fire. The young boy sees
this and asks about it. And why do you crumple that note on the fire). The mother again
does not want to say anything about Lulu (And say it is nothing at all?) 

The young boy recalls what he heard the previous night. He heard people talking, he heard a
car being driven away speedily. (I woke to voices late last night, I heard an engine roar.) 
He asks his mother why she wants him to think the voices and the sound of the car were all a
dream.(Why do you tell me the things I heard; Were a dream and nothing more?) 

The boy goes on to say that he had heard the sound of someone crying. But he could not say
if the person was crying because she was angry or if she was in pain.(I heard somebody cry,
mother,In anger or in pain). The mother explains it away saying the boy had heard sound
of suddenly rain. (But now I ask you why, mother, You say it was a gust of rain). 

The boy loves his mother very much. He is worried about why she is pacing up and down.
She seems not to know what to do about Lulu, his sister. (Why do you wander about as
though? You don't know what to do?) He is even more worried when his mother refuses to
tell him what is going on with Lulu. (What has happened to Lulu, mother? What has
happened to Lu?)

Themes
Grief n love
Feeling of helplessness
Confusion over family situation

Moral Values
We should not cause grief to others.
Running away will never solve any problems.
We must learn to settle our problems instead of running away from them.
An analysis of the poem what has happened to Lulu?
This poem is about a girl called lulu who is the older sister if the writer who has run away.
The poem is sad and it uses various ways of showing how the writer is feeling, by using
rhetorical questions quite a lot in the poem 'what has happened to lulu mother'. This rhetorical
question shows you that he must be really missing his sister or he must be getting worried if
he had used it a lot.

In the first verse of the poem, the poet starts with a rhetorical question which is 'what has
happened to lulu mother?' This is an effective way of starting the poem because you know
that the poem is going to be about a girl called Lulu. The writer follows this question with
another question, 'what has happened to lulu?' This creates a sense of affection because, by
repeating the question it tells you that the writer is missing his sister and cares for her and he
also sounds desperate so he must be really missing his sister.
In the next verse you can tell that the girl lulu has runaway and that is why the poet is asking
about her. The use of rhetorical questions and alliteration like 'why is her window wide open
mother?' and, 'the curtains flapping free, 'and only a dusty shelf where her money box used to
be?' her window being wide open could mean that when she ran away she went out from her
window instead of the front door. The writer saying only a circle on a dusty shelf, where her
money box used to be was the most striking sentence it says that when she ran away she must
have taken money with her meaning that she might not be coming back home.
The following verse also starts with a rhetorical question and ends with a rhetorical question,
'why do you turn your head mother, and why do teardrops fall? And why do you crumble that
note on the fire mother and say it is nothing at all? The sentence 'why do you crumble that
note on the fire and say it is nothing at all,' is another idea that she has runaway because, it
could be a note that she has wrote saying why she has runaway what had caused her to
runaway. But Lulu could have been kidnapped because it could have been a ransom letter
saying that we have Lulu give us money and we will give her back. The mother might be
crumbling it because she hasn't got what they were asking for or she can’t afford it, or she is
crumbling it out of anger or sadness.
In the proceeding verse It uses a lot personal pronouns and also at the end of the verse there is
a rhetorical question, this verse is another thought that she has been kidnapped because, it say
'I woke to voices late last night and I heard and engine roar'. These voices could have been the
voices of the kidnappers talking or commanding her to go to their car and they had a car
because he heard an engine roar and that could be the car starting. Also the mother doesn't
want to believe that anything has happened to lulu even though she knows that something has
because, she has told the writer it was only a dream, 'why do tell me the things I heard where
a dream and nothing more'. She doesn't want her son who is writing the poem to worry about
Lulu so she is lining to him that it was only a dream. However she could have runaway
because, the engine roaring could have been a taxi that she had called late in the night and the
voices could have been hers and the taxi man talking.

After this verse it shows how the mother is feeling and that Lulu being missing is having an
effect on her. It says in the poem 'I heard someone cry mother, in anger or in pain, but why
did the mother you say it was a gust of rain.' This shows that mother is upset and it was her
who was crying because she is still making up lies by saying it was a gust of rain, so maybe
the writer doesn't become worried or wonder why his mother is crying. Also the line I heard
someone cry mother in anger or in pain is an affective line because, it tells you that lulu could
have been kidnapped because why else would the mother cry in anger unless someone hasn't
taken her daughter and she is angry with that person.