The Virgin Suicides

by

Jeffrey Eugenides

Joe Hill Conley Character Analysis

Joe Hill Conley is one of the neighborhood boys who obsess over the Lisbon sisters. Trip Fontaine chooses him as one of the boys to take the Lisbon girls to the homecoming dance. Joe ends up pairing off with Bonnie, who follows Trip and Lux beneath the bleachers at the dance—which means that Joe also goes beneath the bleachers, where he and Bonnie watch Lux and Trip drink peach schnapps and kiss. Joe and Bonnie do the same, and though Bonnie hesitates at first, she seems to enjoy the experience, judging by the fact that she kisses him again in the car on the way home and asks him to call her soon. Later, when the other boys ask Joe if he talked to Bonnie about Cecilia, he says, “There’s a time for talk and a time for silence.”
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Joe Hill Conley Character Timeline in The Virgin Suicides

The timeline below shows where the character Joe Hill Conley appears in The Virgin Suicides. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 3
Obsession, Gossip, and Scandal Theme Icon
Coming of Age and Nostalgia Theme Icon
...(who promises to let them use his father’s Cadillac for the date), Kevin Head, and Joe Hill Conley . Fortunately for them, Mrs. Lisbon ends up going along with the idea, as long... (full context)
Obsession, Gossip, and Scandal Theme Icon
Coming of Age and Nostalgia Theme Icon
Loss, Mourning, and Uncertainty Theme Icon
...a nervous lack of anything better to do—goes with them, which means that her date, Joe Hill Conley , disappears beneath the bleachers, too. (full context)
Obsession, Gossip, and Scandal Theme Icon
Coming of Age and Nostalgia Theme Icon
...Lux. Giggling, they pass the schnapps back and forth as they kiss. Taking Trip’s lead, Joe Hill Conley suggests that he and Bonnie do the same, and though Bonnie is hesitant at first,... (full context)
Coming of Age and Nostalgia Theme Icon
...not the rest of them. They eventually decide to go home. When they get there, Joe Hill Conley kisses Bonnie one last time, and she makes him promise to call her. But the... (full context)
Chapter 4
Obsession, Gossip, and Scandal Theme Icon
Coming of Age and Nostalgia Theme Icon
Suburban Life, Class, and Decline Theme Icon
Loss, Mourning, and Uncertainty Theme Icon
...The Lisbon house shows no signs of anything out of the ordinary—it’s dark and lifeless. Joe Hill Conley climbs a tree to get a better look, but he sees nothing, so the boys... (full context)
Obsession, Gossip, and Scandal Theme Icon
...boys recognize the halter top she’s wearing because it’s rather revealing. “July, two years ago,” Joe Hill Conley says, referring to the last time they saw her wear it. Some of the boys... (full context)