Trip Fontaine Character Analysis in The Virgin Suicides

Trip Fontaine is a high school heartthrob who becomes enamored of Lux. The neighborhood boys are somewhat confounded by Trip, failing to see the appeal he has over high school girls and mothers alike, mostly because he only recently shed his childish looks and transformed into a handsome young man. Because Trip is used to girls approaching him, though, he’s unsure of how to impress Lux, and none of his normal moves—like walking by and flipping his hair—seem to work. Finally, though, he informs her during a school assembly that he’s going to ask her out. To convince her parents to let her date him, he says, he will first come over and watch television with the family. Then he’ll ask her out. Lux goes along with the plan, but it doesn’t work—her parents sit between them all night. But when Trip is sitting dejectedly in his car before leaving, Lux suddenly sneaks out of the house and swoops into the car, kissing him ferociously as he reaches into her pants. But then she leaves as abruptly as she appeared. Trip eventually manages to convince Mr. and Mrs. Lisbon to let him take Lux to homecoming, where they sneak away and have sex on the football field. Years later, while getting sober at a rehabilitation clinic, Trip tells the boys that he genuinely cared for Lux. After having sex with her that night on the football field, though, he got up and left her there. She had to take a cab back and was subsequently grounded. After a life full of sex, romance, alcohol, and drugs, Trip still doesn’t know why he treated Lux that way—he still thinks about her as the only woman who ever really captured his heart.

Trip Fontaine Character Timeline in The Virgin Suicides

The timeline below shows where the character Trip Fontaine appears in The Virgin Suicides. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

Obsession, Gossip, and Scandal Theme Icon

...one boy, however, who gets to know Lux better than anyone else. His name is Trip Fontaine, and though the neighborhood boys have always seen him as an average, unremarkable kid... (full context)

When Trip takes an interest in Lux Lisbon, he doesn’t know what to do—girls usually pursue him.... (full context)

Trip spends the ensuing weeks trying to get Lux’s attention, even consulting his father and his... (full context)

Loss, Mourning, and Uncertainty Theme Icon

Trip follows through with his plan. When he arrives at the Lisbon house, it’s clear that... (full context)

Going to his car, Trip sits in disappointment without driving away—until, suddenly, Lux jumps into the car, straddles him, and... (full context)

Suburban Life, Class, and Decline Theme Icon

The next time Trip tries to make a date with Lux to watch television, she says she’s grounded, though... (full context)

...they’re happier than they were at the beginning of the school year. During this time, Trip Fontaine decides to try again with Lux. (full context)

Trip goes straight to Mr. Lisbon’s classroom and announces that he wants to take Lux to... (full context)

Trip wastes no time selecting the other boys for the homecoming dance. He makes his case... (full context)

...weren’t picked to accompany the Lisbon girls to the homecoming dance watch from afar as Trip and the others glide up in Parkie Denton’s Cadillac. Later, they hear what happened inside.... (full context)

...their own dates, instead trying to keep tabs on the Lisbon sisters. At one point, Trip leads Lux beneath the bleachers, and Bonnie—who has been following her sister seemingly out of... (full context)

Under the bleachers, Trip pulls out a fifth of peach schnapps. He offers it to Lux, telling her not... (full context)

At the end of the dance, the Lisbon girls try to find Lux and Trip, but they can’t. Parkie Denton suggests that maybe they went home with Mr. Lisbon, but... (full context)

Years later, in their interview with Trip Fontaine at the rehab center where he’s drying out from alcohol, the neighborhood boys learn... (full context)

...one of their mailboxes. It’s from Lux, and the message is short and simple: “Tell Trip I’m over him. He’s a creep.” (full context)