In literature, authors often include characters who face unfortunate shocking events. In The Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold, several characters deal with grief after a fatal loss of a loved individual. Susie’s death forces her to deal with pain and hate like never before. Susie’s mother avoids her misery by having an affair with the case detective, Len Fenerman. Jack Salmon, Susie’s’ father, chases Susie’s friend Clarissa and her boyfriend Brien Nelson; however this action lands Jack in the hospital. Family members cannot stop the effects of tragedy, they can only accept and love each other. Susie’s death leaves her feeling trapped and alone as she grieves over the life she once had on Earth. As Mr. Harvey pins Susie down, she reposts that “ I knew he was going to kill me. I did not realize then that I was an animal already dying” (Sebold 15). When Susie calls herself “ an animal
Kim 2 already dying”, she is pointing out the loss of her hope and motivation to live another day. However during the time she spends in Heaven, she realizes, “Each time I told my story, I lost a bit, the smallest drop of pain. It was that day that I knew I wanted to tell the story of my family. Because horror on Earth is real and it happens everyday. It is like the flower or like the sun; it cannot be tamed” (186). From the key words “I lost a bit, the smallest drop of pain”, Susie admits she now feels relief and has a different view of life on Earth. This is part of Susie’s way of surviving grief and learning that tragedy “cannot be tamed”; she can only learn to love life in heaven. After Susie’s death, her family members deal with agony and life without their sister, friend, or daughter. Susie’s mother chooses to deal with the loss of her daughter by starting an affair with detective Len Fenerman. As Susie’s mother and Len stay at the hospital together and try and figure out what the future looks like for the Salmon family, “Everything that came next was not words”(145). A distraction is how Susie’s mother was going to forget Susie. After while, she learns to stop running and love the people in front of her, including her husband Jack.
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While talking to a woman at work, she finds herself saying “between a man and a woman there was always one person who was stronger than the other one…that doesn’t mean the weaker one doesn’t love the stronger” (277). The key words “that doesn’t mean the weaker one doesn’t love the stronger” show that no matter what she decides to do to forget her dead daughter, there will always be a place in her heart for her family. Susie’s mother cannot stop her regretful distractions or the fact that she escapes her sorrow with an affair but in the end she resorts to her family and only loves them. Jack’s relationship with his family is so tight that even after numerous tragic events, he will always love them. After Susie’s death, Jack loses his sense of humanity and chases who he thought is Mr. Harvey: “Mr. Salmon was crazy with grief and had gone out to the
The Lovely Bones: Themes Loss and Grief Loss of a loved one and the stages of mourning or grief manifest as overriding themes in The Lovely Bones. Through the voice of Susie Salmon, the fourteen-year-old narrator of the novel, readers get an in-depth look at the grieving process. Susie focuses more on the aftermath and effects of her murder and rape on her family rather than on the event itself. She watches her parents and sister move through the five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining…
The Lovely Bones In the tragic tell all tales of “The Lovely Bones” emotions are heightened and perspectives are changed. While this is a fiction book, it tells a story that is not unheard of in the real world. Through this, the reader is able to comprehend and relate much more easily; the theme becomes apparent to the reader very easily by the end of the book. In “The Lovely Bones”, Alice Seabold is able to portray that the reaction of tragedies in what shapes people, showing this through characters…
The Lovely Bones -cherishing the present ones by Javert Zhang ENG 3U Ms. Dell’Erede 6 Oct 2014 In Alice Sebold’s novel “The Lovely Bones”, she focuses on a teenage girl named Susie. It was emotional and dealt with themes I had never touched before. The first-person point of view used in this story adds a solemn tone. To get to know the anger and hopelessness Susie feels deepens the sadness described in the novel. If it was written in third-person, then we wouldn’t feel as attached to…
family. A home where an individual feels secure and friends who accept them are paramount in forming a sense of self. Steven Herrick’s verse novel The Simple Gift displays an individual escaping from the exclusion of his home. Alice Sebold’s The Lovely Bones presents an individual ripped from their inclusion with friends and family. Both of these texts provide an insight into the factor that inclusion and exclusion are in shaping an identity. A home and family provide the basis upon which an individual…
Susie is the protagonist of The Lovely Bones and the antagonist is Mr. Harvey. The protagonist presents her story as the narrator and observer of how life changes in a family where a murder takes place. She gives us a understanding of each member of her family and how they reacted the grieving process. She is a 14 year-old girl and even though she can analyze what happens to those she loves, she has a difficult time accepting her own death and moving on to Heaven. Mr. Harvey the antagonist…
The dictionary defines paradox as “a seemingly absurd or self-contradictory statement that when investigated or explained may prove to be true.” A paradox can be defined on a page, but it cannot be fully understood until it is experienced in real life. Once a paradox is lived, it can then be conquered; this is how the wise person lives. Every day, we all encounter differing ideals and ways of approaching life. Two of the most starkly contrasted are Romanticism and Realism. Romantics are the dreamers…
V. Theme Love It is about the love of Rosa and Lucio. It is about how powerful love can be. It is about how love can be easily destroyed. It is about how you can love each other even if you are separated. It is about how love can last forever. Sorrow It is about the sorrow of Lucio when he learned that Rosa really loved him, not Oscar. It is about how sorrow can…
on her hands she loved taking photos of all most anything like people, gardens, houses, scenery anything in sight. All this photography made Suzie Salmon realise that in the later years of life she would look to pursue photography as she had such a love and passion for it. 2- During the movie a man was shown. This man’s name was Mr. O’dwyer, a man with a bit of an unusual look which to some may be intimidating and this is why people were lead to believe he was the cause of Suzie’s death because…
life. It was also a huge blow for David as well, and since he loves his wife deeply, he do not want the same disaster that happened to his mother to repeat on his wife. He told a white lie to his wife telling her that their daughter had died soon after birth. However what he actually did was asking the nurse midwife to send his daughter to an orphanage. David abandoned his daughter because his love for Norah is much greater than his love for his daughter. His action was a dangerous risk for the family’s…
Name -- Professor Reber English 1113 10 October 2012 Mark Twain Mark Twain was a world renowned novelist and a beloved American Writer. He wrote things about what was happening in the world around him and is also a huge part of American Literature. Although Mark Twain is a famous novelist his home life, background/achievements, and greatest accomplishments are what made him who he is today. Mark Twain was more than the man we all know. For one thing, he was born as Samuel Langhorn Clemens…
