Lovely Bones

Have you ever wondered what happens to people whose lives are stolen by others? People who had uncompleted business? Alice Sebold’s novel The Lovely Bones demonstrates that death is unavoidable through the narration of a dead, 14 year old girl who narrates her own death in great detail. She has been dead since December 6th, 1973 and was murdered by a neighbour named George Harvey. Furthermore, this tragic event leads to the search for closure by Susie Salmon, her family and her friends. The path to closure is filled with many obstacles, and each person reacts differently when facing these obstacles. The death of Susie Salmon leaves a huge impact on Lindsey Salmon, Jack Salmon, Abigail Salmon, Ruth Connors and Ray Singh, not only because of the sorrow that is caused but because it reveals many concealed/unspoken problems which will test the strength of her family and friends.

To begin with, Lindsey Salmon struggles abundantly to accept the fact that her older sister is dead. She tries extremely hard to avoid sharing her emotions with others. She tries to stand strong when Susie is mentioned in school or when people recognize her as the sister of the dead girl. She tries, yet fails to avoid the pain and hurt that is caused by this heartbreaking event. This is shown when Susie says “Of everyone in the family, it was Lindsey who had to deal with what Holly called the Walking Dead Syndrome-when other people see the dead person and don’t see you. …….She avoided mirrors. She now took her showers in the dark. ………If the house was quiet or if she heard murmurs below her, she knew she would be undisturbed. …………she either thought Susie, just that one word, and cried there, letting her tears roll down her already damp che...

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...ve his daughter. This is shown when Susie says “My heart seized up. He turned and saw all the others, all of the years they marked and the hands that had held them. Hid dead father’s, his dead child’s. I watched him as he mashed the rest” (Sebold, 52). Jack’s father had taught him how to make ships in a bottle when he was young. So as he tried to teach his children, only one of them liked it, Susie. Therefore, in the heat of the moment, Jack began to smash all of the bottles. The ships symbolized the special time that Jack had shared with Susie, and the wrecking of the ships symbolized that he will never be able to share that special time with Susie. He was so furious about Susie’s death that he was willing to ruin the ships they made together throughout the years.

Works Cited:

Sebold, Alice. The Lovely Bones. New York, New York: Little, Brown and Company, 2002.