The Lovely Bones: Overcoming Grief
Overcoming grief is more than a theme in the book “The Lovely Bones,” written by Alice Sebold; it is something we all, as humans, have had to experience. In “The Lovely Bones,” the occurrence of Susie’s death caused her family, her friends, and even herself to become overwhelmed with great anguish. Whether it be running from it, dwelling on it, drowning it out, or living through someone else, each character has a different way of handling their problem. When it comes to “fight or flight,” Susie’s mother, Abigail, choses flight. After Abigail and Jack, Susie’s father, are informed of Susie’s death, she begins to act differently. From having an affair, to leaving her family and her life, she does everything possible to escape the situation she’s in. When Susie saw her mother with Len she knew what was happening. Susie says, “She (her mother) needed Len to drive the dead daughter out” (Sebold 152). She finally returns home to her family after many years, which is when she will begin to let go of her heartache and of Susie. Although the book itself is about the death of Susie Salmon, her friends and family aren’t the only ones who grieve because of it. Susie herself also grieves
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This small action will forever change Ruth’s life. Her life will begin to go downhill as she begins drinking alcohol and doing drugs, though they won’t help her grieving end. Even as she gets older, Ruth doesn’t ever let go of Susie. When Susie saw Ruth in the cornfield, she says “there was no longer anything I could do. Ruth had been a girl haunted and now she would be a woman haunted. First by accident and now by choice” (Sebold 321). Unlike the others, Ruth will never actually overcome her sorrow. Susie says Ruth “wanted everyone to believe what she knew: that the dead truly talk to us, that in the air between the living, spirits bob and weave and laugh with us” (Sebold
... She comforts the Wilsons, feeds the starving nameless faces when she barely has enough for her own family, works together with the Wainwrights, and as the novel closes she is still directing her assistance to those who are in need any way she can, by helping the starving man and taking control of the situation. She feels that as long as she can hold on to some part of the family, she will see to it that they keep on going.
Throughout the novel, crucial family members and friends of the girl that died are meticulously reshaped by her absence. Lindsey, the sister, outgrows her timidity and develops a brave, fearless demeanor, while at the same time she glows with independence. Abigail, the mother, frees herself from the barbed wire that protected her loved ones yet caused her great pain, as well as learns that withdrawing oneself from their role in society may be the most favorable choice. Ruth, the remote friend from school, determines her career that will last a lifetime. and escapes from the dark place that she was drowning in before. Thus, next time one is overcome with grief, they must remember that constructive change is guaranteed to
Jack Salmon, Susie’s father, is most vocal about his sorrow for losing his daughter. However, his initial reaction was much different. Upon hearing that Susie’s ski hat had been found, he immediately retreats upstairs because “he [is] too devastated to reach out to [Abigail] sitting on the carpet…he could not let [her] see him” (Sebold 32). Jack retreats initially because he did not know what to do or say to console his family and he did not want them to see him upset. This first reaction, although it is small, is the first indicator of the marital problems to come. After recovering from the initial shock, Jack decides that he must bring justice for his daughter’s sake and allows this goal to completely engulf his life. He is both an intuitive and instrumental griever, experiencing outbursts of uncontrolled emotions then channeling that emotion into capturing the killer. He focuses his efforts in such an e...
The feelings of anger and guilt that Jack demonstrates causes him to reveal his desire to catch the murderer, Mr. Harvey. When Jack whispers to himself, “Bastard, You murderous bastard,” the author indicates the how the presence of Jack’s id foreshadows the drastic approaches he will take (137). This desire is his main goal and serves as a catalyst that motivates him throughout the novel. Simultaneously, he also possesses the fear that he might be endangering his second daughter, Lindsey: “... he could not feel anything but the knowledge in his brain. George Harvey had killed his last little girl” (137). This is connected to the fact that if he is unable to fulfill his desire, Lindsey’s life could be at jeopardy. In the same manner, Abigail’s immediate decision to not attend Susie’s memorial indicates that she is trying to escape the fear of feeling anguish and sorrow after her memorial: “I don’t believe she’s waiting for us out there. I don’t think lighting candles and doing all that stuff is honoring her memory” (206). She avoids these fears by creating her own reasons to why she should not attend Susie’s service. This becomes her main fear throughout the novel, as she constantly tries to avoid the reality of Susie’s death. However, when the narrator states, “She needed Len to drive the dead daughter out...being with him was the fastest way she knew
... is reminiscing about the fact that she messed up and it cost the boy’s life. The overall tone in the end of the novel is depressing as the governess’s actions and attitudes about current events tend to reflect the tone of the situation.
Veronica Roth’s book demonstrates, in a few key ways, how great literature must include life lessons. The story teaches readers to never give up and to push on even in hard and rough times of struggle. Beatrice prior (Tris), the protagonist in the book, leaves her home to live with the danger seeking “Dauntless”. During the evil plot set by the antagonist, Beatrice’s mother gets fatally wounded by a gun shot. Tris watches this horrible moment unfold right next to her as her mother lifelessly crumbles to the ground. Beatrice loves her mother very much and doesn’t want to leave her body there, but knows she has to uncover the strength to move onwards. Not only was Beatrice brave after witnessing the death of her mother but her mother was also brave. Beatrice’s mother was also brave, having to die like that for her people, sacrificing herself for her daughter and family. Beatrice shows how she feels about her mother’s braver when she says,” My mother’s death was brave. I remember how calm she was, how determined. It isn’t just that she died for me; it is brave that she did it without announcing it, wi...
After Susie was murdered, the only thing that the police found was a cap. It makes a jingly sound because her mom thought if something happens with her daughter maybe this cap would protect her. It becomes a symbol of her loss of breath and voice. Moreover, there are a lot of similes, metaphors and imagery in this book. The old shoe from the Monopoly game is represents Susie to Buckley. The Keystone State/Charm and the charm bracelet is represents Susie that she always wore it until she died. Also the title of this book ‘Lovely Bones’ is symbolism of Susie’s body. It represents her death and also her body and they called it in the last chapter and Susie talks about how she affected the world on when living and dead. “He wore his innocence like a comfortable old coat.” (Sebold, 26) This quote describes Mr. Harvey, the serial killer, who killed so many innocent people and thought that he is the one of the innocent people. It is a metaphor that Mr.Harvey is innocent man. Structure of tone and mood of this book, it is mostly sad and gloomy because of Susie’s death and grief of her
To the characters of Ursula K. Le Guin’s “Gwilan’s Harp”, Isaac Singer’s “The Washwoman”, and O. Henry (Sydney Porter)’s “The Last Leaf”, loss is a familiar burden. Whether they experience loss of material things, or people they hold dear, all of the characters from these stories have felt loss’s unwelcome touch on their shoulders. Most of the tragedy occurs, however, when a major character dies. In “The Washwoman”, the aptly named washwoman dies from, presumably, old age.
...in her character during her stay at the hospital. Susie realizes that her patient is afraid of dying and thus she comforts her as she weeps and makes her feel loved.
In addition, Jack showed his inability to let go of Susie by keeping her physical belongings with him. From heaven, Susie is watching all of this happen, noting that “I knew then he would never give me up. He would never count me as one of the dead. I was his daughter, and he was my dad, and he had loved me as much as he could. I had to let him go” (...). The final sentence is very significant. It is the time when Susie recognizes the need for her to let go if she truly wishes to end her family’s suffering. As Susie is able to forget the past, so does Jack. He soon realizes that Susie lives in his past, memories, and not in objects. Specifically, it is not until Jack survives his heart attack that he fully accepts that his daughter has left. “Last night it had been [Susie’s] father who had finally said it, ‘[Susie’s]never coming home.’ A clear and easy piece of truth that everyone who had ever known me had accepted” (289). Upon realizing this truth, Jack is able to continue with his life, job, and most importantly, to refocus his attention to his two other
With all the recent events that have occurred in Mabel’s life she truly believes that this is the end for herself; “mindless and persistent, she seemed in a sort of ecstasy to be coming nearer to her fulfillment, her own glorification, approaching her dead mother, who was glorified” (Lawrence 705). Mabel walks down to the cemetery where her mother lays at rest because Mabel is feeling alone and wants that sense of security. Mabel’s depression causes her to believe that “the life she follow[s] here in the world was far less real than the world of death she inherited from her mother” (Lawrence 706). All of these dark thoughts and memories of a life with her mother running through Mabel’s head lead to her finally giving up on her life and walking into a dreary pond to try to drown herself and end her life.
Although, Buckley was never told what happened to Susie, except for the fact that she died tragically. No one bothered to explain to him what had happened. Buckley is only four years old and does not understand that Susie is dead, so Mr. Salmon has to simplify her death. Mr. Salmon explains that Susie is dead by using Susie’s favorite monopoly piece. “‘See this shoe?’ my father said... “Susie?” my brother asked, somehow connecting the two. ‘Yes, I’m going to tell you where Susie is’” (Sebold, 2002, p. 45). He takes Susie’s piece from the Monopoly board, by doing so Jack demonstrates that Susie is out of the game of life. Buckley only understands that Susie is not coming back. He does not understand where she
The irony of the story is that her husband is alive, but she is dead when he reaches home. The tragic death of her husband help her to grasp the beauty of life and the fact that she does not have much more time to live it. In an hour of time she comes to peace with herself and wins her "battle".
The Narrator’s family treats her like a monster by resenting and neglecting her, faking her death, and locking her in her room all day. The Narrator’s family resents her, proof of this is found when the Narrator states “[My mother] came and went as quickly as she could.
During some point any many lives, someone had lost a loved one and weren’t sure how to properly mourn for them. Their death led to a path of agony and despair for the living that can’t handle to feel as their emotions died as well. It’s always hard to accept that the one you love is gone, but reality takes a stab at you telling you to wake up. In Emily Dickinson’s “After Great Pain” piece, she examines the series of steps every person has gone through now or in the future.