Change Of Heart Reflection

It is also vital to look at Wilson’s view on the practice of forgiveness and how if an individual decides to ignore it, it can place a road block in their process of change. She believes that God speaks about forgiveness for the following reasons:” (1) we are all sinners with whom to relate so we’ll need to become skillful forgivers (2) God makes forgiveness a centerpiece of our healing process because living in un-forgiveness is so much worse (Wilson, 2001).

The characters in Alice Sebold’s The Lovely Bones are faced with the difficult task of overcoming the loss of Susie, their daughter and sister. Jack, Abigail, Buckley, and Lindsey each deal with the loss differently. However, it is Susie who has the most difficulty accepting the loss of her own life. Several psychologists separate the grieving process into two main categories: intuitive and instrumental grievers. Intuitive grievers communicate their emotional distress and “experience, express, and adapt to grief on a very affective level” (Doka, par. 27). Instrumental grievers focus their attention towards an activity, whether it is into work or into a hobby, usually relating to the loss (Doka par. 28). Although each character deals with

I did not realize how unfortunate of a life she really lived. It made me sad to see how much caregivers of a child can affect the child’s quality of life. Throughout this paper I often wondered if someone else would have raised Aileen would she still have killed seven men or have been even remotely as violent as she was. I wonder this because I reviewed photos of the victims, all were older white men in their 40’s to 60’s. I believe that maybe Aileen committed these murders sublimely to gain control of her grandfather. I found Aileen interesting to write about as she is one of the United States first forty female serial killers but often referred to as the first because of just how many men she killed. Additionally I have two cousins abandoned by their mother at a young age that live a rocky life. So writing this paper helped me understand how to help them stay on the right path and what type of support they may need now and in their futures. I think Aileen could have reached out for help. I feel that when the abuse began by her grandfather she should have gone for help but unfortunately she did not. This changed Aileen’s life forever. If at fourteen Aileen wouldn’t have begun prostituting she may not have learned to dissociate her body and still had emotions as an adult and therefore not turned violent. Writing this paper has really influenced me by solidifying the

In 2014, a mother/ex wife released her victim offender mediation story with the “Community Justice Initiatives Association”. This particular case was about her son’s father who was brutally attacked after being in an argument with the offender that is named “M” in the story. The ex husband died the next day due to a brain hemorrhage. The mother explained that her ex husband suffered from alcohol abuse and so did the offender. The ex wife found out before “M” was an offender before he was actually a victim and a product of a family that was part of residential schooling through his First Nation tribe. About a year past and the ex wife wanted to set up a healing circle with “M” so that her son can have some closure with his father’s death because he was having a hard time dealing with it. The son and his mother got to meet with the offender in a mediation circle to hopefully heal with all parties involved. At first this circle was hard for the son but later on opened up about the whole situation that led him to let all the weight off of his shoulders and got release some resentment off of his fathers killer. On another hand the mother had an opportunity to fully digest what the offender was saying and came to a conclusion that “M” is an oppressed person that had history of addiction and anger issues, which led to her forgiving the offender after the mediation process.

Visualize a world where a significant person in your life died from one’s gruesome desire, where that special someone suffered and became a victim of a cruel, mysterious murder. Was the murder itself quick or was it revolting and brutal? Susie Salmon was a victim of a crime that should not be forgiven. In the novel The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold, Susie’s past on earth affected people that took part in her life because the past was all that they had of her. Memories of or with Susie were treasured; however, they were also feared by the one who killed Susie’s future.

Ann Fessler gives information based on all of the women’s responses. She states that “None of the mothers I interviewed was able to forget.”(12). This proven statement expresses the harming aftermath of this disturbing situation. In this time period, the women were told to simply go home and forget this all happened. Due to the fact that they were told to suppress their feelings, the women later developed mental illnesses. Along with many facts, Fessler explains her credibility by giving some of her background.

I stood petrified. What had happened to me? My father had just been struck, in front of me, and I had not even blinked. I had watched and kept silent. Only yesterday, I would have dug my nails into this criminal's flesh. Had I changed that much? So fast? Remorse began to gnaw at me. All I could think was: I shall never forgive them for this.

I shared in the first discussion for this book about the first killing I have known by someone close to me. A teen whose widowed father was dating my widowed mother. The partisan side of the victim’s family painted an overly exaggerated defense against him. I like everyone else wanted to witness the trial, but our parents would not allow us, and the school prohibited any student from missing school to attend unless they were called as a witness. On the day of the sentencing, I recalled my mother saying it was not a fair sentencing. I was barely a teen and all I can remember from the trial was that the judge

The bizarre fact regarding people, is they can be given everything necessary to live: food, water, shelter yet the way a person interacts with the world is majorly influenced by numerous other factors. Intimate relationships, such as the consistent involvement of family, is one factor that has an immense impact on how humans respond to different situations in life. Melinda Sordino, a high school student at Merryweather high, had been raped, at a party a couple weeks before freshman year. She deeply felt that nobody cared leading her to have socially distant herself from everyone and no longer putting any mindfulness into her outward appearance. Just in the matter of a few weeks, an entirely new Melinda had been fashioned without even the slightest acknowledgment or concern from her parents causing a chain of followed reactions.

As Sister Helen drives back from New Orleans after visiting with the Harvey’s she reflects on the killing of Faith Hathaway. She Understands the Harvey’s pain of the cruel death of their daughter. She says, “Who can blame them for wanting to see there murderer executed” (142). She wonders what she can do to ease their hurt. She starts to put herself in the Harvey’s situation and thinks about her family members.

Learning to fight for your life was easier than this. Though the life was difficult in itself nothing came close to the difficulty of watching someone you love walk away, it seemed to only get harder even if it was your fault in the end. Pushing people away was a specialty of his and when it actually worked it was earth shattering. The silence pointed out the flaws that he’d managed to go without noticing with her by his side but now they screamed at him yet again. He was back to the self-destructive, sacrificial, self-loathing creature he always was. Though he always knew his family was broken it wasn’t even close to this damaged. He wasn’t the only one that felt the loss, his brother had lost someone as well. It was a feeling in the air

Tragic events happen to people around the world and everyone has their own ways to grieve and cope. In the sad but eye-opening novel, The Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold 14-year old Susie Salmon is raped and murdered. The family is left to grieve, and readers see that the mother in the story grieves in the worst way imaginable. First, the mother began to leave her family psychologically, making Buckley feel neglected. Next, Abigail is selfish and drops her responsibilities as a mother in order for herself to be satisfied not caring about how her son is handling this ghastly circumstance. Lastly, she fails Buckley as a mother because he is left to learn about what life is, all on his own. Abigail has every right to grieve in her own way, but her

The characters in Alice Sebold’s The Lovely Bones are faced with the difficult task of overcoming the loss of Susie, their daughter and sister. Jack, Abigail, Buckley, and Lindsey each deal with the loss differently. However, it is Susie who has the most difficulty accepting the loss of her own life. Several psychologists separate the grieving process into two main categories: intuitive and instrumental grievers. Intuitive grievers communicate their emotional distress and “experience, express, and adapt to grief on a very affective level” (Doka, par. 27). Instrumental grievers focus their attention towards an activity, whether it is into work or into a hobby, usually relating to the loss (Doka par. 28). Although each character deals with

     The woman in the story is a really caring and compassionate person. She chose to consider other people’s opinions and feelings, especially the feelings of all of her family members. She also chose to listen to everything her ex-husband was saying, even though

The worst thing a parent can experience is when your own child commits a crime. Should parents forgive their own flesh and blood no matter what, and if so, what is unforgiveable? In what way can religion help the parent to forgive such a crime as rape or is it even possible? These dilemmas are mentioned in the short story “Spilled Salt”, written by Barbara Neely, published in 1990.