Sebold's The Lovely Bones

Peter Jackson’s 2009 film, The Lovely Bones, is based off of the New York Times bestseller novel written by Alice Sebold. Both the book and the movie adaptation tell the story of a young, 14-year-old girl named Susie Salmon who is brutally murdered by her neighbor. In both versions, Susie narrates her story from the place between Heaven and Earth, the “in-between,” showing the lives of her family and friends and how each of their lives have changed since her murder. However, the film adaptation and the original novel differ in the sense of the main character focalization throughout, the graphic explanatory to visual extent, and the relationship between the mother and father.

George Harvey is always depicted as the vile, relentless murderer behind the rape and death of Susie Salmon, the protagonist of the novel Lovely Bones. It is easy for the reader to show absolutely no pity for this character. However, in Chapter 15, the author Alice Sebold converts this heartless soul into an individual that urges the reader to offer him sympathy instead. Sebold begins the chapter by reflecting on the tremendous amount of hardships that George Harvey endures in his childhood. As a child, George and his mother depend on each other, as they struggle through life in poverty and dread the presence of his father. Alongside his mother as her accomplice, they turn to theft as a method to receive food and resources behind his

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, depression, and acceptance. However, Alice Sebold makes clear that these categories do not necessarily remain rigid and that individuals deal with grief in various ways. For example, Abigail, Susie's mother, withdraws from her living children,

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

Throughout The Lovely Bones and Speak Alice Sebold and Jessica Sharzer respectively express the emotional journeys and boundaries faced by their characters. Both authors explore this idea through the restriction of their protagonist; however, they both express their journeys with the help of a secondary character. Different approaches are used by the authors, Sebold tells the story from the past whereas Sharzer provides a day-by-day diary of the emotional journey faced by Melinda. Both use the conclusion of their texts to heighten their characters emotional journeys. Sharzer’s ending provides a sense of relief and triumph, and Sebold creates a sense of happiness and acceptance. Aided by devices, notably symbolism, metaphors, narrative

Larson describes this screenshot of Holmes’ past by using a chilling tone to show the reader Holmes’ emotion in the face of horror. “More likely the two older boys discovered that their five-year-old victim did not mind the excursion; that far from struggling and shrieking, he merely gazed at the skeleton with cool appreciation” (Larson 39). Larson’s word choice and juxtaposition in this excerpt highlights the eeriness that surrounds Holmes. The use of the word “cool” paints a dark picture of how surprising calm Holmes is in this disturbing scene in his childhood. The words “struggling and shrieking” are very strong words to describe a horrific display, making the reader feel a sense of uneasiness. Furthermore, Larson shows a dynamic contrast

"Emotions are like waves. You cannot stop them from coming but you can decide which ones to surf". As described in this quote, we cannot delete our emotions but if we learn to surf the waves of our emotions and manage our thoughts and feel our feelings, we will be able to deal better with the difficult situations in life. Grief is the conflicting and strong emotion caused by the end of or change in a familiar pattern of behaviour. Each individual deals with grief in very different ways. In Alice Sebold's "The Lovely Bones" and William Shakespeare's "Hamlet", the main theme and emotion portrayed throughout the two works is grief with the intent of revenge. In Alice Sebold's "The Lovely Bones", the Salmon family find it difficult to grieve

Explanation: Many characters feel trapped in their own worlds: Ruth in earth, Abigail as a mother, Susie in her heaven. Susie is explaining that like a sun, horror cannot be contained. It is possible for the sun to go through little nooks and crevices, likewise to horror. The characters feel trapped and there still is horror wherever they are. When Susie meets the other girls that also were victims of Mr.Harvey, she is uplifted of some of her pain by telling them her story. The book is a story of Susie’s family, allowing Susie a way to get through her grief and easing her pain.

Poe tries to invoke the fear within the reader by creating a very insightful description of the narrator’s wife’s dead body, buried in

In the Farming of Bones, Edwidge Danticat explores the 1937 massacre of Haitian immigrant workers in the Dominican Republic. This unfortunate and destructive reality rests squarely on the shoulders of Amabelle, who strives to find stability, love, and answers to tough questions on her quest for personal freedom. Throughout the narrative, Danticat uses the cave, sugar cane, and rive images, in order to deeply investigate the essence of the situation and provide us with symbolic images to enhance the story of Amabelle and the people around her in Columbia and Haiti.

The relationship between mothers and daughters is often complicated, by emotions of love, disappointment, anger, and forgiveness. This tumultuous relationship is ever changing as both women age, their needs from one another change and a deep appreciation for the other is inevitable. That is what the Bonesetter’s Daughter by Amy Tan is about.

She had been warned about the book once before, but still, through her immense curiosity, she hastily decided to dismiss the warnings. Her choices had now been etched in the past, now it was too late! There was not that could change what is to come for our poor Alice. At the touch of Alice’s hand the book now looking increasingly more dreadful the longer she stared. She tried to look away but her gaze was affixed on the ghastly tomb. Suddenly Alice could feel her body pulsating with the every contraction of the heart! A bead of sweat roles down the young girl’s brow, over her cheeks and down her chin. Its falls. Down it tumbles almost in an instant the drop hits the book. The

Whether it was anger, shock, or pain, the onlookers were lost in the tides surrounding the whirlpool of emotions that the girl was crushed beneath. With a wince like a young puppy who had been hit one too many times, she whimpered softly as the sharp jagged words sunk deep into her soul and found a home circled around her self confidence. A chocolate curtain of silk fell between her and the demented predator in front of her as she looked down and mouthed the words that shattered her into pieces and renamed her, “A useless waste of my

The scars that are left imprinted on a victim can never be fully healed. Alice Sebold was able to lived on past the darkness she once lived and into the light of possibilities, strength and hopefulness. Despite the trials Alice had to face in her life, such as rape, facing the trial, the rape of one of her

The fragmented narration of the events inside the film adaptation of Alice Sebold's book The Lovely Bones suggests that time has gone out of sync; yet, this is exactly what helps giving the story a satisfying kind of closure. Being narrated from two different worlds, the story line weaves back and forth from the day the tragedy occurred to the Salmon house. Throughout the tale, the theme of time brings a major significance to the sequence of events. Being some sort of a ghost, Susie, the victim, generates anxiety about the time in which events unfold, causing the reader to suspect the distinction between what seems and what is. This short paper will examine the significance of the ghostly appearance in the film and how a manipulation of time may contribute to the seeking of the truth, which in this case is detecting Susie's murderer.