The Narrative Voice in the Lovely Bones

Lambro Golloshi ENG 102 17 Prof. Tappin 4-23-2012 Lovely bones Critical Analysis Paper Losing a loved one can be such a difficult thing to accept. But what if you kept believing she was still there? Definitely not in body, but lingering in spirit. In The Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold, we dive into the mind of Susie Salmon; a 14 year old, dead girl. When Susie Salmon is murdered on her way home from school, she leaves behind a family and friends who care deeply for her. As each person deals…

A comparison of the ways that the dead affect the living in the novels Beloved by Toni Morrison and The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. In the novels that I have chosen to study, several themes are prominent in both. Both novels deal with a brutal murder of a young female, and the impact surrounding her death. They also deal with the idea of the dead, directly or indirectly communicating with the living. The novels address the theory that ‘ghosts’ cannot move onto the next life until they have resolved…

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…

while others invite it into their lives either out of curiosity or hope. As for Susie Salmon, she neither feared death nor encouraged it. Her murder was an unexpected one, but George Harvey was the only one expecting this moment for weeks. The Lovely Bones (novel by Alice Sebold and movie directed by Peter Jackson) describes the fictional incident of a young girl that is murdered, and her struggle to maintain a portal to the mortal world to contact her family, while also finding within herself, the…

Compare and Contrast of the remediation of Novels to film with reference to The Lovely Bones. The Lovely Bones is a 2002 novel by Alice Sebold about a teenage girl called Susie Salmon, a 14 year old girl who was raped and murdered by her neighbour George Harvey in 1973. She then watches from her own personal Heaven as her family and friends struggle to move on with their lives while she comes to terms with her own death. We follow Susie Salmon throughout the story as she witnesses the events on…

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…

regret is not for herself; it is for the members of her family and friends who are left to sort out her death. Although there are beautiful morsels describing Susie's "wide, wide heaven," it acts as a backdrop to the novel, not the centerpiece. The Lovely Bones is about Susie watching her family and friends heal and finding their way back to being connected with one another. It is about restoration of a family after it is devastated. The images and feelings elicited in this novel are ones that speak…

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…

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…

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. Out…