The Narrative Voice in the Lovely Bones

In Alice Sebold’s novel, The Lovely Bones, the Salmon family learns that their fourteen year old daughter, Susie Salmon, has been raped and murdered. Because of this her father, Jack, sister, Lindsey, and mother, Abigail, all go through their own respective journeys in order to accept this ordeal. During this time of grievance for Susie’s family, her father, Jack, believes that the person responsible for the murder of his daughter is his neighbour, a man named George Harvey, and reports this to detective…

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…

“The dead are never exactly seen by the living, but many people seem acutely aware of something changed around them” (Sebold 94). In the novel, “Lovely Bones”, by Alice Sebold, the author illustrates the descriptions of the protagonist’s, Susie Salmon, a fourteen year old, after her death and her relation with the living. Susie was brutally hurt and killed from a new neighbor, Mr. Harvey, who was never discovered for his numerous crimes. Sebold presents various settings where the protagonist, Susie…

Throughout The Lovely Bones and Middlesex, Alice Sebold and Jeffrey Eugenides, respectively, articulate the emotional journeys that both of their characters endure when faced with grief. Although they bear similarities, such as how both characters are able to move towards the idea of acceptance, the differences between The Lovely Bones and Middlesex are clear in the paths that each character takes in the various stages of grief to reach their destination of inner peace. Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, a Swiss-American…

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…

and Mrs Danvers is that they have both lost the one that they loved, nonetheless in an attempt to cope with this they react in vastly different ways, though both destructive and emotionally scaring. Another hindrance of true love as seen in The Lovely Bones, Othello and Rebecca is adultery. Third party characters are seen launching the plot and the act of adultery is seen driving the plot into motion leading to the story’s climax. As we see in Othello, the women of Venice are portrayed in this era…

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…

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…