Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones begins with a fourteen year old girl named Susie Salmon, who gets murdered. She is murdered by a man named Mr. Harvey, and the novel is told from Susie's point of view while she is in heaven. At the very beginning, Susie chooses a quote that she believes marks her, and that quote is "If they give you ruled paper, write the other way" (Sebold 5). I believe that this quote describes her because after she is murdered, she describes heaven in a very normal and optimistic way. Normally, after a person is murdered, they would be devastatingly sad and despise their murderer for taking their lives. Instead, Susie does not seem to lament her death and seek revenge. Not only does she not strive for Mr. Harvey’s arrest, but she also watches Mr. Harvey while he gets rid of her body parts that he had cut up. Susie is not uncomfortable when she watches her murderer, which makes it hard to believe, because I would think that she would despise seeing him or would be afraid of him. Therefore, the quote that Susie picks definitely suits her personality because she does not behave the way a normal person would. My impression of Susie is that she is a unique and kind individual. She goes against what is typical which leads me to believe that she will forgive Mr. Harvey for murdering her in the end. I also believe this because Susie really loves her family and she puts others before herself. When she is watching her family from heaven, she feels for her family. For example, Susie is watching her sister, Lindsey, talk to the boy that she likes, and when she sees "Lindsey's face [flush]; [hers flushes] up in heaven" as well (Sebold 71). Susie is more concerned about her sister being happy than herself being dead. Not only does Susie care about her sister, but she is also very protective of her brother, Buckley. In order to protect him, she "[has] never even let herself yearn for Buckley, afraid he might see [her] image in a mirror or a bottle cap" (Sebold 91). Susie would rather have herself suffer, than risk the chance of her younger brother accidently seeing her image. Now that she is dead, her image will appear if she yearns for someone. Susie knows that her younger brother would not be able to handle her death. Therefore, she must protect him from harm. Susie is really attached to her family and really cherishes them, especially her father. When she was alive, Susie and her father would make bottled ships together whenever they had time. It was a little hobby that the two of them shared. Due to the strong attachment to her family, I believe that she will focus her love and energy watching her family, than waste her time loathing Mr. Harvey. To continue, I get the impression that Susie is an introverted and shy person, because she "never felt comfortable with adults" (Sebold 7). Another impression that I have of Susie, is that she does not want to face reality. Susie believes that if she misses her family, it will "mean that [she] has accepted that [she] would never be with them again" (Sebold 27). I can relate to this because Susie is only fourteen years old, which demonstrates her immaturity and how she wants to run away from reality, which is her death.
Hey Natalie,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your blog and its interested me so much that I think I might have to borrow your book from a public library. In my opinion, the book is really unique in the sense that the protagonist has passed away and is watching her family from heaven. This is an incredibly interesting point of view but I just have one question - is it an omniscient point of view? Is the protagonist able to hear her family members' thoughts? Also, I completely agree with your opinion of Susie that she is benevolent. It really amazes me how she is able to forgive the callous person who took her life. I know that I would never be able to forgive anyone who treated so poorly. In addition, it really dismays me that Susie can never see her family again. Her act of watching her family and wishing for the best for them clearly demonstrates her love towards her family. She also tries her best not to yearn for them so that they wont be able to see her. That is definitely an altruistic act. I hope that there will be some way that she can be reunited with her family, even if it is only for a single day.
Hi Natalie!
ReplyDeleteI chose to comment on your post in particular because Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones is one of my favourite books. If you are currently borrowing the book from the library, you can always borrow mine instead because it does not carry an expiry date ;)
As for your analysis, I completely agree with how the quote "If they give you ruled paper, write the other way" suits Susie's personality (Sebold 5). Furthermore, this quote also fits Susie's approach to her death. Although she was (SPOILER ALERT!) raped and murdered by Mr. Harvey, she does not seem to hold any grudges against him. Rather, Susie seems to feel sorry for the old creep.
I do not think that Susie is too young to understand her situation, in fact I believe she completely and utterly comprehends the harsh actions Mr. Harvey acted upon her, especially when she uses the mortar and pestle metaphor (Have you read that part yet? I still remember that one quote because it creates such a disgustingly graphic image in my mind. Good relation though.) so blatantly. In fact, I think that Susie is rather mature for her aging, for accepting her death so easily, having realized that living again was futile.
What hits me the hardest is the fact that as heartbreaking as this story is, no amount of silver linings can ever make up for this looming cloud of awfulness. This fictitious story has a realistic plot, this could happen to any young girl caught in the wrong place at the wrong time. A prime example would be the recent Laura Szendrei, the fifteen year old teen from Delta who was mysteriously attacked. I hope that unlike the current circumstances of Mr. Harvey, her unknown murderer's identity will be revealed and exposed to all.
Hello Natalie!
ReplyDeleteThis book seems to be very intriguing. After reading your post, the question that came to mind was what actually happens when one passes away? In this book however, when someone passes away they are able to observe their family from heaven. This is certainly a very interesting take on afterlife since no one knows for sure what happens. Even though you think that Susie does not want to face reality, I think that she already has since you stated that she did not mourn over her death or try to seek revenge on Mr. Harvey. I think that Susie would go insane and be in denial if she could not face reality, her death. From your paragraph, Susie seems very calm about her death. Also, Susie seems to be very mature for a fourteen year old girl for putting her family before herself. You stated that her family could see Susie if she yearns for them so she tries not to miss Buckley, her brother, in order to protect him. This shows that Susie is truly selfless.
I hope that there will be a happy resolution for Susie at the end of the novel, and that Mr. Harvey will be arrested for what he has done.
Hello Natalie (:
ReplyDeleteI agree with Johnathan, your book does seem very appealing to me! While reading your post, my first thought was: why did the murderer decide to murder Susie when she happend to be a kind little girl who cared for her family more than she cared for herself? (I hope this question gets answered later on in the book) Unlike other books, this book starts with a very different point of view as the main protagonist is a dead person and she is speaking from heaven. I agree that she is a very unique girl who is very close to us in age. It is unusual that she likes making bottled ships with her father (as a hobby I guess)... Yet at the same time, the author reveals the strong bond they have between each other. Although Susie is now in heaven, I believe she is also a realistic person as you quoted from the book that "she has accepted that [she] would never be with them again" (Sebold 27). I agree that Susie's optimism in heaven is undoubtedly amazing; but I believe it's also necessary in order to portray the angelic image of heaven. Lastly, though I believe that what happened to Susie was extremely unfortunate, I believe she will encounter good things in heaven. Good things happen to those that are kind (:
Hi Natalie,
ReplyDeleteI read The Lovely Bones before and I really enjoyed it. I believe that Susie fits the quote "If they give you ruled paper, write the other way" (Sebold 5). She was told before to stop watching over her family especially her brother since that was how imaginary friends were formed. Yet she still does it instead of focusing on her life in heaven as she was told. Susie seems protective because she is always watching over her family, not wanting them to hurt over her death anymore.I think that Susie is rather mature for her age since she accepts her death; the fact that she cannot live with her family anymore. Yet it seems like she only accepts her death because she is forced to but still wishes that she is alive. However, Susie appears to me as if she is trying to live the life she never had through her sister since she is always watching her. I think Susie hopes that Mr. Harvey would be arrested for his crimes since I do not think it is possible to forgive a person who murdered her. I hope you enjoy this book. (: