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Thesis Statement / Essay Topic #1: The Role of Grief in The Lovely
Bones
Alice Sebold’s The Lovely Bones explores the different ways in which people process grief when they lose a common loved one. When Susie
Salmon is killed on her way home from school, the remaining four members of her family all deal differently with their grief. Jack becomes obsessed with finding the killer, going so far as to attack a boy in a cornfield when he mistakes him for Susie’s murderer. Abigail turns in on herself, beginning an affair with the investigating officer, and then running off to California to keep from dealing with the pain. Perform a character analysis of main characters in The Lovely Bones and explore the ways in which they deal with their own private grief. Focus on Susie’s siblings, Ruth, and Ray Singh.
Thesis Statement / Essay Topic #2: The Lovely Bones and Survival
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 with her death, most of them deal with a large amount of survivor’s guilt.
The two characters that seem to have the hardest time accepting Susie’s death and their own survival are Lindsey Salmon and Ruth Connors.
Lindsey deals not only with the drama in her family’s personal lives, but she also must learn to live her life and enjoy the milestones that she reaches, even while acknowledging that Susie will never have those special moments. Ruth deals with Susie’s death by delving into the psychic world. Despite the fact that she did not know Susie Salmon very well during her life, the dead girl is the primary focus of Ruth’s life after the murder. In what ways do Ruth and Lindsey react similarly throughout the novel, and in what ways is the loss of Susie Salmon especially poignant to the two girls?
Thesis Statement / Essay Topic #3: Growth in The Lovely Bones
Although Susie Salmon has been murdered when she is introduced in The
Lovely Bones, the