Lovely Bones

The Grieving Process of Abigail The Lovely Bones is written by Alice SeBold and is about a young girl named Susie who was brutally murdered by her next door neighbor, Mr. Harvey. No one suspected Mr. Harvey in the beginning, but with Susie’s help from the beyond, he became the lead suspect. Susie began to send clues to her family from heaven, but the problem was that only her father, brother and sister could connect with her and feel her presence. This problem expanded quickly and because of it, tore the family apart. Abigail, Susie’s mother, became the one torn from the family. Abigail dealt with Susie’s death differently than everyone else in the Salmon family. Abigail’s grieving process was slower than everyone else’s grieving process. Abigail becomes the antagonist in the novel and becomes the one character that can’t face Susie’s death. When the Salmon family first finds out that Susie is indeed dead, Abigail responds by being depressed, she is sad and shocked by the fact that her oldest child and first daughter is actually gone and will never be coming back, and much like the rest of the Salmon family, she demands answers on who, why and how her daughter, Susie was murdered. “My mother sat on a hard chair by the front door with her mouth open. Her pale face paler than I had ever seen it. Her blue eyes staring” (Sebold 11). Abigail can’t believe that Susie is gone. Things like this don’t happen to a family like hers. She doesn’t know what to do or say at this moment. Abigail remains depressed throughout certain points in the novel. “You look invincible” (Sebold 211). Abigail wishes that she could be as strong as Lindsey. Abigail calls her invincible because she wishes that she could be as strong and able to care for the family and deal with Susie’s death like Lindsey. “Nothing is ever certain” (Sebold 20). Jack was the one who gave Abigail this idea, but she clings on to this saying as if somewhere out there, Susie is alive, despite the recent

Cited: Sebold, Alice. The Lovely Bones. Boston: Little, Brown & Company, 2002. Print. Dombeck, Mark, and Kathryn Patricelli. "Introduction to Grief and Bereavement Issues." _Introduction to Grief and Bereavement Issues_. Print. Ross, Elisabeth Kubler. "Five Stages of Grief." Death & Dying. Print.