Lovely Bones

ISU Essay on The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold Innocent suffer and ‘die before their time’ is an archetype that illustrates our helplessness to control our lives and also something beautiful, precious, and defenseless is needlessly destroyed. “Life does not always end after death” (Anonymous). This archetype seen in the novel The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold, she really captures life after her death. It is the story of a teenage girl who, after being raped and murdered, watches from her personal Heaven as her family and friends struggle to move on with their lives while she comes to terms with her own death. Susie Salmon’s unfortunate death triggers the sequence of events that leads her family to a relationship breakdown. The death of a loved one can take a devastating effect on the members of a family because not only does it cause grief, but it also completely changes the family’s connection with each other. Susie Salmon’s dreams and goals for the future, curiousness and naivete projected her innocence at the beginning of the story. Susie Salmon has dreams and is full of ambition. This is seen when Susie is trying to look for her present that her parents bought for her: “I went over to it and stared down. It was an Instamatic, and lying beside it were three cartridges of film and a box of four square flashbulbs. It was my first machine, my starter kit to becoming what I wanted

to be. A wildlife photographer” (Sebold 47). This quote shows that Susie is excited to use her new camera so she could fulfill her desire to be a wildlife photographer also Susie is positive because she is devoted on her dream and she is someone who strives for success. In addition, Susie is curious. This is seen when Mr. Harvey, the murderer, tries to impress Susie with his invention: “’I’ve built something back here,’ he said. ‘Would you like to see?’” … “’What is it?’ I asked. I was no longer cold or weirded out by the look he had given me. I was like I was in Science class: I