The Lovely Bones Hero's Journey

“Tragedies are often dispatched in short order, and most of life is aftermath” (“Letting go; New fiction” 1). Tragic events often leave the victim and those close to them seeking closure. The journey of discovery is filled with many obstacles that everyone reacts differently. The novel The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold shows how the journey to get through emotional trauma caused by death of a loved one, and life that can never be continued affects everyone in different ways. The Salmon family embarks on a journey through life with struggles while trying to discover themselves without Susie Salmon in their lives after her murder, at the age of fourteen. Lindsey, Susie’s sister, has difficulty finding her own image in Susie’s shadow after her
“Lindsey had to deal with…the Walking Dead Syndrome – when other people see the dead person and don’t see you” (Sebold 66). Lindsey’s family along with herself see Susie in her; Lindsey has avoided mirrors and showers in the dark. Since Lindsey is suffering with her identity she tries out make up to create her own image and physically changes her appearance to separate herself as much as possible from her sister. Lindsey’s boyfriend Samuel is her emotional crutch and offers support with out shadowing her in the death of Susie. Lindsey rarely allows her emotions to get the best of her. She does not openly express her grief, and decides to handle the situation on her own. “Like someone who has survived a gut shot, the wound had been closing, closing – braiding into a scar for eight long years” (Sebold 275). Lindsey is able to let go of Susie but not forget her, she helped everyone move past the tragedy, through Lindsey her father had found the strength needed to move on in
His initial reaction is much different, upon hearing that the police have recovered Susie’s hat and that the amount of blood they found indicates that she is likely dead, he immediately retreats away. “He was too devastated to reach out to [Abigail] sitting on the carpet…he could not let [her] see him” (Sebold 32). Jack does not know what to do or say to console his family and feels like it is his responsibility to stay strong for their sake. After the initial shock, Jack decides to devote his time to finding Susie’s killer, hoping that he will Susie as well. His efforts are focused on keeping busy so that he may not be reminded that Susie is gone. His constant guilt for not being able to help Susie when she needed it most withdraws him from his own family. Jack is still overcome with grief at times, leading him to break the bottled ships that he and Susie had worked on. He tries to make up for his emptiness by developing a relationship with Lindsey, to replace Susie. His grief also prevents him from developing a strong relationship with his son, Buckley, who constantly feels overshadowed by his older sister’s death. Jacks severe reactions greatly affect the relationships he still has; driving his wife away and forcing Lindsey to grow up prematurely. “[Jack] could see glimmers, like the colored flecks inside my mother’s eyes – things to hold on to” (Sebold 306). Eventually Jack can see that