AP English Lit.
Mrs. Bosch
11 August 2008
The Lovely Bones
Alice Sebold , like many other writers, was inspired to write her stories based on her own experiences; although hers is probably much more unpleasant. As an eighteen year old college freshman at Syracuse University, she was attacked, brutally, beaten, and raped while walking through a nearby park. But the incident did not stop her from continuing to attend Syracuse to finish her bachelor’s degree and study writing. On the contrary, her experience made her want to write and tell her story more than anything. After graduating from Syracuse she continued her education at the University of Houston for graduate school and moved to Manhattan for 10 years. While living in Manhattan, she held several jobs, such as waitressing, but she continued to pursue her career as a writer. Many times she tried expressing herself and telling her storyt hrough poetry. But something always went wrong, and its results were never quite satisfactory. While she was there, she used heroin recreationally for two years until deciding to move to Southern California. There she became caretaker of an arts colony earning $386 per month and living in a cabin in the woods without electricity. But this did not prevent her from continuing to write; she would write by propane candlelight. Soon after, she applied to graduate school at University of California Irvine, in 1995.Here she began her, soon to be, successful career as a writer. Lucky, her first novel was a memoir of her awful rape experience. The title came from a policeman who told her she had been very “lucky” because not long before her attack, another young woman had been killed and dismembered in the same tunnel. She began her story while writing for a ten page assignment at UCI, and ending up with 40 pages. After finally initiating her career as a writer with Lucky, she continued it with her bestselling novel The Lovely Bones; a story that is obviously also influenced by her experience as a teenager. The story deals with a 14 year old girl who is raped and murdered. She tells her story from heaven as she looks down at her family and what becomes of them after her death. During an interview she mentions “I was motivated to write about violence because I believe it's not unusual. I see it as just a part of life, and I think we get in trouble when we separate people who've experienced it from those who haven't. Though it's a horrible experience, it's not as if violence hasn't affected many of us."(Alice Sebold Summary) Her background and experiences have set up the stage of her wonderful career as a writer!
The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold’s bestseller, is a truly captivating story dealing with the sufferings and events in a household after one’s death. Loss and grief along with love are two of the most relevant themes. Not only is her loss very saddening for those who surrounded her, but what hurts the most is their feeling of helplessness and disasperation. . Not knowing how or where Susie had disappeared and died. It was especially difficult to accept Susie’s death because her body was never found. The loss of Susie brings great grief to everyone; but especially to her father. Over the many years that go by, he never copes with her death and he kind of loses himself in a maze of grief and guilt. “Every day he got up. Before sleep wore off, he was who he used to be. Then, his consciousness woke; it was as if poison seeped in. At first he couldn’t even get up. He lay there under a heavy weight. But then only movement could save him, and he moved and he moved and he moved., no movement could save him, and he moved and he moved, and he moved, no movement being enough to make up for it. The guilt on him, the hand of god pressing down on him, saying, You were not there when your daughter needed you” (58). Lindsay, Susie’s younger sister seems to be the strongest. She learns how to deal with the problems and the kind of attention brought on to her by her sister’s death. But she copes perfectly and learns to go on with her life. “I may have begrudged her my father’s attention, but I respected her way of handling things. Of everyone in the family, it was Lindsey who had to deal with what Holly called the Walking Dead Syndrome-when other people see the dead person and don’t see you” (59). Her brother Buckley does just the same, even though he seems to be able to see Susie after her death. He was very small when she died, but was gravely affected by the fact that his father was never recovered from her death, and he seems to be living beneath her shadow. Out of all of them, the strangest way to try and reach recovery was the path taken by Abigail, Susie’s mom. At times, she seemed completely unaffected. And she slowly became detached from her family. She gradually began to lose herself in a world of infatuation and lust with the detective in charge of Susie’s case, Len Fennerman. “I was watching a beg for leniency on my mother’s part. My mother was moving physically through time to flee from me. I could not hold her back. Len kissed her forehead hard and closed his eyes. She took his hand and placed it on her breast. She whispered in his ear. I knew what was happening. Her rage, her loss, her despair. The whole life lost tumbling out in an arc on that roof, clogging up her being. She needed Len to drive the dead daughter out” (152). She eventually becomes tired of her situation and her life and runs away to California. She tried to escape, thinking she could forget and leave her problems in the past while creating a new safe haven for herself. Although her family suffered greatly from the loss, they were not the only ones affected by the grief. Ray Singh, a school mate, loved Susie and it was hard for him to accept reality. He was also Susie’s closest experience to love and because of this she holds hi m dear to her heart even as she watches down from her heaven This love, and family love, both make themselves very present in the story, and are very fundamental to the story. The theme of love marks many points in the story. It is what keeps the people on earth from accepting someone’s death, and what keeps the ones in heaven wanting to come back. But it is also something that is shared between the two and will create a bond that will remain forever.
This novel, written by Alice Sebold, not only has a way of engaging the reader into a saddening yet exciting story, but it has a unique way of incorporating the first person narration with that of an omniscient one. It begins with the rape and murder of fourteen year old Susie Salmon, and continues with observations from her personalized heaven. Susie can see everything from her heaven and constantly watches over everyone on Earth. She carefully observes everyone’s actions and how each one of her family members copes with her death. But just as those on earth cannot accept the fact that she is dead, neither can she. Susie constantly tries to be a part of the world she once knew and experience “living” once again. She has a hard time letting go of those on earth, and this keeps her from many things in her heaven. This novel helps one speculate on the possibility of life after death and how the dead keep watch over us. It helps one realize the many mistakes we make when we lose a loved one and the effect we may have on others. It also lets the reader be a pert of the drama and experience the bitterness of knowing that a murderer can get away so easily, and take the life of so many along with the life of their families.
The Lovely Bones is a one of a kind story that has a somewhat supernatural effect on the reader. It tells of a horrible rape/murder experience and is very uniquely narrated from up in heaven from the victim, as she observes the events that occur after her death. She enjoys watching those who still have a place down on earth, and experiences what she never got to her experience when she was alive, through her sister. She watches her grow up, and fall in love. And she keeps track of all those she once knew down on earth. Because of this , I believe it addresses something that I am sure many have wondered “what would happen if I died? Would anyone care? Would anyone be able to see me? This novel helps you speculate on many aspects of death and life after death. It also gives you a nice idea of what heaven could be like. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in these types of novels. It is filled with mystery, despair, hope, and many other feelings that will definitely keep you reading for hours And it was recently adapted into a film, which I believe is supposed to come out sometime next year (2009).
This novel, written by Alice Sebold, not only has a way of engaging the reader into a saddening yet exciting story, but it has a unique way of incorporating the first person narration with that of an omniscient one. It begins with the rape and murder of fourteen year old Susie Salmon, and continues with observations from her personalized heaven. Susie can see everything from her heaven and constantly watches over everyone on Earth. She carefully observes everyone’s actions and how each one of her family members copes with her death. But just as those on earth cannot accept the fact that she is dead, neither can she. Susie constantly tries to be a part of the world she once knew and experience “living” once again. She has a hard time letting go of those on earth, and this keeps her from many things in her heaven. This novel helps one speculate on the possibility of life after death and how the dead keep watch over us. It helps one realize the many mistakes we make when we lose a loved one and the effect we may have on others. It also lets the reader be a pert of the drama and experience the bitterness of knowing that a murderer can get away so easily, and take the life of so many along with the life of their families.
The Lovely Bones is a one of a kind story that has a somewhat supernatural effect on the reader. It tells of a horrible rape/murder experience and is very uniquely narrated from up in heaven from the victim, as she observes the events that occur after her death. She enjoys watching those who still have a place down on earth, and experiences what she never got to her experience when she was alive, through her sister. She watches her grow up, and fall in love. And she keeps track of all those she once knew down on earth. Because of this , I believe it addresses something that I am sure many have wondered “what would happen if I died? Would anyone care? Would anyone be able to see me? This novel helps you speculate on many aspects of death and life after death. It also gives you a nice idea of what heaven could be like. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in these types of novels. It is filled with mystery, despair, hope, and many other feelings that will definitely keep you reading for hours And it was recently adapted into a film, which I believe is supposed to come out sometime next year (2009).
