Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones features a 14 year old girl named Susie Salmon, like the fish. Susie Salmon, with fair skin and mousy brown hair, looked like a lot of the girls from the 70's. What differentiates her greatly from all those other girls is the fact that she is already dead. In the first few pages of the book, the reader finds that she is raped and then slashed to death by a 36 year old pyscopath called Mr. Harvey. This fateful, fatal event happens on December 6th of 1973. Susie was part of the Chess club and the Chemistry club and is also "good at acing a science quiz" (page 7). The author makes use of show-not-tell to indicate that Susie was very intelligent in the sciences. In contrast, Susie "burned everything [she] tried to make in Mrs. Delminico's home ec class" (page 1).
As the story progresses, Susie is taken to heaven. Described as perfect but lacking, heaven is different for each of the souls trapped there and are given a set of delights that the soul seeks. However, Susie cannot have the one wish she wants the most fulfilled: to be alive again and be with her family. In this heaven, Susie finds that she can watch her family and friends back down on Earth to see how they take her death as some grieve while others try to unravel the mystery of her lost body and death. Susie watches them struggle and recover from her death as time passes: "Almost everyone in heaven has someone on Earth they watch...A one-way loving and desiring of their mates" (page 246). Although possibly twisted, this is what motivates her. Her links to Earth keep her tied to the small heaven she has and enables her to endure the boredom of afterlife. Because she has not had the chance to grow up, she decides to experience the process through her sister Lindsey. Thus, she keeps on watching Lindsey as well as the rest of her family and friends as bonds strengthen and weaken over time.
Resulting from this watching, the Salmon family feels the conscience presence of Susie everywhere they go. Naturally, grievance and pain come with the death of a loved one. However, this pain is emphasized because both the people on Earth and Susie refuse to let go of the links that tie them together. With Susie's ghostly presence, they feel pressured and stressed. One of the conflicts Susie faces is that she feels immense reluctancy to give up watching and holding on to Earth. Even if she knows that her family would rather get over her quickly , she makes herself present in hope that they will not forget her. She selfishly places a sort of curse to make sure that she will exist forevermore in the hearts of those she loved. Susie knows that this is not the best for her family but holds bitter feelings because she was killed at such a early age in a cruel manner.
Susie Salmon is a very different character from other pieces of work. She becomes a very surreal persona and serves more as a narrator and a conscience. I feel she represents the general question of "What comes after death? How will my family and friends react?". I definately asked that question to myself before. I believe that the question is a concept which shows self-conscienceness and the natural human desire to fit in. I've always wondered how I made an impact in other's lives by developing friendships and interacting with them.
Additionally, although not a literary work, I was reminded of The Lovely Bones when I heard this song on the radio: Coming Home - Diddy Dirty Money.
Lyrics:
I’m coming home
I’m coming home
Tell the World that I’m coming home
Let the rain wash away, all the pain of yesterday
I know my kingdom awaits, and they’ve forgiven my mistakes
I’m coming home, I’m coming home
Tell the World that I’m coming
There are surprisingly a lot of connections that I could make to even the rap part of the song.
For example, "Is a house really a home when your loved ones are gone?". This could refer to how Susie's departure from Earth impacted the family and their bonds. Additionally, later on in the book, Susie's mother Abigail leaves the family and goes to California in an effort to get away from the place that she feels is the source of her unhappiness.
Lot of fights, lot of scars, lot of bottles
Lot of cars, lot of ups, lot of downs
Made it back, lost my dog
Fights connects to the quarrels between Lindsey, Buckley and Susie's father Jack as the parents try to protect young Buckley from understanding the loss of Susie. Scars would be the mental and emotional scars that run deep and must be endured. Bottles would refer to both the alchohol consumed by the parents as they try to drown their sorrows as well as the botttled ships that Jack and Susie built in her childhood. Furthermore, the Salmon family has a dog named Holiday which joins Salmon in heaven near the end of the book.
So surprisingly, I found many relevant connections that I could make to the song.
Link to song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEjB1zebCko
Rest in Peace, Susie Salmon:
"I wish you all a long and happy life" (page 328).
I agree with your comment about how Susie doesn't want her friends and family to forget her, but I also want to add that many children have difficulties letting go of anything. The way that she wants to stay attached to Earth can be compared to any child who is forced to give up something. For example, when I was around 10 years old, I was forced to donate a lot of my old toys, but I found it incredibly difficult because of the emotional attachments. Susie may want to stay attached to Earth so that she also doesn't forget the memories of her time with her family.
ReplyDeleteI also really like how you compared the story to a modern song. It provides a twist to your post, rather than comparing the main character to another novel character. The song also appeals to teenagers, which helps the story to become more relatable. Great job, Mio! I look forward to reading more of your posts. : )
Hey Mio,
ReplyDeleteDid you know? An etymological search of the name Susie reveals that it is a form of Susanna, which comes from the Hebrew Shoshanah, which means lily. Lilies symbolize purity, and chastity, which is ironic, because Susie's purity was violated when she was raped and killed. Peruvian lilies symbolize friendship and devotion. This can be compared to how she was still longing to be with her family even after her death. Lilies also symbolize innocence which is on par with her personality because she is an innocent victim in the story, and she died at the raw age of 14.
I agree with what you said about this book being the author's answer to the general question about life after death. The idea that a dead loved one can still look after her family and friends after death brings forth many profound discussions and thoughts. It can be very comforting to think that after death, family and friends can still look after us. But then again, we will never know, because no one has ever come back from the other side.
Excellent job on your character analysis, Mio, it was very thought provoking. Can't wait to hear what happens next in the story!