The Lovely Bones
ISP Essay
Being isolated and feeling lonely is a terrible feeling for most people. “The Lovely Bones,” by Alice Sebold, is the story of a dead girl, Susie, who tries to help her living relatives discover the truth of her murder at the hands of Mr. Harvey, her neighbor. In this book, the author reveals the ugliness of murder, grief and extreme loneliness. As Susie experiences these feelings, she grows as a character and her attitude towards her family dramatically changes. The first step to relieving isolation in this case, is to let go of the past and move on.
To begin, the main character of this novel, Susie Salmon, experiences isolation the most severely. She is trapped in her heaven and she is secluded from the rest of society, and her family. Susie has an intense desire to watch over her loved ones as they change and grow. Her only dead relative is her grandfather. She tries to find him in heaven but she cannot because he has already moved on from watching the living. This worsens her loneliness extremely because she cannot find anyone she completely trusts. She tries to escape her isolation from Earth by continually pushing on what she calls the “In-between” so she can still influence the world of the living. Susie affects people on earth in two ways: she communicates with them from the Inbetween, or she does nothing except exist in their memories. The one benefit of trying to connect with her family, Susie is able to better understand both her killer and her mother. Overall, Susie suffers with isolation and trying to overcome it. The only way that her family will be able to move on, is if she does.
Next, is Mr. Harvey; the killer. He is a purely evil character, but the author portrays his loneliness as well, and it almost makes the reader feel sorry for him. George Harvey is a psychopath so he purposely isolates himself from society. People find him so strange that they do not usually take the time to associate with him; this allows him to lead a
Being isolated and feeling lonely is a terrible feeling for most people. “The Lovely Bones,” by Alice Sebold, is the story of a dead girl, Susie, who tries to help her living relatives discover the truth of her murder at the hands of Mr. Harvey, her neighbor. In this book, the author reveals the ugliness of murder, grief and extreme loneliness. As Susie experiences these feelings, she grows as a character and her attitude towards her family dramatically changes. The first step to relieving isolation in this case, is to let go of the past and move on.
To begin, the main character of this novel, Susie Salmon, experiences isolation the most severely. She is trapped in her heaven and she is secluded from the rest of society, and her family. Susie has an intense desire to watch over her loved ones as they change and grow. Her only dead relative is her grandfather. She tries to find him in heaven but she cannot because he has already moved on from watching the living. This worsens her loneliness extremely because she cannot find anyone she completely trusts. She tries to escape her isolation from Earth by continually pushing on what she calls the “In-between” so she can still influence the world of the living. Susie affects people on earth in two ways: she communicates with them from the Inbetween, or she does nothing except exist in their memories. The one benefit of trying to connect with her family, Susie is able to better understand both her killer and her mother. Overall, Susie suffers with isolation and trying to overcome it. The only way that her family will be able to move on, is if she does.
Next, is Mr. Harvey; the killer. He is a purely evil character, but the author portrays his loneliness as well, and it almost makes the reader feel sorry for him. George Harvey is a psychopath so he purposely isolates himself from society. People find him so strange that they do not usually take the time to associate with him; this allows him to lead a