The lovely Bones

The setting of the novel shows us that the worst things can happen when we least expect It and to the people who least deserve It. The author Alice Sobbed' strategically wrote the setting the way It Is to help readers realize that they should always be careful about whom they trust and to show that tragedies Like these do and did happen. Plot The storyline of this book is based around the fight for family and in particular the willingness to let go of the past and live within the present. We follow a young girls horrific story and we watch her as she struggles to leave earth and enjoy heaven.This girls name was Susie Salmon; she was fourteen years old when she was murdered on December 6th 1973, We follow not only her Journey but also her implies' as they both try to cope and come to terms with this horrifying circumstance. We learn that we should not take advantage of what you have and to be thankful for what we already do have. At the innocent age of fourteen Susie Salmon was lured into a hidden underground room by her neighbor Mr.. Harvey. Susie was raped and killed by this sick man who was surprisingly a trusted individual throughout the community.He had a mental disease and had killed many other girls before Susie. The youngest being only six years old. We watch as Useless family falls apart and also learn how much love a father can have for his daughter. This is evident, as her dad never lets go of his beautiful daughters memory we witness his determination to put Issue's soul to rest as he continues to search and expose her killer. Mr.. Harvey never gets caught although he dies as a result of karma, which is what the author ‘Alice Sobbed' alms to portray at the end of this novel.Although the most Important lesson shown Is how hard It Is to let go of a life that was unfairly taken away, by a man who does not deserve to have one. Characters Susie Salmon Susie was a fun and bright girl who loved two things her photography and her family. Although this all changed on December 6th 1973 when she was beaten, raped and murdered in the cornfields by Mr.. Harvey her neighbor. She used to be full of love and extremely vibrant. Although after this traumatic experience which put her life to an unexpected and extremely early stop her whole personality changes.She struggles to accept the fact that she can no longer continue with the life she once had. Susie finds it very difficult to except the fact that Mr.. Harvey can continue through life and she has to watch her loves ones suffer. She shows her frustration wrought sending messages to her father who is in desperate search of his little girls killer. Although she soon learns that everything happens for a reason and life will Mr.. Harvey Mr.. Harvey is a thirty six year old man who is responsible for both the rape and murder of young Susie Salmon.He is a very important although evil character thorough this traumatic although eye opening novel. As Susie is between earth and heaven she watche s over her loved ones. By choice she very rarely watches over Mr.. Harvey but the only time she ever seems to notice him is when he is thinking about re or getting close to her family. Throughout this novel we begin to re-live Mr.. Harvey's childhood we learn that he had a mother who taught him how to steal and an abusive father who did not have a proper Job like all the other children.His life was far from perfect and once he saw that The Salmons had a life he always dreamt of having. He felt the need to ruin it and destroy something that he never had the privilege of having. All in all Mr.. Harvey was motivated by Jealousy as he believed that a young innocent girl who had her whole life ahead of her did not deserve the reveille of having a loving family. So instead of improving his own life he decided to destroy someone else's. Themes There are a various amount of themes associated with this particular novel such as the fight for family and most importantly love.In this heart wren ching novel we are shown the different and opposite types of families. The salmon family are loving, supportive and happy although Mr.. Harvey lives alone and had a very tough and unloved upbringing. Mr.. Harvey finds it hard to believe that even though the salmons have lost a much-loved member of the family, hey still manage to get through and keep the bond they all shared with or without Susie. The novel is based heavily upon the Salmon family rebuilding their once perfect lives after the horrific murder of both a daughter and sister.As we continue through the novel we see vast amounts of love through both family and friends. Issue's little sister Lindsey begins to fall in-love with a young boy called Samuel. As Susie watches over her little sister growing up she cannot help but be envious of her, because she was never able to experience such feelings. Although we o not only watch love blossom unfortunately we also see former loves come crumbling down. As you would expect the stra in of losing a loved one can either make relationships stronger or weaker.Unfortunately Issue's parents were unable to cope, her mum left for a year to go work in a winery and deal with her pain alone and in her own time. Although at the end she comes back and Issue's parents fall in love all over again. Author's Techniques The time frame has strategically been set through 1973 to 1981 because back in this particular day and age murder and or rape was unfamiliar and in most cases an unheard of crime. It could also be the fact that we did not have the resources we needed back then to catch killers and rapists as there was no DNA testing during this time in our history.The author ‘Alice Sobbed' has set the book in this time because the death of this young adult took many by surprise and it was unjust but also common that Mr.. Harvey was never caught and convicted. Although one particular use of symbolism stood out the most. Mr.. Harvey kept the bracelet young Susie wore the nigh t she was murdered. The author uses the bracelet to symbolism Susie Salmon and the fact that even though she cannot be seen or eared she is still there, watching and missing everything she was not able to experience in life.Evaluation The novel ‘The lovely bones' is an amazing story of a young girls unfairly shortened life. We see evidence of symbolism, point of view and many other techniques used by the author. It shows us that family is in most cases are the people you can trust the most. Susie had so much more living to do; which allows the novel to make you frustrated although it also makes readers feel thankful for the opportunities and life they are fortunate enough to have. The Lovely Bones Sobbed cleverly developed the characters of the narrative by using literary devices such as iris person narration, flashbacks, imagery and tone in order to connect her audience with the characters and therefore sympathize with them. Sobbed uses first person narration, with the narrative being told from the perspective of Susie Salmon. This Is a technique used by Sobbed, as she has created Issue's voice to be conversational rather than formal to create sympathy with her.Susie retells the events that took place before and after her death, sharing with us her thoughts opinions and feelings to allow the reader to Identify with her and sympathies with her as the poor Innocent victim whose only wish Is to grow up. For example, when Susie tells the reader about each person having different versions of Heaven which give them their desires, she says â€Å"l could not have what I wanted most: Mr.. Harvey dead and me living. † Susie is able to see everything by looking down from Heaven, therefore she has the knowledge of all that has taken place and in addition the ability to read into the minds of other characters.For example, when Susie watches Ray Sings looking at her photo, she says â€Å"What did dead mean, Ray wondered. It meant lost, it meant frozen, it meant gone. † This provides a greater perspective for the deader, and therefore an opportunity to identify the situation and sympathies with other characters also. Another literary technique Sobbed uses Is flashbacks, which Jump back In time from the current point in the story to past events that have taken place in Issue's life to help develop characters. For example, when Mr.. Harvey kisses Susie, she flashes back to her first kiss with Ray Sings. Mr.. Harvey started to press his lips against mine. They were blubbery and wet and I wanted to scream but I was too afraid and too exhausted from the fight. Had been kissed once by someone I liked. His name was Ray and he was Indian. † This flashback helps to develop Issue's character. Similarly, this technique is used to develop Mr.. Harvey, who was taught to steal by his mother, abandoned by her, and raised by his tyrannical father. Although we do not sympathies with Mr.. Harvey, knowing this creates an understanding that he was once innocent, forcing the readers to see him as more human.Flashbacks are also used to contrast changes In characters before and after Issue's death. For example, Susie flashes back to the time she and her happy father Jack built ships In bottles before she died: way the strings he'd raised the mast with, and I would wait for him, recognizing the tension of that moment when the world in the bottle depended, solely, on me. † However, this is contrasted with the broken man he becomes because he feels he failed his daughter. Susie watches him waking up in the morning and tells: â€Å"The guilt on him, the hand of god pressing down on him saying, you were not there when your daughter needed you. So bbed also uses imagery and tone as tools to further develop sympathy for the characters. The tone Sobbed uses is very blunt, direct and void of feeling, which implements her cold, chilling descriptions, evoking a strong emotional reaction from her readers. For example, after Susie is murdered, she retells: â€Å"He had put me in a waxy cloth sack and thrown in the shaving cream and razor from the mud ledge, his book of sonnets, and finally the bloody knife, tumbled together with my knees, fingers and toes. † This creates the visualization of Mr..Harvey carving up her body and tossing it about carelessly, which combined with the unsentimental tones creates a very sympathetic response from the reader. These various sensory images are also seed by Sobbed as a method of developing characters. For example, when Susie reflects on her heartbeat against Mr.. Harvey's during the rape, she says: â€Å"Mine skipped like a rabbit, and his thudded like a hammer against cloth,† cont rasting Issue's gentle nature to Mr.. Harvey's violent one, creating sympathy for Susie. Another literary technique used to create sympathy with the characters of ‘The Lovely Bones' is irony. For example, when Mr..Harvey brings Mrs.. Flanagan the safe holding the dead body of Susie, which is to be disposed of, Mrs.. Flanagan says: â€Å"What do you eave in here? A dead body? † The reader knows that there is in fact a dead body inside, although Mrs.. Flanagan does not. This ensures the reader does not sympathize with Mr.. Harvey, as he is able to blatantly lie, and enables the reader to feel sympathy for Susie. Susie was always afraid as a little girl that the sinkhole would swallow her, and then ironically it really did when Mr.. Harvey buried her there in the Iron safe. This creates sympathy for Susie because it was her childhood fear.Irony is also used to sympathize with Issue's father Jack, who ironically goes into the lied to kill the person he believes is Mr.. Harv ey, but is attacked himself. We also feel sympathy for Jack when he ironically comes to the same realization Susie did when they saw the photograph of Abigail, that she was unhappy in her marriage with him. Seabed's literary techniques helped to develop sympathy for her characters, solidifying the interest of her readers. The first-person narration, flashbacks, imagery, tone and irony techniques brought the narrative to life and I could easily identify and sympathize with Susie. Word Count: 1002