Symbolism in The Lovely Bones Essay

English Summer Reading Essay

The Lovely Bones- details & symbols

Every novel or piece of work has symbols and details that are placed in the story for specific reasons. A symbol is something that represents something else, most of the time it is something abstract. The little details in a story can also be very significant in the story line. They might be the smallest of details but they can mean or represent something so big. In the book The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold there are details and symbols that will cause a reader to understand the story line much better and it will make it more creative throughout the components of the book.

One of the main symbolic things in the book The Lovely Bones was the keystone state charm because it represented Susie herself. Like the keystone state charm, Susie is the keystone of the family and when she is murdered her family starts falling apart. Jack starts obsessing with finding out who killed Susie, Abigail eventually runs away from her family and Lindsey feels like she has been abandoned. The charm bracelet itself represents the charmed life that the Salmon family had led up until this point. They live in a suburb and in a time when murders and rapes never occurred. When Susie and the charm bracelet go missing they realize in a violent and sudden manner that this charmed life has come to an end. Faced with the tragic death of Susie the family starts to crumble into pieces.

Some of the few small details that represent something are the old shoe from the Monopoly game. That was a piece of the game that was Susies favorite and it represented Susie to Buckley, it was also strange how that piece disappeared after her death too. The women on the widows walk of Susies house in Heaven were representing all the women that were victims of Harvey, just like Susie and they had all gone to heaven. The bag omagicwas something that reminded everyone of Susie. It was Grandmother Lynns bag of makeup. They used this bag to try and give Susie a makeover. It was a funny and happy memory that represents a break from the pain of Susies death. Susies bedroom was symbol that represented a place where Susie was still alive to every member of the family. They thought in the atmosphere of that room Susie was still truly there and wasnt really gone forever.

The porch light of the family was greatly symbolic because it has been left on continuously and represents the familys belief that she will come home any moment. When Jack turns it off to try and catch Harvey in the cornfield, it represents that, with the capture of her murderer there would be closure for Susies family. Unfortunately, he is never caught and Susie never comes home. During the book Susie accomplishes to blow out a candle from Heaven. Blowing it out is the only thing Susie is able to accomplish from Heaven as she watches her father in sorrow. It represents her frustration and unhappiness that she cant do more to ease everyones pain.The map given to Susie was a way to lead her to all of Mr. Harveys victims. It represented comfort making her feel like she finally wasnt alone and people have gone through the same that she has. The Eye charm was a symbol of Mr. Harvey. Mr. Harveys mother had given it to him after they stole it from a roadside memorial. It symbolizes how he was always watching for his next victims because he has been doing the same for a long time, just going after girls and convicting crimes. The front door of the Salmon home did look like every other door in the town but it symbolized the blood red of murder. Mr. Odwyers songs represented when Susie felt invincible because she loved his songs. The daffodil flower represented Susie as well. After Jacks heart attack, Abigail returned home. With Susie no longer alive and not home, she was unable to handle living at home so just left. She ended up working at a winery. Outside of the hospital where Jack was a young girl was selling daffodils. Each bundle was wrapped in a lavender ribbon. Abigail bought all the flower and brought them to Jack. Once Jack woke up and saw all the flowers he said that daffodils were Susies flowers.

Details in this book like, the hard blessed hours was a time that Susie referred to as the time when her father, Jack was sleeping and finally in peace after his surgery. It represented a time where he would finally stop thinking about the death of his daughter. The in between was where Susie was exactly placed. It was a place between the Earth and the Heaven where she and her family were stuck. They couldnt go forward or into the past. The glass bottles with ships inside were a project completed by Susie and her father and represented a time when she was needed and loved. They are a reminder to him of her death. Jack, looks at the snow globes and the bottles with ships inside as perfect little worlds that are so fragile they can easily be destroyed. They symbolize how Jack's family has been shattered by Susie's murder. After Susie's death, the family falls apart and Jack is obsessed to find her killer. Susie's killer has destroyed Jack's perfect little family, and there was nothing Jack could do to prevent it.

Books have amazing story lines and The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold was a perfect example with many symbols and details throughout the book. Without the use of these two things the story would not have been as fasicanting and well developed as it is.