Lovely Bones Themes

The second half of Alice Sebold’s The Lovely Bones explores a variety of themes, all of which example the relationship between the main character’s version of heaven and the real world. Susie Salmon’s story about her “perfect life” in heaven and her family’s very imperfect lives on earth can be seen as proof that the grass is always greener on the other side. This is illustrated through the drastic measures each member of the Salmon family takes to cope with Susie’s murder and the ways Susie wishes to be back on Earth with them. Sebold shows how one theme is connected to another by linking humans’ constant desire of things they do not have with the theme of fleeing. Fleeing is different from simply leaving or going because it is abandoning people, a situation, or a place that needs someone. Instead of staying and facing reality, the person flees and escapes to an unrealistic, temporary solution. Susie’s mother flees her home in search of a life without her family and constant reminders of her deceased daughter, just like how George Harvey, Susie’s killer, flees the town to get away from constant reminders of the girl he killed and the people who are trying to find him. Both of these characters search for the life they want, trying to put their haunting pasts behind them. For both people, the past catches up with them. Firstly, Susie’s mother is forced to leave her Californian hideaway to return to her family after Mr. Salmon has a heart attack. On her way to the airport, Mrs. Salmon understands that things will never truly be just how she wants them no matter how far she runs, because, even while she is in California, her family and their struggles still exist.

The characters all long for something or someone they do not have and, when they receive that something, they realize they were better off in the first