The Lovely Bones Character Analysis

In the start of the novel, the reader is introduced to the main character from her own point of view. She opens up by saying, “My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie.” (Sebold 1). Susie, as the reader has now found out, is (or was) a young, naive fourteen year old girl living with her parents and her two siblings. Much like the quote may suggest, she was a curious child; unfortunately, this aspect of her was true to a fault. She continues, “I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6th, 1973.” (Sebold 1). As the story begins to unravel, the reader is shown how her death came about, and who was guilty of such a low crime.

Normally, a young girl is taught by her parents to never talk, nor follow strangers; this wasn’t an exception

With all the time that passes, she watches her sister grow as a woman, her father grow more and more suspicious of Mr. Harvey, and her mother eventually move away after having an affair with the officer that never solved the case of who murdered her daughter. In the meanwhile, her brother suffers from lack of attention at home while everyone else is trying to focus on their own methods of coping. However, as things seem to grow more chaotic, more time passes and the dust begins to settle. Her sister, with whom she had been watching very closely, finds a partner that she loves dearly. Additionally, her father has an unfortunate heart attack, but, although that in itself may seem tragic at first, her mother comes back to visit him in his hospital room and the two eventually fall back in love. As a result, life at home is significantly better for her brother, and the family is finally at peace. As an added bonus, a very important one at that, she witnesses the eventual death of Mr. Harvey by a falling icicle; the timing could not be more precise as the man was in the process of planning yet another attack. The reader watches alongside Susie as her family reunites, and they witness her own development as the narrator of the story. After years of observing the growth of her family, she does some growing herself. Slowly but surely, she learns how to let go of her loved