The Sweet Hereafter Chapter Summaries

Plot Summary The book and the film The Sweet Hereafter by Russell Banks is different from other stories as it tells the story by having flashbacks while it explains the situation in the present. The Sweet Hereafter is about an accident that had taken place in 1997 in the town Sam Dent. There was a man named Billy Ansel who would always follow the bus in his truck because his daughter and son were on the bus. He was calling Risa who also has a son on the bus to discuss what time they could meet later that night to make love. In the novel, Billy was calling Risa and at the same time waving to his kids that were in the bus before the accident took place. “My truck was right behind the bus when it went over, and my body was driving my truck,

The moods that happen in the book and film are grief, anger and blame. Grief is a word that describes a person who is in deep sorrow also known as in lot of pain. This is shown when the accident happens and the families lose their children. The families are in pain about losing someone so close to them. Billy also shows grief when he talks about losing his wife. “Nights now I can sit in my living room alone, looking at the glass of the picture window, with the reflections of my body and the drink in my hand and the chair and lamp beside me glaring flat and white back at me, and I am in no way as real in that room as I am in my memories of my wife and children. (Banks, 43). This moves to my next point that more so in the film than the book, anger was shown. Billy was angry at the fact that Mitchell wanted to blame someone because before the accident happen the town was friendly and everyone considered each other like family but with Mitchell he came in and wanted families to point fingers. (Banks, The Sweet Hereafter) Lastly this ties into the last theme that is shown which is blame. In both the movie and the novel the families blame one another on who caused the accident. Through all of these themes the lesson that is taught is that when something happens its natural to point fingers at others so you feel more at peace and you can move forward from