The Lovely Bones

Alice Sebold

“My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie.”

- The personas death is already known to the reader, through the use of the past tense.

- The punctuation and syntax, slows down the pace as it separates the sentence, putting emphasis on the character and her importance.

“I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6,

1973”

- Past tense again shows her death, which is confirmed with reference to her murder.

- The simple declarative lets the reader know the age of the narrator and the year the narrative is set.

“…white girls with mousy brown hair.”

- The use of the adjective “mousy” has connotations of weakness and vulnerability, and gives the impression that she is small, young and innocent.

“It was still back when people believed things like that

didn’t happen”

- The Informal language used shows how she is now comfortable about the situation.

- The use of the past tense shows how she is still present in the world even though she was murdered.

“…Chess Club and Chem Club and burned everything I tried

to make…”

- The alliteration of the “C” sound creates rhythm, therefore emphasizing the words and highlighting the personas intelligence.

- The reference to burning connotes violence and hatred

“Don’t think every person you’re going to meet in here

is suspect.”

- Reminding the reader that she is telling her story.

- Making a connection with the reader as it is as though she is talking to the reader directly.

“That’s the problem. You never know.”

- Simple declaratives emphasize the points and create enigma for the reader, as the sentences can be related to anything and are not referring to anything specific

“…but I never saw her in my heaven.”

- The possessive pronoun gives her ownership over her heaven and shows how she creates her own heaven.

“My murderer… My mother… My murderer… My father”

- Anaphora with the possessive pronoun, shows how she is talking about her murderer and the effect that he has had on him.

- It is then contrasted with reference to her mother and father and the security and protection they give her.

“It would stink to high heaven…”

- Idiom, exaggerates the smell and emphasizes the sensory imagery, helping to create the tone for her murderer.

“But on December 6, 1973…”

- The date has reference to the previous date with then allows the reader to know that she is referring to her death.

- The use of the exact date shows the significance to the persona

“The snow was falling lightly, like a flurry of small hands…”

- “snow” colour imagery, connotes innocence and vulnerability

- Simile - the snow and small hands touching her lightly, contrasts with her rape

“Of course, in a cornfield, in the dark, I was startled.”

- The use of punctuation slows down the pace and builds enigma.

- Creates the setting for her murder