The Lovely Bones | Beth Blair

In this essay, Beth Blair argues that omniscient narration gives a glimpse into the minds of characters and, thus, a unique perspective on how individuals cope with grief and loss.

Beth Blair

In this essay, Beth Blair argues that omniscient narration gives a glimpse into the minds of characters and, thus, a unique perspective on how individuals cope with grief and loss.

In The Lovely Bones Alice Sebold uses the omniscient narration of her main character, Susie Salmon, to explore both the living’s response to the death of a family member and the dead’s response to the same tragedy. Susie observes her family from heaven after her brutal rape and murder. Sebold’s use of omniscient narration through Susie as she observes her family allows Susie herself to become the leading character in the novel, and to be affected by the aftermath of her own death.

Each of Susie’s family members experiences the aftermath of her initial disappearance and, later, her confirmed murder differently. As Michiko Kakutani summarizes in her New York Times review of the novel, “For the members of Susie's family and their neighbors in a small suburban development, her murder rumbles through their lives like an avalanche: for some, it moves with breathtaking violence and speed, shattering old notions of safety and faith; for others, it moves in slow motion, catching them when they least expect it and tipping them off balance.” Susie’s mother, Abigail, avoids dealing with the reality of the loss and is incapable of acknowledging her surviving family and her maternal role. Susie’s father, Jack, is so overwhelmed with guilt and helplessness that he allows the unknown aspects of his daughter’s murder to take over his thoughts and render him incapable of nurturing or providing parental guidance to his surviving children. Susie’s sister, Lindsey, is able to wade through the initial horror of her sister’s murder and slowly move on with her life while serving as a surrogate parent for her brother, Buckley, who is too young to comprehend the tragedy. All of these reactions are observed and narrated by Susie, from her perch in heaven. During Susie’s narration, she advances through her own stages of grief and recovery. Mourning the loss of her family and friends, Susie vicariously experiences happiness through her sister, as Lindsey undergoes the stages of adolescence that Susie will never herself have the opportunity to experience.

Before Susie’s death is confirmed, Abigail Salmon responds to her daughter’s disappearance with denial that the loss is permanent. Abigail repeatedly appeals to the false hope provided by the stock response of the police that “anything is possible” whenever other family members insinuate that Susie’s absence is permanent. Once the confirmation of Susie’s death and probable murder is received, Abigail avoids motherly interactions with her family and recedes into a daydream world consisting of memories of herself as a young college student with big plans to move to a foreign country and study feminist literature. In the shadow of her daughter’s brutal death, Abigail sees herself as a victim of her own failure to follow her dreams, and she spends a considerable amount of time contemplating what her life would have been like without her children and husband—and the present tragedy. Abigail eventually has an affair with a police officer and then moves away from her family in an attempt to avoid having to confront the reality of losing a child. This escapism via emotional and physical removal from the surviving members of her family renders Abigail helpless to confront her daughter’s death and move forward in her life.

Upon the realization that his daughter has been murdered, Jack Salmon experiences a sense of helplessness at the knowledge that he was not there at the time of his daughter’s murder, when she needed help. This helplessness, coupled with the mystery surrounding his daughter’s death, takes over and precludes all thoughts concerning Jack’s living children and his wife. When Jack allows himself the realization that his wife and remaining children are very much alive and need his affection and attention, he is immediately afflicted by his own comparison between his relationships with them and what his relationship with his dead daughter might have been. Jack is incapable of interacting with his young son, Buckley, without feeling that he is in some way betraying the daughter with whom he can no longer interact. Jack also feels guilty for being unable to avoid thinking about how Lindsey reminds him of Susie. As he observes Lindsey’s development from adolescence to maturity, Jack recognizes that his dead daughter will never experience similar growth. His feelings of despair continue to drive him away from his family until the one-year anniversary of Susie’s death, when he attends an impromptu memorial for his daughter. At the memorial, Jack realizes that Susie’s memory is alive in the community of people around him, including his family. This realization empowers Jack and helps him slowly reintegrate himself back into the lives of his living children, who have already begun their own recovery from the loss and grief associated with their sister’s death.

The death of her older sister propels Lindsey Salmon into a guarded state of existence. The initial shock of finding out that Susie was murdered results in Lindsey’s withdrawal from her friends, classmates, and teachers. This withdrawal happens in part because Lindsey feels constrained by the natural tendency of everyone, including her family, to compare her to her dead sister. As Susie observes from heaven, “When people looked at Lindsey, even my father and mother, they saw me. Even Lindsey was not immune. She avoided mirrors. She now took showers in the dark.” Lindsey quickly realizes that the strain experienced by her parents over her sister’s death has changed the dynamic of the family, and she demands that her family allow her to deal with the death of her sister alone. Neither Abigail nor Jack is capable of escaping their own emotional despair enough to provide comfort to her or adequately help her younger brother, Buckley, understand why Susie is not at home. Lindsey increasingly hardens herself to the sympathy offered by strangers and independently finds her own way of coping with the loss of her sister. As Lindsey slowly regains her life, she allows herself to experience the growth typical of adolescent girls. This growth includes experiencing her first kiss with her first boyfriend, going away to summer camp, and losing her virginity. The momentous occasion of having her first kiss goes unnoticed by Jack and Abigail, who have abandoned their roles as nurturing parents. Lindsey responds to this abandonment by unconsciously taking on a maternal role for her brother. She continues to evolve into her own person throughout the novel—for example, we see her going to college and becoming engaged—and does so while avoiding the pressure to flail into despair.

As her family responds to her death, Susie Salmon observes everything from her place in heaven. Initially, she experiences an intense desire to interfere with the lives of her parents and sister as she witnesses their downward spiral into despair and grief. This desire is intensified by the futility inherent in her position on a heavenly perch. Upon Susie’s arrival in heaven, an intake worker helps her acclimate to her new surroundings and provides her with advice concerning the attachment of the dead to the living. Although Susie desires to observe every moment in her family members’ lives, the aide insists that Susie must also allow herself time to move away from her attachment to the living and find a way to accept her status as a dead person. This advice enables Susie to slowly evolve as she realizes that the lives of her family members must be allowed to continue without constant reminders of her brutal death. The growth experienced by the living does not mean that her memory is lost, but rather that those for whom she cares most are healing and moving forward in life. Once she makes this important realization, Susie is able vicariously to enjoy the experiences had by her sister, Lindsey, as she makes her way through adolescence into young adulthood.

Although Susie is frustrated by her murder, she avoids feeling rage toward her murderer, and instead observes his behavior with genuine curiosity. By shunning rage, Susie avoids the consumption by despair that her family experiences after her death. Through the omniscient narration provided by Susie from heaven, Sebold is able to provide readers with examples of how people cope with tragedy. The unique viewpoint offered by Susie’s narration gives the novel depth and provides a context through which each character’s suffering and recovery is made available to readers of the story.

Source: Beth Blair, “A Dead Protagonist? Omniscient Narration in The Lovely Bones,” an essay for eNotes.com, 2005. Beth Blair is a freelance writer and artist based in Seattle.