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
-