Kelso High School
English Department
Chapter Three
In today’s lesson we will:
 Analyse chapter three of the text in relation to:
plot
characterisation
theme :feminism/the women’s
movement
theme: grief and loss
theme: isolation
symbolism
Plot
 Discuss briefly with your partner the main
events of chapter three.
 Check that your chapter summary notes
include all relevant information.
Characterisation: Susie
 The reader feels increasingly sympathy for
Susie as the novel makes clear that she
misses her mother.
 She has Franny, but “I wanted to kiss her
lightly on the cheek or have her hold me, but
instead I watched her walk off in front of me,
saw her blue dress trail away. I knew that
she was not my mother; I could not play
pretend.”
Characterisation: Susie
 Reader feels pleased for Susie when her
wish to “break through” to her family is
achieved on December 23rd.
Characterisation: Abigail
 We learn more about Abigail in this
chapter :
Susie thought her father called her mother
“Ocean Eyes” because of the blueness of her
eyes. She now knows that he calls her this
because her eyes are bottomless and that she
always appears to be sad and isolated from
those around her.
The nickname might suggest beautiful eyes that
men want to drown in, but her eyes are
“bottomless” and return no emotion.
Characterisation: Abigail
She grieves for several things:
the loss of her daughter
the collapse of her family
the loss of the life she never
had the opportunity to live.
Abigail was profoundly unhappy even before
Susie’s death, so she has tremendous
hurdles to overcome.
Characterisation: Abigail
 Abigail feels discontent with her role as a
housewife and mother.
 This discontent increases after she loses
Susie.
 She feels so guilty that motherhood did not
come naturally to her that she cannot let
herself grieve openly for Susie until eight long
years have passed.
Characterisation: Abigail
 At the time of Susie’s death, she was
beginning to think of her mother as a person
and not just a “mum”. The photo reveals how
unnatural it was for Abigail to be a housewife
and how alienated she was from her real self.
“She had a stare that stretched to infinity.
She was, in that moment, not my mother,
but something separate from me.” (pg
43)
 Susie is upset by Lindsey finding the photo as
Susie wanted to be the only one in the house
who knew her mother was someone else,
someone mysterious and unknown to them.
Characterisation: Jack
This chapter provides further illustration of how
close a relationship Jack had with Susie.
Susie shares a special relationship with her
father and helps him build ships in a bottle.
Characterisation: Jack
 The incident when Jack smashes the bottles is
important in a number of ways:
it illustrates the second stage of the
grieving process - anger.
Ships in a bottle are like the snow globe examples of a perfect world completely under
their makers’ control. Jack smashes the ships
he built with Susie, illustrating the way in which
his perfect family life was smashed by outside
forces.
Characterisation: Jack
 After seeing Susie in the shards of glass,
Jack runs into her room. Wrapping Buckley
in Susie’s sheet brings him some sense of
comfort as he realises that he can perhaps
find something of Susie in Buckley.
 Susie realises this too - “The line between the
living and the dead could be, it seemed,
murky and blurred.”
Characterisation: Ruth
 Depicted as a social outcast.
 Susie touches Ruth on her way to heaven
and Ruth becomes obsessed with Susie.
 She spends the rest of her life believing she
has second sight and can see girls and
women who have been raped and murdered.
Theme: Feminism / Women’s
Movement
In the 1970s people began to question the
traditional gender roles of women and men.
This chapter alludes to this by detailing Abigail’s
discontent with her role as a housewife and
mother.
Theme: Isolation
 The character of Ruth being a social outcast
reinforces the theme of isolation.
 Write down two quotations from page 38
which convey Ruth’s isolation.
Symbolism: Keystone State Charm
and the Charm Bracelet
 They represent Susie.
 A keystone means something essential or “key”. It
is part of the essential structure of a building just
as Susie was an essential part of her family.
 A building needs a keystone to remain standing.
The Salmon family needed Susie and when she is
murdered their family breaks down and they must
re-build their support network.
Symbolism: Keystone State Charm
and the Charm Bracelet
The fact that this charm is mentioned several times
highlights its importance.
The fact Jack engraved Susie’s name represents the
strong relationship between himself and Susie.
The importance of the charm is further illustrated by
the cover of the novel.
Symbolism: Keystone State Charm
and the Charm Bracelet
The charm bracelet becomes a metaphor for Susie.
Each charm represents something to those who
loved her.
Susie believes that it can help Ruth know who she is,
if Ruth can just find it.
Symbolism:Susie’s dream
Susie’s dream on Earth was to be a wildlife
photographer.
This dream represents her character traits of
being curious, enthusiastic and observant.
Ironically, she becomes a wildlife photographer in
heaven with the wildlife being humankind on Earth.
The End!