The Significance of Susie Salmon’s Death in
“The Lovely Bones”
Heaven can be anything.
The Lovely Bones is a movie that is set in the quiet neighborhoods of Pennsylvania in 1973. The characters: Susie Salmon, George Harvey, Jack Salmon, and Abigail Salmon, and Lindsey Salmon all play a significant role in The Lovely Bones. Susie Salmon was your typical fourteen-year-old girl in the 1970’s with mousy brown hair and a smile that made her a favorite of many. She was not only filled with cheerful innocence, but also contained wisdom well beyond her years that makes viewers question why she even died in the first place. I think most people would assume that because Susie was so intelligent, wise, and kind that it was not her positive qualities that allowed her to be overpowered, but rather it was her naivety. Her death created a form of sickness and depression in both the family and community. Instead of Susie’s family growing closer after Susie’s death, it actually tears them further apart. I think Susie takes it upon herself to become a figure closely resembling a guardian angel. Although religion is largely incorporated into The Lovely Bones, it was made carefully to avoid treading on any toes concerning people’s religious beliefs.
While every person has his or her own perspective of how angels and heaven may be, Alice Sebold’s version of this colorful and shape-shifting heaven that Susie has helps convey how a person’s truest wishes and fantasies can actually become a reality. Everyone in society does not know how or what heaven is, but this movie gives the viewer a hope and glimpse of how it may truly be someday when it comes time for him or her to go there. Heaven was made out to be a place where a person can live out his or her dreams with the exception of bringing any living person to heaven. The Lovely Bones also allows a viewer to question the existence of an afterlife. Heaven could be a place in which a person’s greatest fears cease to exist, and where his or her imagination can run wild. However, minimalism is present in the movie because it is up to the viewer to decide if this is truly possible. Can a person fully let go of his or her life on earth? Sebold raises the assumption that in order for a person’s loved ones to move on with their life, then their lost member in heaven should learn to let go of what is happening to others on earth.
Most of us would like to stay by our loved ones side and continue to live under the notion that nothing immoral can happen to us. I think people can relate to The Lovely Bones more personally than other movies simply because it is so realistic, and the subject of heaven always has people’s heads in the clouds. Another reason viewers can relate to this movie in a personal way is because its brutality is so remarkable, but the lack of anger Susie has after she is dead is astonishing. It gives viewers optimism that even death can be forgiven and overcome.
Susie Salmon spends most of her time observing her family’s behavior on earth. Susie’s curiosity of what was taking place within her family overpowered her anger at Mr. Harvey. She begins to realize that there were many people that revolved their lives around her death, other than her family. Ruth, Susie’s friend, had to be Susie’s biggest fan. On the other hand, Jack Salmon took it upon himself to find out the mystery behind Susie’s killer, but also what drove Harvey to commit such a filthy act. Jack becomes so engrossed in Susie’s murder that it drives away his wife, Abigail. I think Mr. Salmon has the greatest obsession and curiosity about Susie’s murder because he did everything with his daughter. Mr. Harvey would never be able to understand the concept of the familial bond between a father and daughter. With Jack’s aggressive perseverance, it was only a matter of time in which Susie’s killer would be exposed.
Abigail Salmon, Susie’s mother, became an escapist after Susie’s death. She begins to despise being called a mom. Her only way of coping with Susie’s death was to get away from everything relating to Susie. What do you tell a woman whose child she carried within her for nine months and raised for fourteen years is dead? The truth is, there is no right answer. Her marriage with Jack begins to fall apart, after he becomes crazed with finding her killer. Abigail departs from the living world that she shares with Jack and Lindsey, but she resurfaces with little emotion or substance. Susie’s younger sister, Lindsey Salmon, was Abigail’s greatest reminder of Susie. Abigail’s attempts to push herself further and further away from her family when they needed her most was pathetic, but reasonable. Lindsey has her own way of grieving that was different than her mother and father.
George Harvey is a chilling and cruel reminder that killers are everywhere. He lived across the street from the Salmons. Susie was not his first victim, nor was she supposed to be his last. Mr. Harvey’s seemingly charming nature made it almost impossible for Susie to say no to checking out the hideout he built in the cornfield. Mr. Harvey’s ability to get parents and adults to feel at ease around him worked to his advantage. No one other than Jack Salmon, Susie’s father, felt suspicious that Mr. Harvey was Susie’s cold-blooded murderer.
Overall, one of the most unforgettable scenes of the film is that at the beginning of the movie, prior to Susie’s tragic death, Susie speaks of a childhood memory she has with her father of looking at a snow globe. Susie was worried about a penguin figurine located inside the wintery themed snow globe. Susie’s father, Jack Salmon, tells his daughter “Don’t worry, Susie; he has a nice life. He’s trapped in a perfect world.” The memory foreshadows Susie traveling to heaven and being trapped in a place away from her family. The penguin in the snow globe can be compared to Susie. The penguin stands alone, in a cold, but carefree place. Susie is unaccompanied in her personal heaven. Her worries may be absent in heaven, but her heart still lies upon the earth with her family and her killer.
