Death, Mortality, Departure, Passing. It has many names but one truth, it is the truth of us all. Most envision themselves living a long prosperous life before dying at an ancient age. Parents of course, never put into mind their children passing before them, unfortunately this is the case for many families, as it was the case for Susie Salmon and her family in The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold. “My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973.” (Sebold 1) After being murdered by her neighbor, Susie Salmon is watching over her loved ones in the appearance of what seems to be like the in between heaven and earth. She seems to continuously bring the reader from the past to the present…show more content… Of the many ways a child might pass, being murdered must be the most devastating way. “We are seldom able, however, to conjure up images of children being murdered… The violent and wanton destruction of the human body, particularly when it is a child, id often too gruesome for the mind to grasp without engendering a severe emotional reaction …” (Beard) Beard suggests that it is not unusual for the parents to develop feelings of guilt from belief that something could have been done to prevent the murder, particularly the father of the child who is perceived to be the “protector” of the family develops guilt that he could have saved his child. “The guilt on him, the hand of God pressing down on him, saying you were not there when your daughter needed you.”…show more content… “He reached into the pocket of my parka and balled up the hat my mother had made me, smashing it into my mouth. The only sound made after that was the weak tinkling of bells. I knew he was going to kill me- I did not realize then that I was an animal already dying.” (Sebold 91)
Then there is the acceptance. There is always a price for we must pay to learn, to change. The price of bringing a broken family together was the death of a daughter. The Lovely Bones of Susie Salmon bonded her family together. When someone dies in our lives we believe we will never recover. However, with acceptance comes recovery for everyone. Perhaps some people are simply put on this earth to die and teach a
