Misfortune can happen in the worst of ways, may it be struggle, sorrow, or death. In Alice Sebold’s The Lovely Bones a young girl named Susie is murdered, in the story the family tries to figure out who did it. Throughout the novel there are some symbols that represent things in the story. The symbols in Susie's life symbolise things that have to deal with murder, memories, and her family. The symbols are the charm bracelet, her room, and the snowglobe.
In the story the charm bracelet is a symbol of Susie’s murder. The charm bracelet is a memory to Mr. Harvey about Susie; “Mr. Harvey put his hands in his pockets. There was my silver charm bracelet. He couldn’t remember taking it off my wrist. He had no memory of thrusting it into the pocket of his cleans pants” Sebold(53). Susie’s charm bracelet represents her ongoing life here on earth. There was different charms on the bracelet that had a different meanings to each of them. One of the special charms on that bracelet is the Pennsylvania keystone, The reason The Pennsylvania keystone was so special is because it reminded Susie of herself. In the novel, Susie was the key to her family, because after she was murdered the family began to fall apart.…show more content… “ My mother had not touched it. My bed was still unmade from the hurried mornings of my death. My flowered hippo lay among the sheets and pillows, and so did an outfit I’d discard before I chose the yellow bell-bottoms” Seabold(44). Susie’s room is also a symbol of where she spent most of her time and took some pictures of herself. Susie’s room represents a place that most of Susie’s family remembers. Usually her family tries to remember to not make an effort to visit because it reminds them too much of
