The Lovely Bones

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The Lovely Bones Essay Prompt: The British novelist Far Weldon offers this observation about happy endings. “The writers, I do believe, who get the best and most lasting response from their readers are the writers who offer a happy ending through moral development. By a happy ending, I do not mean mere fortunate events – a marriage or a last minute rescue from death – but some kind of spiritual reassessment or moral reconciliation, even with the self, even at death.” Choose a novel or play that has the kind of ending Weldon describes. In a well-written essay, identify the “spiritual reassessment or moral reconciliation” evident in the ending and explain it’s significant in the work as a whole. The Lovely Bones is a tragic tale of how Susie Salmon and her family dealt with her rape and murder at the age of fourteen. The novel is riveting as it combines violence, love and mystery into one story of a broken family and their healing. The book was written by Alice Sebold who herself was raped during her college years. The story does not have your typical perfect ending but one as Weldon describes, one in which Susie has come to terms with her death. Susie was only fourteen when she was raped and killed by a man she knew. Understandably, she has trouble letting go after such an abrupt and unexpected death. The majority of the book shows her family and the struggle they go through to cope with the loss of their daughter/sister. As the story progresses her family and friends are stuck on her death. Every day they are faced with adversary and each handles it in different ways. Her mom is stuck in the house, Ruth is stuck on earth, Susie is stuck in her personal heaven and her dad is stuck on finding the killer. Thinking she has no influence on her family or her friends, Ray and Ruth, Susie constantly hovers over them. They can all feel her presence, her holding

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