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The Lovely Bones Research Paper

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The novel and film The Lovely Bones written by Alice Sebold both contain the same line of, “My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name, Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on December 6, 1973” (Sebold 1). This line starts off the book and is said by Susie a few scenes into the movie. These words engage the reader or watcher right away by leaving that person with desiring more. While there are some similarities between the novel and film version of The Lovely Bones written by Alice Sebold, it is the differences that make the book stand out more than the movie. In the book, Susie’s father, Jack, knows who her killer is. He finds this out when he helps his neighbor, Mr. Harvey, put together a mat tent. His suspicion is not right away, …show more content…

After Mr. Harvey lures Susie to his “fort” in the ground, she is raped and murdered violently by him. In the novel, this goes into great detail and clarity especially when Susie admits that “He kissed his wet lips down my face and neck and then began to shove his hands up under my shirt, I wept” (14). The book bluntly describes everything that happens to Susie while she is being raped, maybe even too much. Although, when Mr. Harvey kills her, that is only said in one sentence when she declares that “The end came anyway” (15). Later on, the reader also finds out that Susie’s body parts are placed into a bag, which is the clearest the book reveals about her death. In the movie, this scene plays out much differently. All that is seen is when Mr. Harvey lures her into his “fort”. She then tries to escape up a ladder but he pulls her down. Then, she transitions into her heaven after she sees the bloody knife that Mr. Harvey uses to kill her with. There is no mention or even a hint of Susie being raped by this man. Not only does Mr. Harvey rape and kill Susie, but he has several other victims, all young girls, who he also does this to. Knowing that he rapes his victims before killing them shows that he desires power and dominion over others. It reveals that Mr. Harvey wants to have control not only over his life, but over other’s lives as well. This is the reason why

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