Analysis of Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold

Most people do not read for the knowledge, but rather to ponder an unexplored world. Reading is a way to experience reality in situations that most would never be a part of. It is a way to change how a person thinks and perceives certain subjects and "transport" him/her to a distant land. Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold, explores the feelings behind a victim of rape and murder, leaving the reader to undergo the unthinkable events associated with it.

Lovely Bones is a novel that allows the reader to reevaluate what was previously only imagined by most. Unfortunately, in the society today, it is very common to hear on the news about rape and murder. Though most have a knowledge of the basics behind these crimes, little know, but the victim themselves, how it actually feels to be affected with these crimes. Readers of this story are glued to the pages because up until this story, he/she could only imagine how the painful last minutes of one's live would be like. The reader will now find out the reaction of the victim and if forgiveness is even in question. This novel allows the reader to go inside the mind of a young girl, who falls victim to a neighborhood sex offender.

The situation in Lovely Bones can easily be connected to one's everyday life. Anyone can be a victim of a rape or murder. This story teaches you to pay close attention to your surroundings. Just because someone may seem like a nice, polite, neighbor does not necessarily mean that they are. A clear example is how priests have become part of their own scandal for raping young children. Anyone can be a predator. This story traps the reader into this town of crisis, where an innocent girl is raped and killed, because this girl could have been anyone including oneself or a friend. This story hits close to home because there are so many cases of these crimes with people struggling to deal with the same after effects.

Lovely Bones "transports" the reader to distant lands. After reading this novel, one's thinking and perceiving changes dramatically. One may think that it is a shame for the victim of these crimes, but not until they read this whole book do they encounter a real chill. This story answers many unanswered questions, which causes the reader to get lost within the novel. Never did one think about how the dead victim would feel once they are on their way to heaven. In this story, the victim prays that her bones will be found so that she could finally rest in peace. This story allows the reader to grasp the feelings of the victim's parents and how this one event has broken up the family forever. The once happy family of the victim is gone. Even after justice is served, nothing will ever be the same. Most times, one would think that it is great for the family to find the killer, but it really does not make much of a difference. The killer will serve time, but this will not bring the victim back to life or fix the family bond that will be split forever. This novel allows the reader to comprehend the true feelings after a rape and murder are committed on a victim.

Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold, displaces the reader to a distant land within the mind of a victim of a rape and murder. This story leaves the reader to experience an unexplored world, one that could only be imagined. After reading about this unthinkable reality in everyday life, ones views change dramatically. Lovely Bones hits close to home because anyone could fall victim to a story like this.