The Lovely Bones Research Paper

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[Final Paper Title] Great works of literature come in many different shapes and sizes. There is an abundance of genres and archetypes to review and analyze to find what works are considered “great” in each category. I believe that the book “The Lovely Bones” by Alice Sebold should be considered a great work, not looking at it as a murder mystery book, but as a Bildungsroman. At first glance, “The Lovely Bones” seems like a simple murder mystery book, but after analyzing it further it becomes a very complex, unique coming of age story. Alice Sebold uses death to create multiple characters who are growing and developing by experiencing feelings of grief and loss, breaking the mold of what a typical Bildungsroman would be, making it a great…show more content…
Although she is not physically aging, she is still able to grow and develop her own personal set of moral values as the novel goes on by watching over her friends and family from her personal heaven. Her innocence was destroyed upon being raped and murdered, and she is constantly pained by the desire to be back on Earth and to make sure that George Harvey never does what he did to her to anyone else. One example that illustrates her growth is when she is watching over her sister and says “I watched my beautiful sister running […] and I knew she was not running away from me or toward me. Like someone who has survived a gut-shot, the wound had been closing, closing – braiding into a scar for eight long years.” (Sebold, p. 242). This narration shows that even though she is dead and is unable to grow by going out into the world and experiencing life herself, she is able to mature by watching her sister grow. The fact that Susie isn’t even alive and Sebold is able to make her grow up in this novel truly pushes the boundaries on what is required, content wise, to allow a character to change in a

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