An examination of the narrative devices employed in Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones

Abstract

This Master of Research thesis is comprised of a creative component - the first seven chapters of a novel about the prolonged grieving experience linking two mothers who have lost young children in different yet harrowing circumstances; and an exegesis, which examines the narrative devices used in Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones. The creative component seeks to present a story of profound maternal loss and grief, portraying the unbroken bonds which endure between a mother and child even after death. One of its themes is how seemingly innocuous personal choices can irrevocably change destinies. The protagonist Sel, has lost her baby as a result of cot death and finds herself unable to move beyond her grief and guilt until she is crosses paths with Tracey. Years before, Tracey's young daughter was abducted, murdered and her body never found. Sel believes if she can find closure for Tracey, she might atone for the loss of her own child. The story unfolds in Derby, an industrial city in the heart of the UK, where there are pockets of urban growth and decline, turning people into ghosts as the past is lost and overlaid, as a new cycle of existence begins. The exegesis proposes that The Lovely Bones, in the absence of an intricate plot, is an example of narrative, that narratologist Monika Fludernik, defines as experientiality. To argue this thesis I will present the reflections and experiences, which the protagonist Susie Salmon focusses on in order to come to terms with her fate. I will examine how Sebold amplifies these experiences, through the use of literary devices to drive the narrative forward and present that the story unfolds in a manner reflective of causal coherence and thematic coherence as Susie contemplates her existence (in life and death). I will argue that this process of cognitive reflection enables Susie to reach a new level of understanding, leading to final acceptance of her fate. The Lovely Bones has been discussed by scholars including Olson, Heinze, Bennett, Pedersen, Bliss, Arrida, Kiaei, Whitney and Von Czarnowsky who examine themes of post mortal recovery and rape survivorship, trauma, the liminal heaven portrayed in the novel, maturation, the use of photographs to interpret familial disruption, as an example of post feminine gothic literature, and the reliability and feasibility of post mortal narrators. This thesis will provide an examination of the literary devices employed in The Lovely Bones (as the narrator is also the murdered protagonist confined to a transitional after life, granted the ability to be in other characters' consciousness), which succeed in driving the narrative forward towards resolution in the shape of increased acceptance of what has happened, in the absence of an event driven plot.

Date of Award	2017
Original language	English