TLB: Chapter 9 - 16

Summary:

Susie introduces Grandmother Lynn who arrives for Susie’s memorial. The memorial had been the suggestion of the principal of her school, Mr. Caden. Grandmother Lynn does everything wrong: she drinks too much, she tries to get her granddaughters to use drugs, she is not the best of role models, but as Susie states, when she gets to the house she brings back the life that was lost along with Susie's. Grandmother Lynn really makes the family face reality with her bluntness. Susie learns to live through Ruth and uses it to her an advantage; she drops clues and also find things about her family and friends through Ruth. Mr. Harvey likes to go down into his basement where he has hidden the bodies of the animals that all the neighbors believed had been killed by Joe Ellis. Mr. Harvey would spread quicklime on the bodies so he would have nothing left but the bones. Then, he would count them just like the souvenirs of his murders. Susie's dad, ever since her death, has been also going through a lot; everything is falling apart for him. The police won't respond to his calls, they don't believe Mr. Harvey is the murderer, and his wife agrees with them. He is also having trouble at work and is afraid he won't be able to support the rest of his family.  Lindsey begins to case the Harvey house as she runs every day with the soccer team. Susie also realizes that people are starting to say their final goodbyes and she will soon be forgotten. 

Quote:

“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, 242) 

Reaction:

Her sister was growing up right in front of her eyes. Lindsey tries her hardest to find out what happened to her sister but she also learns how to live her own life. She starts shaving which is a huge turning point in the book because everyone realizes that life moves on even after tragedy; however, they also realize that Susie will never get to live ANY of that because her life got caught short. Lindsey was quiet and kept to herself about the pain and rage she had inside of her. The despair of not being able to give her sister the justice she deserve and also of not truly knowing who her killer is. However, she has finally reached a point where she can handle the pain she feels, and where she is slowly healing. Lindsey keeps herself preoccupied with things such as running and sports in order to keep her mind off of things; she also shows an interest for guys which also helps her slowly try and get over her sister's death. 

TLB : Chapter 1 - 8

Summary:
Susie Salmon, "like the fish", introduces herself and gives the reader all of the background information of her murder. Susie had been taught to respect authority and was forced to talk to Mr. Harvey as he approached her in the cornfield on her way home. Mr. Harvey lures her into a hiding place he made in the ground, and Susie, giving him the benefit of the doubt, followed him down into the place. In this hole in the ground, he proceeds to rape her; after he rapes her he makes her say she loves him then he kills her. Susie talks about where she is and her heaven, she realizes that all the people she sees on the field are all in their own version of heaven and it just fit with hers. Susie get her own roommate, Holly who has an interesting story of her own; and she also gets an intake counselor that is the same age as her mom. However, Susie cannot have what she wants most which is to help everyone know the truth.  Susie watches the people she loves change drastically; her father turned into someone she did not know. He awoke each morning as the man he had always been until his consciousness allows the knowledge of Susie's death to sink in. He is overcome with guilt that he wasn't there when his daughter needed him most. 


Quote:

“She had a stare that stretched to infinity. She was, in that moment, not my mother but something separate from me.”

(Sebold, 43)

Reaction:

Susie's mom is a mysterious character that no one really knows much about. After Susie's death, her mother was very distant; it was almost as if she was a completely different person. Ever since Susie's death she kept more to herself and she was never really stable. She was very pessimistic and lost hope in ever finding Susie back when they first found her elbow. Susie's father said he mother had "Ocean Eyes" which Susie thought stood for the blueness but it actually stood for something much deeper. Her father was referring to the bottomless of her soul; no one truly knew what she felt or how she was dealing with things. However, Susie doesn't understand this until after she passes because she sees everything differently but this idea scares her because her mother isn't just her mother but someone she doesn't know of.