Life, love, and death in Alice Sebold’s The Lovely Bones

Abstract

This study is a content analysis entitled Life, Love and Death in Alice Sebold’s The Lovely Bones. The Lovely Bones was published in 2002 by Little, Brown publishers. The novel was analyzed based on the characters, the plot and conflicts, and the general truths present in the novel. Based on the findings the characters demonstrated that they are real human beings with real problems, but with individual solutions. The story also presents the possibility of an afterlife and what people can do while in it. The characters are undergoing what people who have experienced a death of a loved one felt: pain, grief, regret, inner turmoil. The study also shows that people have different ways of reacting and responding to the different events in the story. The Humanistic Approach of Carl Rogers and Abram Maslow, and other psychologists were the theoretical basis of the study and it was found out that themes of life, love, and death all include acceptance. It has been recommended that the future researchers should also broaden the methodology in the analysis of the given novel and other works by the same author, so as to enrich the discussion.