Blog Entry #2

                               

Blog Entry #2This has been a really busy week.  I went to my grandparents house, met up with my cousins and I managed to find enough time to re-read chapters six to ten of The Lovely Bones so i could write this.

Chpater six starts with Susie and Ray’s little romance. The two of them were good friends, and Ray was an indian smart boy who Susie thought was cooler than all the other boys in her class. When Susie was sneaking into the school because she was late she heard a voice say 'You are Beautiful, Susie Salmon.' She sees Ray and the two of them sit on the scaffold above the stage and talk. Then they hear a few teachers coming, and realize that Ruth is getting scolded for her drawings.  Ruth was in trouble, because she had drawn an actual female nude in art class, instead of the anatomy model. When the teachers finish scolding her, she sits there crying and Susie goes and asks to see her drawing.  Susie realizes Ruth is very talented, and says that 'Ruth went from weird to special for me then'.

After Susie's death, Ruth often spends her mornings in the cornfield and starts to feel a connection with Susie. Meanwhile, Ray is the prime suspect and he spends less time at school and is very reserved. One day he sees Ruth in the field and stops to talk with her, starting a new friendship.

Mr.Salmon talks with Ruana, Ray's mother about the murder, and who he thinks killed Susie. Detective Len Fenerman comes to the Salmon household and is alone with Mrs.Salmon. They talk about Len's missing wife and this is the start of their growing friendship.

                       Chapter Seven is mainly about Buckley, Susie's younger brother. He sees Susie kissing him goodnight and tells his friend Nate about it.They go through Susie's room and a find a small, blood covered twig. Buckley remembers how one day he choked on it and almost died, but Susie drove him to the hospital depsite being only 13, and saved his life. He remembers his sister and misses her.

The next chapter is about Mr.Harvey. For three months, he dreams of buildings, from all over the world. Eventually, dreams of children and women come back to him. Susie sees his childhood, his mother hlding him in her arms, his eyes focusing on her amber necklace. Mr.Harvey looks at his fathers sketchbook and gets nightmares about the time his father forced his mother out of the car, making her run away across the desert.  Harvey never sees her again. This gives us an insight into Mr.Harvey's life, who grew up in a terribly dysfunctional family. Chapter nine introduces Grandma Lynn, who does everything bad. She drinks, urges her granddaughters to use drugs to stay thin, wears a lot of make up, and is overbearing, but she brings a certain light into the house. She gives Mrs.Salmon and Lindsey a makeover and she and Mr. Salmon get drunk. Suddenly, Susie likes her grandmother a lot. Lindsey, after getting her make up done, realizes she looks very grown up now. The next day, for Susie's memorial she looks in Susie's wardrobe for something to wear and grandma Lynn is helping her. She decides on a dark blue minidress to look good for Samuel. At the memorial Samuel and his brother Hal wait for Lindsey, and detective Len lets his eyes wander on Mrs. Salmon. Mr. Salmon reflects on how after Susie's death, his wife is a different person. Mrs.Salmon is hostile to Clarissa, Susie's friend, and Clarissa realizes that things are now different.                                                                    

Ray has his own prive memorial for Susie, keeping her photo in his poetry book so it can be preserved forever. Back at the church, Mr. Harvey makes eye contact with Lindsey, and while she faints he slips away. As the next chapter opens, Lindsey, Samuel and Ruth are attending the Statewide Gifted Symposium. Lindsey and Samuel easily adust but Ruth constantly feels like she doesn't belong. The last week of the symposium is ddevoted to a mousetrap designing competition. Lindsey instead designs a small house for the mice, not wanting to kill them. Samuel doesnt say anything, since he knows that the sudject of death is still sore for Lindsey. Ruth and Lindsey talk about their dreams and how much they miss Susie. The symposium ends with a new project: How to get away with the perfect murder. Everyone is excited and thinking of ways, but Lindsey gets a bit of a shock. She tries to stay in control, like she always has. But she almost cracks because of the competiton, and Samuel, the only one who knows her pain, gives her the one thing only he can give her and she will accept only from him: his love.