CHAPTER 4

PRESENTATION, ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA

This chapter presents the data in order to answer the sub-problems raised in the

study generated through the literary method used.

Plot

The table centers on the elements of plot, and the similarities and differences of

the novel and movie version of The Lovely Bones.

Table 1. Plot Analysis of Similarities

SIMILARITIES
PLOT STRUCTURE
NOVEL MOVIE

 Narrator  Narrator
 Susie’s ambition  Susie’s ambition
Beginning  Effect on Jack after knowing  Effect on Jack after knowing
Susie’s death Susie’s death
 Jack’s intuition of the murderer  Jack’s intuition of the murderer

 How Grandma Lyn being  How Grandma Lyn being treated

treated  List of names whom Harvey
Middle  List of names whom Harvey murdered
murdered

 Abigail left the family  Abigail left the family

 Grandma Lyn’s way of helping  Grandma Lyn’s way of helping
End  Harvey not showing a  Harvey not showing a
redemption arc redemption arc

The first similarity evident in the beginning is the narrator. Both the novel and

movie are narrated by the main character, Susie Salmon. Kukkonen points out in the

Handbook of Narratology that if a certain structure is fixed from beginning until end, it

will create a particular effect on the audience as the plot gradually builds up. The

narration of both medium is about Susie’s introduction about one’s self and how the
murder is being done, in the book it was immediately stated on Page 5 and in the

movie, it started from 00:07:00 mark until 00:07:31 saying,

My name was Salmon, like the fish; first name,

Susie. I was fourteen when I was murdered on

December 6, 1973.

Secondly, Susie is fond of taking pictures with a camera and aspires to be a wildlife

photographer that mentioned in page 43 and 00:03:11 in the movie. The next similarity

is the effect of Jack after knowing Susie’s death as Foster states in the Aspects of the

Novel, that it focuses on causality which means the science of cause and effect. On

page 45, like a bonding experience, it states,

at night he built ships… to unwind. He would

call me in whenever he was ready to raise the sail

and 00:54:00 in the movie where Susie watches Jack, from heaven looking at the

collection of ships in bottles being smashed up using a baseball bat, most of the bottled

ships are from Susie’s help, and Jack also sees Susie’s reflection in each piece of

glass. Jack is displacing the guilt and anger by throwing the things that matter together

with Susie. The last similarity for the beginning part is Jack’s assumption about the

murderer who killed Susie. It is evident on page 56, in the novel, the intuition towards

Harvey where Jack said,

You know something.

and in the movie, it is marked at 01:24:32 where Jack confronts and asks if Harvey

knows about what happened to Susie. Jack accuses Harvey of having information about

Susie’s death. When Harvey comes out from the house with a stack of white sheets,
Jack asks Harvey what it is and then replied it is a tarp. Jack keeps suspecting but

Harvey tells to go away.

In the middle of the novel and movie version, it has the similarity of how

Grandma Lyn was being treated by the grandchildren, Lindsey and Buckley, and

Abigail. Kukkonen specified in the Handbook of Narratology that plot is part of the

author’s way of creating own designs to the work. It is the way of organizing the

narrative to accomplish certain effects on how the storyline would end. In both versions,

Grandma Lyn, before Susie’s murder, is considered as the ultimate bad influence – a

drunkard and smokes around the house, it is evident on page 99 and 01:03:05 where it

stated,

Kids hate me.

but now Grandma Lyn becomes a force of pulling the numb family out of depression,

and becomes the light that pulls off the Salmon’s darkness. The last similarity is the list

of names whom Harvey murdered, on page 181 and 01:34:29. All the other girls Harvey

killed are mentioned in both versions where there are 7 victims, namely: Sophie

Cichetti, Leidia Johnson, Flora Hernandez, Jackie Meyer, Leah Fox, Denise Lee Ang

and the last is, Susie Salmon.

At end of the novel and movie version, there are three similarities present. First is

Abigail left the family on page 213 and 01:11:03 marked in the movie. Siswanto

conducted an analysis entitled Comparison between the novel and the movie version of

Mario Puzo's the Godfather: A Structural Analysis, which proves that it is the director

who makes some adjustments to its storyline, but do not alter the overall plot. At the
night of Susie’s death anniversary, Lindsey asks if Abigail plans of leaving the family but

then dismissed it, evident on page 207,

I promise I will not leave you.

Summer evening on 1975, Jack and Abigail make love. It states on page 213, that in the

morning, Abigail decides to stay in a family-owned cabin in New Hampshire after

leaving the family.

Have you ever made love in the ocean?...

Let us pretend it is the ocean and that I am

going away and we might never see each

other again.

Same as the novel, the movie also shows Abigail's job on the winery where sending

letters to the family is the only way to get in touch with. The second similarity is how

Grandma Lyn being concerned to the Salmon family. On page 213, it states in a

dialogue,

I am thinking of coming to stay.

I would like to make myself available

to you and the children. I have

been knocking around in this mausoleum

long enough

and also, in the movie marked at 01:02:36, that Grandma Lyn is left to be with the

Salmon family throughout the days when Susie died until Abigail came back from

abandoning the family. According to Kukkonen, plot needs to have changes for its

developments, hence it needs for something to happen first before anything leads into
another. The last similarity is that Harvey did not have a redemption arc in both novel

and movie. It was shown on page 327 and marked 01:59:38 in the movie when Harvey

plans on victimizing another teenage girl but fails when the icicle fell on Harvey’s

shoulder, went off balance then fell to eternal damnation.

A moment later, the icicle fell. The heavy

coldness of it threw him off balance just enough

for him to stumble and pitch forward. It would

be weeks before the snow in the ravine melted

enough to uncover him.

Table 2. Plot Analysis of Differences

DIFFERENCES
PLOT STRUCTURE
NOVEL MOVIE

 Gathered Evidence  Gathered Evidence

 Suspect  No suspect
Beginning  Location of Susie’s remains  Location of Susie’s remains
 Harvey’s childhood  No childhood background

 Susie’s Memorial  Grief of Salmon’s family

 Symposium  No symposium
Middle  Abigail’s secret affair  Abigail is family-focused
 Lindsey’s plan to Harvey’s house  Lindsey’s plan to Harvey’s house

 Death anniversary  No death anniversary

End  Lindsey’s doubt of the affair  No affair
 Case’s improvement  Investigation is done poorly

The beginning of the novel and movie makes the clear manifestation of all

differences, such as the gathered evidence from the detective, Len Fenerman. In the

unfortunate event of Susie being missing, the detectives start searching for clues and

evidence on page 28, 24 and 20, and the detectives have found three, mainly: a bonnet

with Susie’s DNA, the book– To Kill a Mockingbird and Susie’s elbow. In which it causes
the family to be much more anxious. Unlike in the movie where the only evidence that

the detectives have gathered was the same bonnet the last time the family saw Susie

was wearing, 00:38:07. The second difference, on page 26, with the investigation

ongoing, is that one of the pieces of evidence has led to one suspect to Susie’s

disappearance and it turns out to be Ray Singh which is a complete misunderstanding

since Susie is Ray’s lover. However, in the movie, investigations were done poorly and

lead to no possible suspects at all for Susie’s murder. The third difference is the location

of Susie’s remains, on page 51 in the novel, were thrown not only on a sinkhole but also

in a desolated railroad track and to a nearby motorcycle repair shop, not knowing if

Harvey can dispose of the remains with no evidence. Meanwhile, the movie only shows

how Harvey gets rid of the vault, which is where Susie’s corpse is hidden, in the

sinkhole, marked on the movie 01:48:40. The last difference in the book is how it

mentions a brief background of Harvey’s childhood experience, on page 96-97, could

lead up to one of the factors that made Harvey’s character in the present due to being a

child of a dysfunctional family. While in the movie, not a single statement has been

revealed about Harvey’s childhood past. As Reedsyblog states in the article What is

Plot? An Author’s guide to Storytelling, that a series of a related events that comprise a

story, and owing to the time constraints of a film, many plots of a novel are not included

in the film, which explains the viewers' and readers' subjective perspective.

There are four differences observed in the middle of the story in both novel and

movie version. First is Susie’s memorial or funeral. Two months after Susie’s death, the

Salmon family held a memorial service, it is said on page 98 on the novel, where

Grandma Lyn says,

 Abigail, this is Susie’s funeral.

Every body attended except for Susie’s lover, Ray Singh, and only stays at home

looking at Susie’s picture as this is the way of saying goodbye to Susie. During the final

hymn of the memorial service, Grandma Lyn looks over at the church door and sees a

man behind Len Fenerman, and whispers to Lindsey saying,

By the door, that is him.

Lindsey looks at the man and makes eye contact, feeling a surge of recognition and

then passes out. The man is Harvey who walks away when everybody gathers to help

Lindsey. However, in the movie, there is no memorial happened and only shows the

grief of the Salmon family. Grandma Lyn visits to comfort Abigail, and help the

grandchildren from the daily routines. As Weiland have considered, it is a plot-focused

structure, therefore it would indicate that subplots would be excluded since there is not

enough time to reassess the whole plot due to time constraints. The second difference

is the symposium during summer where Lindsey, Samuel and Ruth attended. It is a

four-week retreat for the gifted and talented kids. On page 115, Lindsey draws a fish on

the nametag instead since people think of the bloody and butchered murder every time

people saw Susie’s last name, Salmon. The activity for the final contest has been

announced and it is about how to commit the perfect murder. Lindsey’s friends try to

hide it but soon learns the truth and then everybody learns that Lindsey is Susie’s sister.

At that night in the rowboat sheltering from a summer shower, Samuel and Lindsey

have coitus for the first time. Susie thinks in heaven, on page 125,

In the walls of my sex there was horror and blood,

in the walls of hers there were windows.

Meanwhile, in the movie, it does not show any of these happenings as Ness says that

film adaptation may provide a new viewpoint since the directors take creative liberties

and adds own various touches to the film. It only appears that Samuel and Lindsey are

in love but not to the point that both went too far by engaging sexual activities. The third

one is Abigail’s secret affair with the detective, Len Fenerman. In the novel, while Jack

is having surgery because of the injury, Len Fenerman arrives at the hospital while

Abigail is pacing in the corridor. Len Fenerman and Abigail meet and talk about what

happened. Abigail smokes a cigarette and learns that Len Fenerman’s wife committed

suicide. Both seem to find comfort, and end up kissing each other and have coitus, as

evident on page 152,

Kiss me, please.

Abigail commanded; this is the night where Abigail starts betraying the whole family

most especially to Jack. While in the movie, Abigail is a decent woman who only thinks

about Susie and the family, yet ends up drawing away. Abigail travels out west to

California to cope with the loss. As seen on 01:10:13, Abigail only visits Len Fenerman’s

office to give Buckley’s drawing then sees a girl who looks the same as Susie, never

hinting of any illicit affair. The last difference is Lindsey’s plan to Harvey’s house. Every

afternoon, Harvey leave the house to pick up some supplies needed and drive out to the

park so this gives Lindsey the chance to trespass Harvey’s house. Lindsey and the

team are jogging, then immediately fakes having period cramps while approaching

Harvey’s house. Lindsey breaks into the basement window and finally enters the

murderer’s house. The floor plan and the Salmon family’s house is exactly alike and

remembers the family memories every step until reaching Harvey’s bedroom and goes
in. Lindsey found the sketchbook where it is labeled as Stolfutz Cornfield and it features

a sketch of the underground hole, a location of Susie’s death, then hears Harvey’s car

approaching and parks in the front yard. Lindsey rips out the sketch and quickly puts

back the sketchbook where it was then Harvey hears the familiar wood creak and

rushes up to the stairs. Lindsey opens a window and jumps out in time while Harvey

simply watches Lindsey, who is able to escape. On page 184, Lindsey immediately tells

the family about the successful break in,

Daddy! I did it. I broke into his house.

but Abigail does not want to hear about it and goes outside to pick up Buckley from

school instead. Harvey calls the police first without Len Fenerman, and told the police

that Lindsey Salmon breaks into the property. The police ask about the suspicious

drawing similar to where Susie is killed but Harvey got an alibi, and says on page 193,

There, it was a drawing similar to this one,

correct?... I was trying to figure it out. I admit

the horror of it has obsessed me. I think

everyone in the neighborhood has tried to think

how they could have prevented it. Why they

didn’t hear something, see something. I

mean, surely the girl screamed.

and by then the police officers believed it. During the time that the police officers went to

Harvey’s house, Abigail left Buckley into the playground and meet Len Fenerman into

the mall, to make love. If it is Len Fenerman who visited the house to investigate again

due to Lindsey’s evidence then surely, Harvey will get arrested. After that, Harvey
escaped and by then, never been seen by anybody. On the other hand, in the movie,

Harvey plans to abduct Lindsey but failed when Lindsey breaks into the house. Lindsey

finds the sketch in the hidden hole under the floor and looks for some evidence, at the

same time Harvey rushes over to the room where but only ends up seeing Lindsey

escaping, it is apparent on 01:42:15. After, Lindsey looks for Jack to tell about the news,

Where is dad?

but Lindsey decided to keep it from the family apart from Grandma Lynn as Abigail

comes back from California for how many months, it is evident on 01:46:35 and asks,

Mom. What are you doing here? For good?

In the article of Reedsyblog, the context of each media's function differs because of the

amount of time the author spends narrating its story depends on one’s limits,

meanwhile, the film adaptation follows a time frame that usually runs 2-3 hours.

In the end, it reveals the distinction of the two literary works. The first difference

evident in the novel, page 206, is on Susie's death anniversary where there is a vigil or

a memorial happening in the cornfield where Lindsey says,

They are having a ceremony for Susie.

Ray and Ruth visit the cornfield to light a candle for Susie and then meets with Hal and

Samuel, some people have already come, left flowers and gone. The neighborhood can

see from the windows and call others, by that time lots of people start to show up. On

page 210, it is visible on the narrative,

Will you sing for us? And in the kind of grace

that is granted but rarely, and not when you wish

it most— to save a loved one from dying – Mr.

 O'Dwyer wobbled only a moment on his first note,

then sang loud and clear and fine.

Everyone joined in.

that people filled the cornfield who hold candles and sing dirges to commemorate

Susie's death anniversary. The whole family go across to the neighborhood and join the

growing crowd except for Abigail who does not seem to be interested. It also states on

page 209 where Susie watches the earth,

He wanted so badly to have me remembered

in the minds and hearts of everyone...

I knew something as I watched: almost

everyone was saying goodbye to me.

While in the movie, there is no death anniversary. It only shows the day of Susie’s death

and how family manage it, and the life of Susie in heaven. Second difference is when

Lindsey doubts Abigail of having an affair with the detective, Len Fenerman. Lindsey

and Hal Heckler visit the police station, after a year Mr. Harvey escaped, to ask

information since there is no improvement and sign of Mr. Harvey’s whereabouts. Then

Lindsey sees Abigail’s scarf on Len Fenerman's desk and freaks out, as evident on

page 215,

Why do you have my mother's scarf?...

What was she doing in your car?

which confirms that Abigail is having an affair with the detective. However, in the movie,

there is no situation and scene that shows Abigail misbehaving. The third difference is

Susie's case improvement. Forster states that plots need intelligence from the readers,
especially the capacity to recall events and link strands, and this allows the author to

generate mystery by deferring some answers until later in the narrative. During Fall

1976, Len Fenerman investigates the evidence recovered from the cornfield, and

fingerprints matching Harvey’s. Realization hits Len Fenerman that Jack is right all

along but now there is no record of Harvey anywhere, it is evident on page 218,

Finally, they found an old coke bottle at the

opposite end of the field. There it was, a solid

link: fingerprints matching Mr. Harvey’s prints

which were all over his house, and fingerprints

matching those on my birth certificate. There was

no question in his mind: Jack Salmon had

been right from the beginning…

The guy built dollhouses.

Also, Hal reported about the sign that Harvey really is a murderer, as Hal met a biker

whose mother, named Sophie, was killed by a tenant who builds dollhouses that

matches Harvey description – this is the time that Susie’s case reopens. While in the

movie, it is not investigated well enough nor being shown that Len Fenerman tries to

reopen the case. As Weiland stated on the blog called 5 Important Ways Storytelling Is

Different in Books vs. Movies – that how its story goes in movies focus on a more solid

structure, which implies faster pacing, more plot-focused, and more into its visual.

The data for this phase is obtained through the use of quotations, scenes, pages,

and timestamps from the novel and film versions, which are descriptively analyzed
using Viktor Shklovsky's Formalism Theory to determine the structure of the text of how

the novel is similar to and differs from the film in terms of plot structure.

The plot’s similarities are the narrator, Susie’s ambition, Jack on Susie’s death,

Jack’s intuition, treatment towards Grandma, victims’ names, Abigail’s abandonment,

Grandma’s help, and Harvey’s impenitence, and the differences are the evidences,

suspect, remains’ location, Harvey’s childhood, memorial, symposium, Abigail’s affair,

Lindsey’s plan, death anniversary, Lindsey’s doubt, case improvement.

Character Development

The table centers on the similarities and differences of the main characters’

development in the two literary works.

Table 3. Character Development Analysis of and Differences

SIMILARITIES DIFFERENCES
CHARACTERS
NOVEL MOVIE NOVEL MOVIE
Seeking revenge Seeking revenge Not different Not different
Susie Salmon to accepting death to accepting death
Not similar Not similar Terrible childhood, Directly shows as a
George Harvey a murderer to no murderer to no
remorse remorse
Grieving to Grieving to Not different Not different
Jack Salmon
acceptance acceptance
Not similar Not similar Grieving, an Grieving,
adulteress and abandonment, to
Abigail Salmon
abandonment, to acceptance
acceptance

The first main character that is featured is Susie Salmon who shows similar

character development in both novel and film. Susie died in both literary works and the

character starts from seeking revenge to acceptance. As Kraut’s article about Aristotle’s

Ethics, character development refers to the numerous phases, circumstances that

people go through in one’s life that might sharpen, influence, or affect one’s character.

The character starts out resentful and wants to take over as there are times that Susie

feels like taking revenge, and be part of the narrative – evident in page 50,
 That is how they operated. They did not shut

down their desire to know…They hunted. So, did I.

and in page 20 where Susie states,

I could not have what I wanted most: Mr.

Harvey dead and me living.

It is same in the movie, 01:26:41, where Susie wished for Harvey to die.

When I was alive, I never hated anyone. But

now hate was all that I had. I want him dead,

I want him cold and dead with no blood in his veins!

Look at me, look at what he did to me. What am

I now? That man took my life.

According to Jean in the article called What Are Some Good Examples of Character

Development in Literature?, characters have the ability to grow and improve one’s self,

as well as observe things from a different perspective. The thought of having revenge all

started because of Susie’s death and mainly because of how the youth got stolen and

never got to experience what it is like to be growing up, especially in the part in

experiencing the intricacies of love. While observing in heaven, on page 125, Susie

witnesses Lindsey being able to experience being a teenager,

At fourteen, my sister sailed away from me into

a place I had never been. In the walls of my sex

there was horror and blood, in the walls of Lindsey’s,

there were windows.

It is similar in the movie, 01:12:36, where it shows Susie peering at Lindsey and

Samuel, Lindsey’s boyfriend.

And Lindsey, who always said she did not believe

in love, found it anyway. And there it was.

The moment I would never have. My little sister

had run ahead of me. She was growing up.

I am happy. I am very happy…

She wanted to kiss him.

As Jean says in the article, the characters may fall to hate, or insanity. It should not

come as a shock or a surprise; the author teases it out, builds on it, and explores it until

it comes to a logical conclusion. As time goes on, Susie learns and realizes the need to

accept reality. Susie then mentions on page 138 about wanting Jack to back up from

this act of retribution.

I flood the cornfield, I flashed fires through it

to light it up, I sent storms of hail and flowers,

but none of it worked to warn him. I was relegated

to heaven: I watched.

Similarly, in the movie, 01:29:25, it shows Susie screaming at Jack to retreat from

harming Harvey as Jack is about to be lured in a trap. Throughout the story, Susie

always tries to communicate in one’s way, and manages to appear in front of Jack but

the most notable apparition was with Buckley, the youngest sibling. As innocent as

Susie, Buckley remains to be the only character who lacks enlightenment of Susie’s
death hence in the novel, on page 245, Buckley finally sees Susie during a celebration

in which it represents Susie’s closure or the way of properly saying goodbye to Buckley,

It was Buckley… who saw me. He saw me standing

under the rustic colonial clock and stared…

There were strings coming out from all around

me, reaching out, waving in the air… He saw my

shape and face, which had not changed – the

hair still parted down the middle, the chest

still flat and hips undeveloped – and wanted to

call out my name. It was only a moment,

and then I was gone.

It is same in the movie, 00:58:57, Buckley comes running to tell everyone Susie made

an apparition. According to Huitt’s Moral and Character Development the characters

develop depending on how the writer creates the characters by creating conflict. With

regards to closure upon Susie’s nearing acceptance, Susie has done the unimaginable

which is to face Ray upfront by switching souls with Ruth. Susie eagerly desires to be

with Ray and had coitus using Ruth’s body. On page 304 and 307, Susie reflects,

It reverberated, this sound, down the long tunnel

of loneliness and making do with watching the

touch and caress of others on Earth. I had

never been touched like this. I had only been

hurt by hands past all tenderness…

Ray Singh’s kiss… I touched every part

 of him and held it in my hands. I cupped his

elbow in my palm… I held that part of him that

Mr. Harvey had forced inside me.

Similarly, in the movie, 01:54:54, it shows Ruth fainting and Ray helping her out,

revealing to be Susie who possessed Ruth’s body – then asked Ray to kiss her. The

novel also features these quotations that sum up Susie’s acceptance: on page 318,

320, and 322,

I was done yearning for them, ending them to

yearn for me. Though I still would. Though they

still would. Always… These were the lovely

bones that had grown around my absence:

the connections – sometimes tenuous, sometimes

made at great cost, but often magnificent…

And I was gone.

It is similar in the movie, 01:57:54 where Susie narrates these exact dialogues while

showing both the parents reconciled from what happened, Lindsey – the younger sister,

who is now happy with Samuel – the boyfriend, then shifts to the part where Susie’s

bones buried in the sinkhole. As both versions concluded with Susie bidding farewell as

seen on page 328 and 02:01:46,

I wish you all a long and happy life.

The second character that is depicted is George Harvey, who shows different

character development in both the novel and the movie. Harvey is the antagonist and a

murderer in both literary works but it portrays differently on how the character starts
from. In the novel, Harvey’s terrible childhood shape the character into a psychotic and

manipulative murderer. Although being suspected by everyone, Harvey shows no

remorse of what happened to all victims. According to Huitt’s Moral and Character

Development, there are factors that affect the character development such as families,

communities, and society in general have the power to influence. It is evident on page

97, where it says on a narrative that as a child, Harvey’s parents caused a great deal of

trauma, and a victim of child abuse,

And then he would begin to dream dreams of his

mother the last time he had seen her…his

father and she had fought for the last time

in the hot car outside… He had forced her

out of the car… She had run without stopping,

her white body thin and fragile and disappearing,

while her son clung on to the amber necklace

she had torn from her neck to hand him.

She is gone now, son. She will not be coming back…

and on page 188, Harvey being exposed and participated to serial thefts.

And she began handing him the stolen items to

hide on his body, and he did it because she

wanted him to. If they got outside and away in

the truck, she would smile and bang the steering

wheel with the flat of her hand and call

him her little accomplice.

This experience molded Harvey to be a murderer and be a person who wants other

people to suffer, as Huitt’s Moral and Character Development says that the character

implies action to the characters’ decisions, due to the happenings witnessed, from a

bipolar mother teaching Harvey to be a thief, and the cold and abusive father left

Harvey’s mother out of the family. It is clear that the traumatic background turned

Harvey into a psychotic and manipulative murderer. Harvey’s ability to plot murders and

avoid detection demonstrates a depth of expertise and shows an expertise of planning

the crime on a sketch book hidden beneath the floor as stated on page 55,

…that he had put in his bedroom. It was still in the

nightstand, on top of which he kept his sketch

pad where, often, in the middle of the night,

he drew the designs in his dreams.

then on page 175, it is evident that building dollhouses to make others believe that

Harvey leads a normal life, and used to have a wife and a daughter who died,

…and the lie that he was a widower always

helped. He fashioned a wife out of whichever

victim he had recently been taking pleasure

in in his memory, and to flesh her out there

was always his mother.

and killing innocent people then changing one’s identity afterwards, as clearly stated on

page 230,

The man had not gone by the name George

Harvey, though that did not mean anything…

 The guy built dollhouses

and as Judy Blume says that character development is the process of having unique

and naturalistic character with an in-depth personality in the article, How to Develop a

Fictional Character: 6 Tips for Writing Great Characters. Aside of killing numerous

innocent women, Harvey is also torturing and murdering animals from time to time, as

evident on page 130,

What I discovered, when I followed Mr.

Harvey’s stare to the crawlspace, were these

animals that had gone missing for more than

a year… He had killed animals, taking lesser

lives to keep from killing a child.

According to Jean in the article called What Are Some Good Examples of Character

Development in Literature? every character has own views, opinions, and history that

has influenced who the characters are. On page 57, Harvey denies anything to Jack

regarding Susie’s death,

That is enough now… Why don’t you go

on home?... We have just built a tent… The

neighbors saw us. We are friends now…

Go home. I cannot help you.

and when Len Fenerman comes to Harvey’s house to investigate, Harvey introduces

dollhouses to divert the attention. The detectives do not suspect Harvey, who is an

expert in dealing the crime until later on, Lindsey breaks into Harvey’s house then finally
found a sketch of the cornfield hidden on the bedside table that links to Susie’s murder,

this evidence makes Harvey becomes the prime suspect, as it is evident on page 183,

It was a small drawing of stalks above sunken hole,

a detail off to the side of a shelf... the thing

that sunk into her: in a spidery hand he had

written Stolfuz cornfield.

Harvey escapes after and by then never been seen by anybody and later on evidence

shows up that concludes that Harvey really is the murderer. At the end, Harvey never

amended the wrongdoings nor showed any remorse, and this still leads Harvey to lure

another young woman by volunteering to take the woman wherever but the woman

refused which makes Harvey taken aback and falls into the ravine. However, in the

movie, Harvey preys on the weak even without being suspected, and never shows

remorse. The character of Harvey starts with being a murderer without giving a

background why Harvey turned to be one. On 00:10:29 in the movie, it shows that

Harvey befriends the Salmon family through the red flowers in the garden as one of the

first steps to know Susie and plots Susie’s murder. It shows directly that Harvey

murders Susie, 00:24:03 marked in the movie where Harvey lures Susie into an

underground clubhouse on the cornfield. On the 01:15:33 in the movie, Harvey also

thinks that it was the perfect crime and begins looking for other victims, even

considering with idea of killing Susie’s younger sister, Lindsey. According to Jean in the

article called What Are Some Good Examples of Character Development in Literature?

a character may fall to hate, or insanity. It should not come as a shock or a surprise; the

author teases it out, builds on it, and explores it until it comes to a logical conclusion.
Later on, Lindsey, who accuses Harvey of murdering Susie, breaks into Harvey’s house

in order to uncover evidence but Harvey hurriedly packs all belongings and escapes

after Lindsey takes hold on to the sketchbook. Even though detectives search Harvey’s

house, it is not enough and does not conclude that Harvey is the murderer, marked at

01:48:27. At the end, 01:59:43, Harvey never changed until the very last breath and still

continues to lure a woman which is supposed to be the next victim after Susie but the

woman refuses and ends up falling down the ravine which leads to eternal damnation.

The third character that is represented is Jack Salmon, father of Susie Salmon. Jack

shows the same flow of character development in both literary works. The novel and

movie show Jack grieving the deceased daughter to acceptance. When Susie first went

missing, the character shows a desperate act by going door to door in the neighborhood

looking for Susie. While Jack was overwhelmed of what is inside one’s head, Jack is

failing in daily life’s work and unable to meet the day’s end then shifts to being someone

craving for revenge and justice for Susie, and as Judy Blume states in the article, How

to Develop a Fictional Character: 6 Tips for Writing Great Characters, that each

character being unique and the characters’ actions are considered as it would greatly

affect especially to both the protagonist and the antagonist. Jack feels responsible for

the disappearance of Susie as it is evident on page 58,

Then, as his consciousness woke, it was

as if poison seeped in… He lay there under

a heavy weight… no movement being enough

to make up for it. The guilt on him, the hand

of God pressing down on him, saying, you were

 not there when your daughter needed you.

In the novel, page 49, and on 00:32:45, it shows Jack going house to house to ask

whether people have seen Susie. Jack’s own way of coping, on page 46 and 00:54:00,

it shows Jack throwing all the bottled boats that both Susie and Jack have built, unable

to accept that Jack will never see the daughter again. Jack then realizes to take this

matter in one’s own hands, gather all evidence just to prove that it was all Harvey’s

doing. Jack’s instinct is strong and is certain that it was Harvey that has got to do

something of the disappearance of Susie, and when realization hits that the detective is

stopping the investigation towards Harvey due to lack of evidence, it fuels Jack to strive

hard. Although, not as efficient, Jack follows Harvey and end up in a hospital, being

lured into the cornfield by Harvey, even with a baseball bat ready to swing, Jack met a

wild teenager instead, beating to injury as stated on page 137 and on 01:27:30. Jack’s

constant repulsion towards Harvey has condone Lindsey as well, even disregarding the

risks. Jack shared an idea with Lindsey and what one can possibly do to meet the end

of it all. On page 164, Jack states then Lindsey replies,

Without evidence, they have nothing to move

on and no basis for an arrest… So, you would

want to be able to get into his house.

Jack Salmon did not decline to the idea and instead condones Lindsey to break into

Harvey’s house. This is the extreme action that Jack has done to avenge Susie. Even

though the justice is not served in the eye of the law, the evidence is enough for the

Salmon family, and minds have been cleared from all the questions revolving inside

each other’s’ heads, contented with the fact knowing that Jack is right the whole time.
Jack slowly learns acceptance and has finally got the strength to let one’s self grieve the

loss, as evident on page 289 where a narrative says,

She is never coming home. A clear and easy

piece of truth that everyone who had ever known

me had accepted. But he needed to say it, and

she needed to hear him say it.

According to Jean in the article called What Are Some Good Examples of Character

Development in Literature? the characters have the ability to grow and improve one’s

self, as well as observe things from a different perspective.

The fourth character is Susie’s mother, Abigail Salmon, who shows different

character development in both works. In the novel, Abigail grieves for Susie, and as a

way of coping, becomes an adulteress, and ends up abandoning the family due to

remorse and missing the sense of being a young maiden, then finally shows

acceptance. As Jean says in the article called What Are Some Good Examples of

Character Development in Literature?, that character’s personality have developed

when the character means to have own views, opinions, and history. The character of

Abigail Salmon experiences grief as stated on page 21,

Nothing is ever certain. My mother said,

clinging to it as she had hoped she might

where Abigail clings to the hope that Susie is still alive despite the evidence that Susie

might not be. On page 160, where Abigail isolates from the family while staying close

with Susie,

She was pulling and pulling away–

 all her energy was against the house,

and all his energy was inside it…then wonder

if she too should start to beautify. But that

was only for a second, she was thinking of Len,

not because she was in love with him

but because being with him was the fastest

way she knew to forget.

and this experience leads Abigail to have an affair to the detective who handles Susie’s

case, Len Fenerman, Abigail uses this as the coping mechanism in grieving Susie.

According to Jean in the article called What Are Some Good Examples of Character

Development in Literature? that readers learn to understand and know that characters

deal with a variety of scenarios more specifically, obstacles. Abigail abandons the family

for eight years due to the guilt for betraying the family and also missing the sense of

being a maiden after becoming an adulteress, it is apparent on page 207.

What she wanted most was to be that free girl

again… dreaming of living in Paris, and going

home that day laughing to herself about the nerdy

Jack Salmon, who was pretty cute…

Abigail moves to California where and takes a job in a winery, where it completely

revolves only on the job but still communicates with the children in an occasional basis

via phone conversations and postcards over the years. After eight years, Abigail flies

back home as Jack suffers a life-threatening heart attack. At the end, on page 317,
Abigail recognizes the faults and falls in love with Jack all over again, and wins back the

family especially Jack,

I am going to do everything I can not to hurt

your father but no promises this time.

Abigail is also able to accept Susie's death and let go of the immature ambitions that

drove to distance from the family, as evident on page 317,

I love you, Susie. – I had heard these words so many

times from my father that it shocked me now; I had

been waiting, unknowingly, to hear it from my mother.

However, in the movie, Abigail grieves for Susie, and as a way of coping, abandons the

family, and finally shows acceptance. As Jean says in the article called, What Are Some

Good Examples of Character Development in Literature?, that characters tend to grow

and improve in spite of having to observe things in a different outlook. On 00:39:30 after

learning about Susie’s death, Abigail can no longer keep up the facade and cannot

suppress the grief being with the family so Abigail decides to abandon the family as it

serves as the coping mechanism or divert one’s self from Susie’s death and work in a

winery. On 1:12:14 marked in the movie, Abigail knows in heart that it would not bring

Susie back and continues to believe that being alone and isolating from the family is the

only way to properly absorb Susie’s death. It is also Abigail’s method of bargaining and

forming a sort of trade-off for abandoning the family to be near to Susie. At end, on

1:46:41, it shows directly that Abigail returns home at one’s own will upon realizing the

importance of being a wife and a mother to the children, and accepts the death of Susie

saying marked 2:00:48 in the movie.

 I love you, Susie.

The data for this phase is obtained through the use of quotations, scenes, pages,

and timestamps from the novel and the movie, which are descriptively analyzed using

Psychoanalytic Theory to determine the behavior of the characters of how the novel is

similar to and differs from the film in terms of character development.

The similarities of the character development are Susie seeks revenge to

acceptance and Jack’s grief to acceptance, and the differences are Harvey has a

terrible childhood, and Abigail has an affair.

Imagery

The table centers on the elements of plot, and the similarities and differences of

imagery in the two literary works.

Table 4. Imagery Analysis of Similarities and Differences

PLOT SIMILARITIES DIFFERENCES
STRUCTURE NOVEL MOVIE NOVEL MOVIE
 In between’s  In-between’s  Setting where  Setting where
description description Susie is killed Susie is killed
 Process of murder  Process of murder
 Ray Singh’s  Ray Singh’s
appearance appearance
Introduction
 In-between’s  In-between’s
glimpse glimpse
 Illustration of  Illustration of
Buckley’s drawing Buckley’s drawing

 Blooming dead  Blooming dead  Process of  Process of

Rising Action flower flower discarding discarding
evidence evidence
 Portrayal of  Portrayal of  Appearance of  Appearance of
souls souls Harvey’s house Harvey’s house
Climax
ascending ascending  Execution of other  Execution of other
victims’ murder victims’ murder
 Susie’s  Susie’s  Susie’s method of  Susie’s method of
Falling Action thoughts about thoughts about possession possession
photographs photographs
Denouement  Cause of  Cause of  Susie and Ray’s  Susie and Ray’s
Harvey’s death Harvey’s death intimacy intimacy

The first similar imagery is Susie’s description of the in-between. In the novel, the

description of the in-between is detailed of how Susie narrates about it. This supports
the Formalism Theory that distinguishes between standard and poetic usage of

language and gives a literary work its uniqueness as shown on page 20,

Our heaven had an ice cream shop where,

when you asked for peppermint stick ice cream…

it had a newspaper where our pictures

appeared a lot and made us look important;

it had real men in it and beautiful women too,

because Holly and I were devoted to

fashion magazines.

Also, in the movie marked 00:57:30, there is a scene that viewers visualize where Susie

and Holly are playing in the in-between that consists of things that such as being the

cover girl, fashion magazine, and an ice cream shop which is the same as the novel’s

description, as Kiaei says in the Hyper-reality in Sebold's The Lovely Bones that it is a

hyper-real location because people can only conceive it as what people see on Earth

and never as what truly it is.

In the rising action, it has a similar imagery about the flower called geranium where it is

shown to be all dried and dead, however it blooms beautifully when Susie stared in focus. This

is when Susie was watching Jack together with Harvey. But on Jack’s line of vision, the flower

does not bloom, remains to be dead and starts to look at the Harvey’s house in a new way and

with a conflicted intuition towards Harvey as the one responsible for the crime. This is

descriptively narrated on page 56,

I focused very hard on the dead geranium

in his line of vision. I thought if I could make it

 bloom he would have his answer. In my heaven

it bloomed. In my heaven geranium petals

swirled in eddies up to my waist.

On Earth nothing happened…

my father was looking toward the green house

in a new way. He had begun to wonder.

Along with the movie, 01:22:09, the dead flower does not bloom on the earth but in

Susie’s heaven, it does. Also, both the readers and viewers, literally envisioned this

similarly as the director follows the narration and description of the novel fully.

There is one similar imagery observed in the climax of both medium. It is about

the portrayal of how souls ascend from the body. In the novel, it is visualized by readers

as how the souls are being describe from living the body and how it looks and feels like

from a person who just passed as described on page 155,

After all these years I still love to watch the

souls that float and spin in masses, all of them

clamoring at once inside the air… I felt them

before… small warm sparks along my arms.

Then there they were, fireflies lighting up

and expanding in howls and swirls as they

abandoned human flesh.

Same as the movie marked on 00:44:24 where the viewers visualize the souls

surging into the air and floating aimlessly in the same direction. Susie is seen to be

one of the souls and held on to the earth, with bright sparks wrapping the flesh.
 In falling action, there is one similar imagery about Susie’s thoughts in capturing

photos that is observed in both versions. In the novel, the readers visualize Susie as

someone who is passionate about taking photographs and on page 212, here is what

Susie feels about it,

With the camera my parents gave me, I took

dozens of candids of my family… I loved the way

the burned-out flashcubes of the Kodak

Instamatic marked a moment that had passed…

I had rescued the moment by using my camera

and in that way had found a way to stop time

and hold it. No one could take that image

away from me because I owned it.

In the movie as marked on 00:03:15, back on Susie’s life on earth, Susie takes photos

of everyone and everything. The viewers in this part visualizes Susie’s thoughts about

the photos and the scene identifies Susie as someone who makes sure to capture the

moment before it is gone forever.

For the denouement, it has one similarity found in both versions which is the

cause of Harvey’s death. In the novel, the readers imagine a row of icicles hanging by

the branch and also the viewers see the same way as it shows on the movie marked

01:59:41. But the reason behind the icicle, as harmless as it sounds, is in connection to

what Susie says on page 125,

How to Commit the Perfect Murder was an

old game in heaven. I always chose the icicle:

 the weapon melts away.

interpreting the means of Harvey’s death due to natural cause rather than a helpless

murder.

The first difference evident on the introduction is the setting where Susie has

been killed by Harvey. In both medium, the place is the cornfield and has the same

season yet both has different description of the weather and how the ambience feels

which is as described on page 6.

...it was snowing, and I took a shortcut through

the cornfield back from the junior high. It was

dark out because the days were shorter in winter,

and I remember how the broken cornstalks made

my walk more difficult. The snow was falling lightly,

like a flurry of small hands, and I was breathing

through my nose until it was running so much

that I had to open my mouth. Six feet from where

Mr. Harvey stood, I stuck my tongue out to

taste a snowflake.

and while in the movie, 00:22:16, even though it shows that it is set during winter, it was

not snowing but rather shows a slightly bright cloudy day. Susie is seen walking in the

plain cornfield and no cornstalks getting in the way while walking home. The next

difference is the process of murder that is carried out by Harvey. In the novel, the scene

is more detailed of how Harvey lures and kills Susie in the underground clubhouse. The

readers visualize how Susie’s death is more pitiful and disturbing than how it is
portrayed in the movie, as it shows on page 12,

Take your clothes off, Mr. Harvey said. I want

to check that you’re still a virgin…

You aren’t leaving, Susie. You’re mine now…

Mr. Harvey started to press his lips against mine.

They were blubbery and wet and I wanted to

scream but I was too afraid and too exhausted

from the fight… As he kissed his wet lips down

my face and neck and then began to shove his

hands up under my shirt, I wept… He ripped open

my pants, not having found the invisible zipper

my mother had artfully sewn into their side…

Tell me you love me, he said. Gently, I did.

The end came anyway.

But in the movie, it only shows how Mr. Harvey prevents Susie from escaping the man-

made hole, and fell into the ground. It misleads the viewers that Susie was able to

escape when in fact it was just Susie’s soul, as marked at 00:31:14. The third different

imagery is how Ray Singh looks like. Ray is portrayed to be Indian in the novel, as

stated on page 13,

His name was Ray and he was Indian…

large eyes, with their half-dosed lids…

However, in the movie marked 00:19:39, Ray Singh has a mix of English and South

African features, with thin almond eyes. The fourth difference is Susie’s first glimpse of

the in-between. In the novel, Susie narrated of what is the in-between look like which is

far from what the movie visualizes, as it shows on page 16,

When I first entered heaven, I thought everyone

saw what I saw. That in everyone’s heaven

there were soccer goalposts in the distance and

lumbering women throwing shot put and javelin.

That all the buildings were like suburban

northeast high schools built in the 1960s.

Large, squat buildings spread out on dismally

landscaped sandy lots, with overhangs and

open spaces to make them feel modern. My

favorite part was how the colored blocks were

turquoise and orange, just like the blocks

in Fairfax High.

The readers of the novel imagine that the in-between comprises of soccer field,

buildings, colored blocks and Susie’s school. However, in the movie marked 00:33:12,

the viewers visualize that Susie’s first glimpse of the in-between is purely showing the

neighborhood houses in blue colored tint. Suvanto says in the article Inspiring Imagery:

An Introduction to Evoking Vivid Mental Imagery in Creative Writing, that reading

literature produces pictures in the minds of readers. The next difference is the

illustration of Buckley’s drawing that represents the in-between. In the novel, the
drawing consists only the sky and earth where the readers think that in-between for

Buckley is purely simple, as it shows on page 34,

…my mother hung on t Hours before I died,

my mother hung on the refrigerator a picture

that Buckley had drawn. In the drawing a thick

blue line separated the air and ground. In the

days that followed I watched my family walk

back and forth past that drawing and I became

convinced that that thick blue line was a

real place – an in-between, where heaven’s

horizon met Earth’s. I wanted to go there into

the cornflower blue of Crayola, the royal,

the turquoise, the sky.

However, in the movie marked on 01:06:55, Buckley’s drawing consists of green

grass, sky, birds and a sun which makes the viewers visualize a simple drawing of a

plain or nature.

In the rising action of the novel and movie’s difference, it definitely implies how

Harvey acts after Susie’s murder in the means of discarding evidence. In the novel,

the scene depicts in a particular way, to every detail, of how Harvey dispose all the

paraphernalia that have been used during the crime, the readers conceive that this

scene is more gruesome than how it is depicted in the movie. The readers also

conceive how Harvey is capable of killing an innocent that easy, as it is evident on

page 49, where shows an extremely meticulous way of discarding evidence,

 …Mr. Harvey had collapsed the hole in the

cornfield and carried away a sack filled with

my body parts… His body brushed past the

sturdy green leaves, leaving traces of me behind

him, smells the Gilberts’ dog would pick up and

follow to find my elbow, smells the sleet and rain

of the next three days would wash away before

police dogs could even be thought of. He carried

me back to his house, where, while he went

inside to wash up, I waited for him… He knew

to remove my body from the field. He knew

to watch the weather and to kill during an

arc of light-to-heavy precipitation because that

would rob the police of evidence… He forgot

my elbow, he used a cloth sack for a bloody body...

While in the movie marked on 01:37:39, Harvey only dispose Susie’s body inside the

sack and later on transferred to an old safe or vault where the viewers only saw a

prompt scene of how Harvey acts after the crime. The viewers conceive after seeing

Harvey being meticulous but very quick in covering up the crime all at once rather

than eliminating the evidence one by one, as shown in the book, slowly but surely.

In the climax, the first difference in terms of imagery in the novel compared to

the movie, is shown in page 128.

 I knew the floor plan of Mr. Harvey’s by heart.

In Mr. Harvey’s house… the porcelain was yellow

and the tile on the floor was green… He set

several clocks. One to tell him when to open the

blinds, one when to close them.

The readers visualize Harvey’s house as a neat place to live in. But somehow,

questionable as it looks when it mentions in the novel, that several clocks are set just

to tell what is Harvey is supposed to be doing at a certain time. In the movie,

00:36:06, the viewers see that Harvey’s house looks ordinary, just like everybody

else’s in the village. Even the inside is similar as Susie’s house, but as mentioned in

the novel, the tile on the floor was green but it is plain wood in the movie. Nowhere in

the movie, where it shows several clocks ticking all at once. The next difference is

how Harvey’s victims are introduced and how the murder is initiated. In the novel,

Susie discovers the people that Harvey has murdered, as shown on page 181 and

page 182,

Inside that house my sister was the only living

being, but she was not alone, and I was not her

only company. The architecture of my murderer’s

life, the bodies of the girls he’d left behind,

began to reveal itself to me now that my sister

was in that house. I stood in heaven.

I called their names… I could see his other victims

as they occupied his house – those trace memories

 left behind before they fled this earth…

The readers imagine this part where the victims are standing and spacing out

in which Susie, who is in Harvey’s house, witnesses the execution of each victims’

murder in one place. However, in the movie, it is much more dramatic than what is

depicted, marked in 01:34:00. This scene is where each victims’ execution of murder

becomes a disturbing event for Susie. Every victim Susie discovers disappears once

the execution of murder is done, and another one appears in a different setting. This

corroborates the claim that Formalism theory brings individuals into a dramatic

awareness of language strategies of image that wakes people's normal perceptions.

In the falling action, it has one different imagery that shows Susie’s method of

possessing Ruth’s body. According to Suvanto in the Inspiring Imagery: An

Introduction to Evoking Vivid Mental Imagery in Creative Writing, in the readers or

audience’s experience, their minds create internal representations of the subject. As a

result, while envisioning, these representations are revived, hence the readers

become fixated on what they have read resulting to a comparison to both medium. In

the novel, the narrative of this scene is more straightforward as it directly shows Susie

being with Ray’s arms after Ruth saw Harvey along the road. The readers visualize

Susie goes off balance and falls into Ruth’s body and blacks out into Ruth’s body

unknowingly, as it shows on page 299,

On that same road where I had been buried,

Mr. Harvey passed by Ruth. All she could see

were the women. Then: blackout. That was

the moment I fell to Earth.

However, in the movie marked on 01:54:38, the viewers visualize this as Susie

voluntarily possesses Ruth’s body as a desperate call of closure towards Ray after

Ruth sees Harvey dumping a suspicious vault into the sinkhole then sees Susie at the

window.

At the Denouement, the last different imagery is Susie and Ray’s coitus. In the

novel, this scene is more detailed of how Susie and Ray having coitus in Hal’s bike

shop where the readers definitely imagine that both tries to satisfy each other from

longing, as it is evident on page 307,

Ruth’s clothes off and waited for the hot water

to heat up… I like it. Take your clothes off and

join me… At first he did not touch me, but then,

tentatively, he traced a small scar along my side.

We watched together as his finger moved down

the ribbony wound… He brushed my nipple with

his thumb, and I pulled his head toward me.

We kissed… I touched every part of him and held

it in my hands. I cupped his elbow in my palm.

I dragged his pubic hair out straight between

my fingers. I held that part of him that Mr. Harvey

had forced inside me.

Meanwhile in the movie, 01:56:18, Susie and Ray just shows a subtle scene where

the viewers visualize this as a puppy love intimacy. After Susie possesses Ruth, Ray
runs over and directly recognizes Susie then proceeds to a short kiss.

The data for this phase is obtained through the use of quotations, scenes,

pages, and timestamps from the two literary works, which are descriptively analyzed

using Viktor Shklovsky's Formalism Theory to determine the structure of the text of

how the novel is similar to and differs from the film in terms of imagery.

The in-between’s description, blooming dead flower, souls ascend, photographs,

and cause of Harvey’s death are the imagery’s similarities, and the murder’s setting,

murder’s process, Ray’s appearance, in-between’s glimpse, Buckley’s drawing,

discarding evidence, Harvey’s house's appearance, other victims' murder, possession's

method, and Susie and Ray’s intimacy are the differences.

As Clark says in the article, A Short Guide to Imagery, Symbolism, and

Figurative Language, that a mythical approach is present to illustrates a poet's or

novelist's thoughts in order to construct a fictitious and imagined world in the

imaginations of the readers.

 Formalists treat literary works as systems with relative parts, concerned only

with the work itself, and believe that the central meaning is only inside the text (Tyson

118). It emphasizes the importance of form and technique over the content and

sought to define literature as a distinct verbal art form. This idea challenges the widely

held belief in critical literary analysis that art should conceal its literary devices by

attempting to consider each work as a separate piece, independent of its context,

age, and even creator

Formalism theory treat literary works with the idea that challenges the belief in a

literary work that art should conceal its literary devices by attempting to consider each

work as a separate piece, independent of its context