The Lovely Bones Chapter 2 Quotes
How we cite the quotes:
Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote 1
We had been given, in our heavens, our simplest dreams. (2.17)
The Lovely Bones strongly suggests that when we go to the afterlife, we bring along all our Earthly traits, and we continue to grow and change after we die.
Quote 2
"I could not have what I wanted most: Mr. Harvey dead and me living. Heaven wasn't perfect." (2.39)
Susie isn't in to the whole death thing whatsoever when she first gets to heaven, but she gets used to it one she's realizes how cool it is.
Quote 3
"It was an elbow. The Gilbert's dog found it." (2.70)
We don't know exactly how they knew this was Susie's elbow, or what shape it was in when they found it. It comes to symbolize Susie's death and to stand in for the rest of her bones, which are never found.
Quote 4
But when they held up the evidence bag with my hat in it, something broke in her. The fine wall of leaden crystal that had protected her heart […] shattered. (2.115)
For some reason, the saliva-covered hat, which Mr. Harvey uses to gag Susie, is what convinces Abigail that Susie is dead. Why is this more convincing to Abigail than the elbow? Well, because she recognizes it. She made it. It's a psychological thing.
Quote 5
"All evidence points to your daughter's death. I'm very sorry." (2.131)
Some of the worst words a parent can hear.
Quote 6
My mother had been the one who knew the meaning of every charm on my bracelet – where we had gotten it and why I like it. She made a meticulous list of what I'd carried and worn. (2.47)
This intimate knowledge of the details of her daughter makes us feel Abigail's love for Susie. It also pleases Susie to no end, because she's in the phase of her ghosthood where being remembered and talking about is very important.
Quote 7
Yes, he had written Susie Salmon a love note. Yes, he had put it in her notebook […]. (2.100)
What a bitter pill! Susie doesn't even get to read her very first love note before she dies.
Quote 8
But I came to believe that if I watched closely, and desired, I might change the lives of those I loved on Earth. (2.39)
Much of Susie's earthly interactions are fairly subtle. She does lots of showing herself to people in glass, and she blows out a candle and maybe drops an icicle here and there. When she goes into Ruth's body and makes love with Ray, she's taking it to the next level.
Quote 9
And they had never understood, as they did now, what the word horror meant. (2.45)
As a family, the Salmons were very innocent to the evils of the world. They viewed their suburban neighborhood as a safe place, where those with bad intentions can't enter.
Quote 10
That was when we went to a part of heaven we didn't share. I missed her then, but it was an odd sort of missing because we knew the meaning of forever. (2.38)
She's talking about Holly, who remains a minor character. We like the quote because it challenges us to reflect on the nature of time, whether we agree with Susie's rather broadly painted conception of it.
Quote 11
I could not have what I wanted most. Mr. Harvey dead and me living. Heaven wasn't perfect. (2.39)
Susie does get both wishes, the first one for all eternity; the second for that time in the arms of Ray.
Quote 12
"Nothing is ever certain," Len Fenerman said. (2.43)
That was the line my father said to my mother, "Nothing is ever certain." (2.44)
Len's phrase is comforting at first, but hollow and even cruel eight years later, when he brings them Susie's charm. It also shows his desire to maintain order in the chaos.