The Lovely Bones Chapter 3 Quotes
How we cite the quotes:
Citations follow this format: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote 1
He christened the walls and wooden chair with the news of my death, and afterwards he stood in the guest room/den surrounded by green glass. (3.64)
Here Jack is shattering the ships in the bottles that Susie used to help him complete. His anger is an expression of his love, and he is afterwards able to see Susie's projected image in the glass.
Quote 2
He nodded and kissed my father's cheek. Something so divine that no one up in heaven could have made it up; the care a child took with an adult. (3.70)
This tender moment occurs just days after Susie's death. Throughout the novel, father and son are there for each other, though they have a few rough patches.
Quote 3
It was then that, without knowing how, I revealed myself. In every piece of glass, in every shard and sliver, I cast my face. (3.64)
After smashing up the ships in bottles, Jack gets to see Susie's face. It's then that he figures out that Mr. Harvey is her killer.
Quote 4
It was my first machine, my starter kit to becoming what I wanted to be. A wildlife photographer. (3.42)
Susie's first machine, her camera, also becomes a time machine, or the pictures she takes become one. The photos she leaves behind reanimate things that happened long ago -- so long as they exist and there is someone to look at them.
Quote 5
"I was crossing through the faculty parking lot, and suddenly, down, out of the soccer field, I saw a pale ghost running toward me." (3.5)
When Ruth tells her mom this, she isn't sure she wasn't dreaming. But, she soon faces the fact that Susie did indeed touch her on the way out. And when you're touched by a ghost, you better take it seriously.