Interplay Between Overt Plot And Covert Progression:the Initiation Of Character Susie In Alice Sebold’s The Lovely Bones

This thesis applies James Phelan’s theory of narrative progression and Shen Dan’s covert progression to the reading of Alice Sebold’s The Lovely Bones in order to sort out the covert progression about Susie’s initiation,and to elaborate that the interplay between the overt plot motivated by Susie’s death and the covert progression centering on Susie’s growth path deepens the theme of love and the theme of growth through trauma.In the overt plot,the instabilities emerge due to Susie’s death,and develop and end with the process of the Salmons’ trauma and recovery.In this process,Susie is depicted as a passive and dependent character who can do nothing but watch everything happening.By contrast,in the covert progression,the development of instabilities is closely related to Susie’s initiation.Susie gradually accepts her special existence as a memory of her family and returns to the heaven to which she really belongs with the dead ones.By expounding the interplay between the overt plot and the covert progression,this thesis reaches the conclusion that this novel presents a more complex and thoughtful Susie and conveys the message that everyone may move forward and grow up out of trauma with the help of love.Chapter one briefly introduces the author Alice Sebold and her novel in question.Then it reviews relevant literature both at home and abroad.Lastly,this chapter explains the theoretical framework and the significance of this study.Chapter two traces the overt plot,which is the death of Susie and the disintegration and reunion of the Salmons.This chapter explores development of instabilities that emerge in the beginning due to Susie’s death of the progression and complicate in the middle due to the Salmons’ various reactions toward the loss of Susie,and also elaborates the ending which brings about the resolution of some instabilities.In this process,Susie hides behind her narration and plays the role of the camera-like focalizer and narrator.In this process,she has no subjective initiative and can only passively observe the activities of other characters.Chapter three focuses on the covert progression,identifying the undercurrent which presents the protagonist Susie’s initiation process,namely departurechange-return.This chapter argues that there exists a covert progression along with the overt plot,and that this covert progression foregrounds Susie’s role as a character and reveals her growth.Chapter four focuses on the effects achieved by the interplay of the dual textual progressions.It discusses the authorial audience’s different interpretive and ethical judgments about Susie’s character and personality in the dual textual progressions.Based on these judgments,this chapter also discusses the authorial audience’s aesthetic judgments about the overall narrative.This chapter finds that the complementary relationship between the dual textual dynamics invites the authorial audience to participate fully in the narrative and to experience amply the enjoyment of reading through constant enrichment of narrative judgments.Chapter five concludes that the interplay between the plot development and the covert progression makes the novel produce two different themes and makes the characterizations of Susie in dual progressions complement each other.This thesis reveals that both the Salmons’ confidence to recover from the bereavement and Susie’s courage to grow after traumatic violence get their nutrients from the support from family members who love and understand each other even though each of them is of merits and flaws.With the help of love,the Salmons,including Susie,can restore the psychological balance and gain true balm against the painful bereavement and the despicable violence they have suffered,and thus continue a new life.