The Lovely Bones

by

Alice Sebold

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Jack Salmon Character Analysis

Susie’s father Jack delights in his role as a husband and father. Loving to the point of foolishness and at times dedicated to the point of madness, Jack is transformed by his grief in the wake of his daughter’s death, and becomes desperate to solve her murder. After an encounter with George Harvey, during which he unknowingly helps his daughter’s killer construct a ritual bridal tent in Harvey’s backyard—allegedly in remembrance of Harvey’s late wife—Jack realizes that Harvey knows something about Susie’s death, and begins to suspect that he is her murderer. Jack can find no evidence linking Harvey to Susie, however, and his frustration begins to drive him mad. Driven by the encouraging words of his neighbor, Ruana Singh, Jack goes off into the cornfield one night to catch someone he believes to be Harvey, setting out for another kill—but it is just a pair of necking teens, and Jack is beaten badly both physically and psychologically by his failure. Lindsey steps in and attempts to help her father prove that he was always right, and was never crazy, but by the time the police begin to thoroughly investigate a piece of evidence she retrieves from Harvey’s house, it is too late—Harvey has already escaped. Shortly thereafter, Abigail leaves Jack and their children, and Jack must reckon with yet another major loss. In the years that pass Jack grows slow and somewhat debilitated, overwhelmed by his grief and pain. He remains loving and supportive of his children, and even when threatened by a heart attack, he remains a sensitive and engaged parent. Jack, like his son Buckley, feels—rightly—throughout his life that Susie is watching over him and guiding him, and this gives him the strength, even in his darkest moments, to carry on in pursuit of justice for his daughter, his family, and his own fatherly intuition.

Jack Salmon Quotes in The Lovely Bones

The The Lovely Bones quotes below are all either spoken by Jack Salmon or refer to Jack Salmon. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Justice and Injustice Theme Icon
).
Prologue Quotes

Inside the snow globe on my father’s desk, there was a penguin wearing a red-and-white-striped scarf. When I was little my father would pull me into his lap and reach for the snow globe. He would turn it over, letting all the snow collect on the top, then quickly invert it. The two of us watched the snow fall gently around the penguin. The penguin was alone in there, I thought, and I worried for him. When I told my father this, he said, "Don't worry Susie; he has a nice life. He's trapped in a perfect world."

Related Characters: Susie Salmon (speaker), Jack Salmon
Related Symbols: The Snow Globe
Page Number: 3
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 1 Quotes

My murderer was a man from our neighborhood. My mother liked his border flowers, and my father talked to him once about fertilizer. My murderer believed in old-fashioned things like eggshells and coffee grounds, which he said his own mother had used. My father came home smiling, making jokes about how the man's garden might be beautiful but it would stink to high heaven once a heat wave hit.

Related Characters: Susie Salmon (speaker), Jack Salmon, Abigail Salmon, George Harvey
Page Number: 6
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 3 Quotes

The bottles, all of them, lay broken on the floor, the sails and boat bodies strewn among them. He stood in the wreckage. It was then that, without knowing how, I revealed myself. In every piece of glass, in every shard and sliver, I cast my face. My father glanced down and around him, his eyes roving across the room. Wild. It was just for a second, and then I was gone. He was quiet for a moment, and then he laughed—a howl coming up from the bottom of his stomach. He laughed so loud and deep, I shook with it in my heaven.

Related Characters: Susie Salmon (speaker), Jack Salmon
Page Number: 46
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 16 Quotes

My neighbors and teachers, friends and family, circled an arbitrary spot not far from where I'd been killed. My father, sister and brother heard the singing again once they were outside. Everything in my father leaned and pitched toward the warmth and light. 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. I was becoming one of many little-girl-losts. They would go back to their homes and put me to rest, a letter from the past never reopened or reread.

Related Characters: Susie Salmon (speaker), Jack Salmon, Lindsey Salmon, Buckley Salmon
Page Number: 209
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 18 Quotes

Above his bed the clock ticked off the minutes and I thought of the game Lindsey and I had played in the yard together: "he loves me/he loves me not" picked out on a daisy's petals. I could hear the clock casting my own two greatest wishes back to me in this same rhythm: "Die for me/don't die for me, die for me/don't die for me." I could not help myself, it seemed, as I tore at his weakening heart. If he died, I would have him forever. Was this so wrong to want?

Related Characters: Susie Salmon (speaker), Jack Salmon, Lindsey Salmon, Buckley Salmon
Page Number: 258
Explanation and Analysis:
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Jack Salmon Quotes in The Lovely Bones

The The Lovely Bones quotes below are all either spoken by Jack Salmon or refer to Jack Salmon. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Justice and Injustice Theme Icon
).
Prologue Quotes

Inside the snow globe on my father’s desk, there was a penguin wearing a red-and-white-striped scarf. When I was little my father would pull me into his lap and reach for the snow globe. He would turn it over, letting all the snow collect on the top, then quickly invert it. The two of us watched the snow fall gently around the penguin. The penguin was alone in there, I thought, and I worried for him. When I told my father this, he said, "Don't worry Susie; he has a nice life. He's trapped in a perfect world."

Related Characters: Susie Salmon (speaker), Jack Salmon
Related Symbols: The Snow Globe
Page Number: 3
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 1 Quotes

My murderer was a man from our neighborhood. My mother liked his border flowers, and my father talked to him once about fertilizer. My murderer believed in old-fashioned things like eggshells and coffee grounds, which he said his own mother had used. My father came home smiling, making jokes about how the man's garden might be beautiful but it would stink to high heaven once a heat wave hit.

Related Characters: Susie Salmon (speaker), Jack Salmon, Abigail Salmon, George Harvey
Page Number: 6
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 3 Quotes

The bottles, all of them, lay broken on the floor, the sails and boat bodies strewn among them. He stood in the wreckage. It was then that, without knowing how, I revealed myself. In every piece of glass, in every shard and sliver, I cast my face. My father glanced down and around him, his eyes roving across the room. Wild. It was just for a second, and then I was gone. He was quiet for a moment, and then he laughed—a howl coming up from the bottom of his stomach. He laughed so loud and deep, I shook with it in my heaven.

Related Characters: Susie Salmon (speaker), Jack Salmon
Page Number: 46
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 16 Quotes

My neighbors and teachers, friends and family, circled an arbitrary spot not far from where I'd been killed. My father, sister and brother heard the singing again once they were outside. Everything in my father leaned and pitched toward the warmth and light. 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. I was becoming one of many little-girl-losts. They would go back to their homes and put me to rest, a letter from the past never reopened or reread.

Related Characters: Susie Salmon (speaker), Jack Salmon, Lindsey Salmon, Buckley Salmon
Page Number: 209
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 18 Quotes

Above his bed the clock ticked off the minutes and I thought of the game Lindsey and I had played in the yard together: "he loves me/he loves me not" picked out on a daisy's petals. I could hear the clock casting my own two greatest wishes back to me in this same rhythm: "Die for me/don't die for me, die for me/don't die for me." I could not help myself, it seemed, as I tore at his weakening heart. If he died, I would have him forever. Was this so wrong to want?

Related Characters: Susie Salmon (speaker), Jack Salmon, Lindsey Salmon, Buckley Salmon
Page Number: 258
Explanation and Analysis: