The Lovely Bones

What is the point of the snapshots chapter?

Why isn't the chapter numbered? Is Susie's Obsession with photos Significant?

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In Snapshots, characters continue to survive their grief and their guilt over losing Susie. Len keeps all of the evidence from Susie’s case in a “safety box”—a parallel to the safe that Susie is in in the sinkhole. Len continues to feel guilty, but he is also able to let go of the dead, shown in his writing “gone” on the backs of all of the pictures of unsolved cases. Buckley builds a fort for Susie, furthering the theme of construction because he is building anew after Susie is gone. Buckley also takes up gardening, showing his growth symbolically. Lynn comes to live with the family and sleeps in Susie’s old room—by putting a new occupant in Susie’s room, Jack shows he is beginning to accept that she is not coming back. Ruth and Ray both move off to new places, away from the town, but Susie still comes to their minds on occasion. On Abigail’s trip to California, she remembers the song sung on New Year’s Eve the time when the whole family celebrated together. The lyrics “old acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind” are representative of leaving behind the old and bringing in the new, which is what happens at New Year's. The same is happening now for Susie’s family and friends and Len.

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http://www.gradesaver.com/the-lovely-bones/study-guide/section5/