Summary
Susie begins the chapter by reminiscing about skipping class with Ray, who had a crush on her; Ruth then joins them when having trouble with her art class. Each of them visit the cornfield to think about their connections with her and wonder about the possibility of her being in heaven. Jack visits Ruana to talk about Jack’s suspicions about Ray. Len visits the Salmon’s to talk about the case so far and his visit to Ray. He also reveals to Abigail that he is a widower and stresses her to believe that Susie’s killer will eventually be caught.
Narrative structure: the use of flashbacks in the novel (AO1, AO2)
Susie allows us access to important moments from her life via flashbacks, some are quite lengthy in this chapter. The flashback of them skipping class as a way of developing audience understanding of Ray and Ruth. Susie has aspects of both a homodiegetic and heterodiegetic narrator but homodiegetic qualities are seen more as she relates her own story from the perspective of how the events unfolded in real time. She blends her youthful impressions at the time with reflections from the time after her death. Ruth is significant in this chapter as the flashbacks are linked to her growing connection with Susie after her death. Susie can easily move her narrative from being a participant in events on earth to events in which she cannot directly connect with. This chapter relates to the time in the novel where Susie, Ruth and Ray are all in the same space; Ruth and Ray continue to have significance to Susie and Susie’s memory on earth.
Characterisation: colloquial language and sociolect (AO1, AO2, AO3)
Susie can reach beyond the age she was at her death and use language accordingly but during flashbacks she often moves back into the sociolect of her youth. She uses a lexical field of junior high school (AO1) and common nouns that relate to her everyday life. This grounds Susie’s memories in a specific time and place, lending her character believability and a sense of realism (AO2). Susie indicates through her language that she understands the slang of the day, such as the common noun ‘stoner’.
Why was Ray Singh skipping class?
He skips class because he feels as though he has nothing left to learn because he is so clever and because he has a crush on Susie and wants to spend more time with her.
How does Susie know she was uncomfortable with rule breaking?
She feels guilty and out of character.
