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Sunday, July 10, 2011
"The Lovely Bones" by Alice Sebold, Chapter 4
Throughout the fourth chapter, George Harvey is shown to be a ruthless, methodical killer. He has obviously done so before, as evidenced by his knowing exactly what to do to clean up and leave very few clues (and circumstantial ones at that). After successfully disposing of Susie's body, Harvey is at home and decides to construct a bridal tent modeled after something he read in National Geographic. He does this outside in his yard, and is discovered by Susie's father, Jack. He invites Jack to assist him and behaves in a completely benign and innocuous manner. Jack, however, begins to suspect Harvey knows something and confronts him; Harvey dodges his questions, but the seed of doubt is sown.
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Harvey fits the profile of a serial killer to a T, though I don't know how much profiling was done in the 70s, when the story is set. He is very careful not to arouse the suspicion of his neighbors, and to even help them believe that he is an odd though harmless character. It allows them to dismiss many things that would otherwise raise red flags. What do you think about Jack's suspicion of Harvey after a relatively short amount of time in his company?
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