The Sweet Hereafter Chapter Summary & Analysis | Chapter 1

Chapter 1 Summary

This story is told from the perspectives of four different narrators. The first chapter belongs to Dolores Driscoll who begins by telling us that she thought it was a dog that she saw on the road on that fateful morning. Sometimes when it is snowing and drifting, you can see some optical illusions but she is sure it was a dog. Anyway, she always acted as if things were real, even if they were not. At least, then, you would err on the side of the angels.

Dolores has been a school bus driver in the town of Sam Dent, New York, for 22 years. This particular morning is no different from other bitterly cold mornings she has seen. Seventeen below and they are calling for more snow, she tells her invalid husband, Abbott, and then heads out to the barn to ready her bus in the early morning hour.