Grief

Although the focus of this novel is on how Suzy dealt with the grief she felt after her friend’s death instead of how Suzy felt after Franny’s death, Suzy does move through the five generally accepted stages of grief during the course of the story. These stages include denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptance. It was when Suzy’s mother first told her about Franny’s death that Suzy denied that her friend was dead. She was forceful in her statement that Franny could not have died from drowning because Franny was such a good swimmer. Suzy feels anger during the funeral. She was angry because she could not cry at the funeral but the other kids who had been friends with Franny for such a short period of time were crying about her death. Suzy never really entered a period of bargaining, but...