Essay on Death in Gabrielle Zevin´s Elsewhere - 902 Words

We must all cope with life and whatever comes after it. In Gabrielle Zevin’s novel, Elsewhere, the characters must accept death and move on with their lives. A fifteen year old girl named Liz is hit by a car, on her way to the mall and dies. Liz’s loved ones; Liz’s brother Alvy and Liz’s best friend Zooey try to deal with Liz’s death. Alvy uses prop jokes to cheer himself and his parents, while Zooey can’t forget about the fact that, if she hadn’t called Liz to the mall, Liz would still be alive. Meanwhile, Liz finds herself in Elsewhere, a place where the dead go and age backwards until they are a baby, then are sent back to Earth. Liz regrets the fact that she died young and never go to do adult things, such as getting her driver’s†¦show more content†¦And I am dead. This does her no good, and it does me no good either† (Zevin 357). This illustrates that Owen realizes that he is dead, and his attempts to reunite does his wife and him any good. As a result, Owen must cope with the fact that he is dead and must move on with his life because more harm than good will come of it. Likewise, Liz’s close ones must cope with the fact that Liz is dead and thers is nothing they can do to change that. For example when Liz’s brother Alvy tries to amuse his family with prop jokes: â€Å"he carries an old wicker Easter basket in his mouth†¦I’m a basket case, get it†¦Liz’s father takes the basket †¦we all miss Lizzie, but that’s really no way to honor your sister.† (Zevin 109) In effect, Alvy attempts to help himself and his family cope with the loss of a family member, Liz. Furthermore, Liz’s beat friend Zooey blames herself for the Liz’s death. This is shown during Zooey’s conversation on the phone, â€Å"I mean, if he hadn’t asked me to the prom, I wouldn’t have told Liz to meet me at the mall, and she wouldn’t be†¦ [dead]† (Zevin 192) and during school, Zooey â€Å"speaks regularly about [Liz] with Edward, Liz’s ex-boyfriend† (Zevin 198). In a way, when Zooey grief about Liz’s death, by talking about her regularly, and blaming herself for Liz’s death; it is her way of coping with life. Ultimately, the people who were dear to Liz must cope with her passing, in any