What if death was painless to bear? What if people never cared whether they lived or died? The protagonist Susie in Alice Sebold's The Lovely Bones struggles with her unexpected and unfortunate murder while seeking closure and euphoria. King Hamlet in William Shakespeare's Hamlet has also been murdered and aspires to move on, although he can only achieve peace once his murderer is dead. Two stories focus on seeking revenge and facing reality. Susie's family grapples with her murder and tries to find closure by finding out who killed her. King Hamlet's son also struggles to find closure, although Hamlet is given the ultimatum by King Hamlet's ghost to kill his murderer as the only way to move forward. Although both protagonists find themselves in similar situations, their circumstances are slightly different. The characters in these stories encounter various obstacles when they come to experience the actualization of death and learn to manage their emotions. The struggle of trying to accept death as inevitable is clearly developed in both literary works. This is made clear by the unjustified murders of Susie and King Hamlet and their return to the afterlife, as well as the pain faced by those around them and the strenuous search for closure. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Death is one of the most enlightened themes of Shakespeare's Hamlet. Readers first become familiar with the theme of death when they are introduced to the ghost of King Hamlet. Hamlet witnesses his father's ghost; who explains to him what happened after his death. “I am the spirit of your father, condemned for a time to walk by night and for the day confined to fast in the fire until the horrible crimes committed in my natural days are burned and purified” (1.5.14-18). King Hamlet's return from the afterlife to discuss his own murder, this being the origin of the theme of death in Hamlet. Hamlet's father reveals to Hamlet that it was Claudius who killed him. Ultimately, it is the words and actions of King Hamlet's ghost that motivate Hamlet to kill Claudius. Their conversation shows the theme of death and is the main cause of chaos in the sequel of the play. Shortly thereafter, the guards protecting the castle notice a ghost constantly appearing and determine that he resembles King Hamlet. “What, this thing appeared again tonight?” (1.1.26). This explains that King Hamlet's ghost returned from the afterlife; it was not just a figment of Hamlet's imagination. The presence of the ghost is essentially responsible for advancing the plot of the play. Without King Hamlet's return from the afterlife, the multiple deaths that followed would not have occurred. The afterlife shown in Hamlet has great importance in the play and shows real relevance to the way Susie used her role as the "ghost" in The Lovely Bones. The Lovely Bones also focuses on the theme of death. The book is narrated by a deceased girl named Susie, from heaven. The book is based on her sharing the story of her death, making her a character comparable to Hamlet's ghost. Susie is in heaven as she tries to cope and understand her sudden death, similar to Hamlet. “We were given, in our skies, our simplest dreams” (Seabold 18). In The Lovely Bones, it is implied that in the afterlife he continues to live and continues to grow. Susie and King Hamlet use the advantage of being ghosts to find out who killed them and reach their families in different ways. Susie's encounter with the living in The Lovely Bones occurs with her father. They don't talk, but he sees her when she's with thetheir neighbor, Mr. Harvey, Susie's killer. Ultimately, Susie's father now knows the truth about what he did. “But I came to believe that if I looked carefully and wished, I could change the lives of those I loved on Earth” (Seabold 40). The main characters make it clear that they were not ready to leave the earth. They return to the afterlife to help their loved ones and seek revenge on those who harmed them. The return of the protagonists from the afterlife arouses intense emotions both in themselves and in those around them. Each character in Hamlet portrays pain in contrasting ways, including some who are not even affected by what is happening around them. Some people's emotions are illegitimate. Hamlet is extremely emotional because his father has died. He is angry and sad especially because he feels very alone. “Good Hamlet, cast away thy night-colour…” (1.2.68). Gertrude tries to push Hamlet to believe that it is time to move on after his father's death. Gertrude appears to have moved on quite quickly after King Hamlet's death, showing no emotion or grief for her late husband. “You know it is common: all that lives must die…” (1.2.71). It becomes apparent that Gertrude is not mourning her husband's death and has no sympathy for Hamlet. He conveys the impression that he is happy that King Hamlet is dead and that he is moving forward doing what is in his best interest. Claudius, King Hamlet's brother, tries to hide his true emotions throughout the play. He claims to mourn the "death of his dear brothers" (1.2). Claudius plays a role in which he sometimes shows concern for what troubles Hamlet: "What should be, more than his father's death... I cannot dream of" (2.2). Here Claudio reveals how arrogant and deceitful he truly is. In contrast, Ophelia experiences strong emotions after the death of her father Polonius; she goes crazy. Ophelia is weak and can't bear the thought of no longer having a male authority to guide her life. Hamlet's grieving characters are comparable to what Susie's friends and family experienced after her death. Susie's parents' grief seemed endless. They felt they would probably never get over his death, and it was one of the most tragic experiences of their lives. The Lovely Bones builds its plot through each character's grief. Susie, the deceased, along with her friends and family, are all suffering from her traumatic death. In the novel they learn to deal with these circumstances. Susie's father shows his pain as he cannot find peace after his daughter's murder, until her killer is caught. “Susie is dead,” he said now, unable to fit it into the rules of any game” (Seabold 138). It becomes apparent that explaining Susie's death to her younger brother is her father's way of admitting the problem and forcing himself to move on Susie's sister, Abigail, understands that this is a time of mourning for her family and worries about returning home late because she does not want to deepen her parents' concern. This broadens the severity of Susie's death and how which affected her family. “We ran home for you, Mr. Salmon” (Seabold 80) shows her consideration for how everyone feels, which is why she ran home shaken her parents so much that they are now afraid of losing their other children. Her loved ones are emotionally torn apart as everyone is very fragile and broken. Mr. Harvey, Susie's murderer can be compared to Hamlet's Claudius vain, selfish and desire power and control. They are both evil characters who fake their pain. They simply pretend to be affected by the loss ofHamlet and Susie. When Mr. Harvey says "I'm sorry for your loss" (Seabold 42), he is clearly sincere as his and Claudius' words have no meaning or truth in them as they are extremely skilled liars. The pain in both works was a very unfortunate series of events that each victim's family had to face. These emotions could have been avoided without the unjust murders of both King Hamlet and Susie. King Hamlet's murder was completely unjustified. The experience of such a betrayal by his brother is shocking. King Hamlet's murder proved unfair to both him and his son. It destroyed Hamlet's self-esteem the most. “To be or not to be – that is the question: whether it is nobler in the mind to suffer the blows and arrows of outrageous fortune, or to take up arms against a sea of ​​troubles and, resisting, put an end to them” (3.1. 64-68 ). Hamlet, feeling so bad, begins to question life itself and its initial purpose. He is in a very confused, frustrated and sad state of mind. He understands that it is unfair, yet he realizes that death is inevitable. Everyone's day will come. “Not at all, let's defy the omen. There is a special providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it's now, it won't happen; if it doesn't come, it will happen now; if it is not now, yet it will come. Readiness is everything. Since no one knows what he leaves behind, what does leaving early mean? Leave it alone” (5.2.233-238). Hamlet has difficulty dealing with his father's death and enters a state of deep depression. Although murder is always unjustifiable, it is easier to find the reason and motive for King Hamlet's murder than Susie's. Hamlet's power and authority were sought, placing a target on his back. Susie's murder, however, cannot be explained except as an act of pure evil. Overall, Susie was angry about being killed. She wished she was still alive. His killer was evil and selfish, and it's sad that he had to suffer the consequences. Susie's murder was completely irrational as she was attacked for no reason. Her death was gruesome as she was beaten and raped by a much stronger and more barbaric individual. She took something very special and sacred to her and turned it into something terrifying. “I kept the part of him that Mr. Harvey forced into me. Inside my head I said the word kind, and then I said the word man. (Seabold 128). Susie explains how scared she was and how disgusting and disappointing it was to see her perspective on intimacy changed. Susie's murder is too unfair for her family. They had to endure great suffering and struggle for no reason. Susie's killer had absolutely no motive. “...And they had never understood, like now, what the word horror meant.” (Seabold 46). Susie's family could never truly understand what the horror meant or felt like until they lost their daughter. They are broken in more ways than one. Their recovery was a long and exhausting process. Susie and King Hamlet were killed solely because of the evil purposes and desires of two other individuals. It is for this reason that both Hamlet and Susie are so strongly committed to making their murderers feel the same pain as them. They have a strong desire for their killers to be killed too. King Hamlet asks his son to kill his murderer so that he can move forward and face his death. The ghost is angry at the unfortunate circumstances of his situation and seeks revenge. He felt very betrayed by his brother, who stole his throne and wife. “Oh horrible, oh horrible, most horrible! If you have nature in you, don't bear it. That the royal bed of Denmark does not.