sebolds proficient use of literary devices in the lovely bones is especially prominent in the example of symbolism, hed given her half a heart. it was gold and from inside his hukapoo shirt, he pulled out the other side. it hung around his neck on a rawhide cord (sebold, 2002, p. 71). sebold cleverly utilizes the broken heart necklace to symbolize the effects of susies death on lindsey salmon. the half of a heart is a representation of lindseys heart, broken after being imposed with the permanent blemish of her sister susies death. sebold makes the artistic decision to give samuel the other half of the heart. the conjoining of lindseys half of a heart with samuels half of a heart exemplifies two things: one, how samuel heckler hopes to earnestly keep her intact through mending her broken heart, and two, how lindsey hopes to escape her brokenness by finding solace in him. this symbol altogether manages to showcase one of the most beautiful components in the entirety of this novel: samuel and lindseys everlasting love, as he manages to successfully piece together the brokenness in lindseys heart and allow her heart to, at the end of the novel, mirror its former, pristine self.