Grief and Loss

The tribulations of grief and loss are central to the narrative in the wake of the plane crash, and the novel specifically illustrates grief as a process affected both by isolation and community. Edward’s process of grieving his family is simultaneously a personal process and a process that is shaped by the people around him. For example, when Edward finds the letters written to him by relatives of people who died on the plane, Edward feels an odd sense of comfort from these letters. The narration states, “The darkness inside hum has taken on a new shade; there’s a richness to it…He hasn’t experienced this feeling since his family died, and it’s accompanied by an explosion of relief…It has to be the letters; nothing else has changed” (238). Edward apparently feels a sense of comfort in knowing that he...