Concept Analysis
Literary text: Elsewhere by Gabrielle Zevin (Square Fish: 2005 ed.)
Summary:
Liz wakes up on a boat not knowing where she is but has an
eerie feeling that things are not the same as before. It takes Liz
a while to realize that she is dead and on her way to a place
called Elsewhere, where the dead live their life backwards until
they are sent back to earth as a newborn. When Liz finds
herself dead at fifteen it drives Liz into a mild depression and
anger. She tries to find things on Elsewhere that will give her
purpose like contacting her family or constantly watching them
at the Elsewhere observation decks that allows the dead to
view others on earth. She finally discovers that none of that
really makes her happy, and so she tries to fit into her new
world by embracing the people there and taking a job as a dog counselor. Just when things are
getting better and she is falling in love with Owen, his beloved wife dies and Liz is thrown back
into her search for meaning and happiness. Eventually Liz does find happiness and belonging
she forgives the man who hit her and learns that happiness is what you make it.
Organizational Patterns:
Elsewhere is divided into three parts and thirty-two chapters. The chapters average about ten
pages. Whereas the first and last parts are small and the second comprises most of the book. The
first part is the introduction into Liz’s afterlife it is titles “The Nile” after the large ship that takes
all the dead from Earth to Elsewhere. In a way this closes Liz’s previous life and opens her new
one. Part two is the main part of the book; it describes the struggles that Liz faces in Elsewhere
and how she finds happiness. Part three is the conclusion, like the beginning it closes her life in
Elsewhere and briefly opens her new life on Earth.
Issues related to Literature
Theme:
Happiness is within us
Elsewhere focuses on, how even in horrible
situation such as dying young and being completely
stuck, people can still find happiness. When Liz
dies everything she has ever wanted is stripped
from her, she never gets to drive, go to college or
get married. She never gets to speak with her family
again and she is expected to find a family among
people she doesn’t know and doesn’t really like at
first. But her poor attitude doesn’t help her find
belonging or purpose. Liz finds that happiness is
something inside of us, and after that she decides to
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accept her life and be happy. Liz discovers that happiness is not something that happens to us it
is something that we must find for ourselves.
It does no good to dwell on the past
Throughout Elsewhere, we encounter characters who are tied to their past. They may believe
that it is good, or it is helping them find closure but in the end it is torturing them and their
family on earth. Owen, Liz’s friend, believes how he views his wife is healthy and allows both of
them to move on; but in the end he realizes that he needs to move on with his life and let his wife
do the same. At the beginning of the book when Liz first goes to the observation deck (OD) she
finds people crying about their own death. She is told by the desk lady that some people are in
love with their own grief. The author comments about this issue by showing how moving on we
find purpose and happiness. Otherwise people are stuck and can’t move on to find something
better.
Love know no bounds
Due to the funny aging process in Elsewhere, couples of all
different ages continue to form. Liz meets a man who died at
twenty-six whom she begins to fall in love with. Her grandma
Betty eventually marries Liz’s friend Curtis, who died at
thirty, whereas Betty died at fifty. Usually people continue to
feel the same age they died at, so forming a relationship can be
awkward at times because of age difference. Still, people fall
in love despite their ages. Although a lesser theme, the author
emphasizes that love really knows no bounds and or age
discrepancies. Even if people are from a different time or
place, they can still fall in love.
People change:
Along with the theme of happiness, Elsewhere displays that people can change in ways we want
or don’t want. Liz changed into a happy person, someone who can accept
the life she is given and find the best in it. She is no longer a sulking
teenager, who is desperately trying to hold on to her old life. Instead she
loves her life, her friends and she learns that any life she is given, even a
backwards one, is worth living, and finding out the ending. Curtis Jest is
another example of change. He is former rock star, who killed himself.
Curtis had a raucous lifestyle on Earth but when he died he decided to
become someone different, and move away from that kind of lifestyle. He
became a peaceful fisherman, who helped direct fish back to earth. Owen
Welles also displays the theme of change. Like Liz, when he first came to Elsewhere he hated his
death. He tried to hold on by contacting his wife and delaying moving on with his life in
Elsewhere. By the time he meets Liz, he has reigned himself in and allowed himself to see his
wife only once a week. He moves on. His change completes when his wife dies and come to
Elsewhere, they discover they don’t really love each other the same way and so they decide to
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split. Through characters actions the author comments about how people change over time but it
doesn’t mean it’s a bad thing.
Setting:
The setting of Elsewhere is unique because, it
somewhat depicts the heavenly paradise that
awaits the dead on the other side. Elsewhere
and Earth are very similar, except that
Elsewhere is indefinitely large and the climate
is similar to coastal California, making it not
too hot or too cold. The two are separated by a
huge ocean and the dead are ferried to
Elsewhere on a cruise ship. When the dead
become babies again they are sent on the same
ocean through a current, which takes them back
to earth to be reborn. Elsewhere has buildings
designed by famous dead architects, an ocean front and to those who embrace it, their death
becomes a paradise. Elsewhere is basically a model of the Earth with people living in normal
houses and apartments; they drive on roads, take care of gardens, and fish. The style of
neighborhoods suggests that it most closely resembles America but there are too few exact
descriptions of buildings and layout to determine this. It would seem to anyone who is dead like
a normal earth suburb or city, and so most of the residents in Elsewhere feel right at home once
they accept their death.
Conflict:
Internal: When Liz first arrives on Elsewhere she has just come to the realization that she really
is dead and there is no way of getting out of it. She struggles with this fact because she was only
fifteen and will miss out on a huge portion of her life. When she is asked if she was happy on
earth she decides that all in all she was happy and misses her old life. This makes her begin to
regret dying. She tries to find any way to hold on to her old life. This only makes Liz miserable
and anxious. She tries to hold on by going to the observation deck (OD) to see her family and
friends and delay getting on with her own life. She searches Boston from the observation deck
(OD) to find her murderer. Then she makes drastic plans to contact her family in order to tell
them the name of the man who hit her. Finally, when Liz is about to make contact, Betty foils
the plan and convinces her that she is engaging in destructive behavior and won’t find any
happiness this way. Liz fails to move on until she is shown love and true caring from her
grandma Betty. She struggles to find her true happiness until she is shown that her life can be
good on Elsewhere.
Another internal conflict that Liz faces is in regards to her feelings about Owen Welles. She falls
in love with Owen but is thrown back into her search for happiness when Owen’s wife, Emily,
comes to Elsewhere. Owen tries to rekindle his love for Emily and shows absolute loyalty to her
by shoving Liz out of the picture, even though he had started to fall for her too. Liz decides to
exercise the “sneaker clause” and go back to earth early, but when she is floating down the river
she wants to find out the end of her story in Elsewhere and eventually makes it back. Liz’s initial
struggle is that she can’t find a reason to live her life backwards in Elsewhere. When she makes
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drastic decisions she is always shown that she does have something to live for in Elsewhere, and
decides that she is happy to be there.
Point of View:
The story is told mostly from Elizabeth Hall’s perspective; although,
portions of book are told from the perspective of Owen Welles, and the
epilogue is told by Lucy, Liz’s dog. Each of these perspectives is told
in a third person narrative voice. It is interesting because each of the
characters have a similar story to tell; they have lost someone or
something that means the world to them. For Elizabeth, it is simply
her life. She died so young and didn’t get the chance to do anything
she had dreamed of. Her story is told in a less emotional way. It is
sad that she is dead but she is the only one who is making it worse by
not moving on. Liz’s narration is not very sympathetic until she embraces Elsewhere and has
become the happy person she should be. It gives the reader,a look into how a teenager
would feel if they died unexpectedly. Owen’s narration is sympathetic and tells of his
sad separation from his wife and her tough transition into Elsewhere. This perspective
details another person’s journey to find happiness in Elsewhere; it conveys the idea that
many people struggle when they first die, especially if they are young. By explaining
Owen’s point of view the reader can understand his character better and feel
sympathetic when he is loyal to his wife instead of Liz. The last perspective the book
takes is Lucy the pug, who had been Liz’s dog on Earth. Lucy is a sweet dog who
loved Liz dearly and feels it deeply when she dies. Lucy explains how Liz’s family reacts to her
death, because Lucy is around it and feeling the grief in the home. This explains mourning to the
reader and helps he/she to understand a little of why Liz reacts negatively when she dies. By
using plural third person narrative this book gives readers a better understanding of characters
and allows them to see why characters react in a certain way.
Affective issues: Elsewhere deals with more than death. It emphasizes that people can become
in love with their sadness or grief. To some it seems safer to hold on to something than to move
on to something unknown. This can affect students by showing them the importance of moving
forward with our lives. It is hard at first to see this idea in Elsewhere, because the novelty of
dying is so prevalent, but the book is trying to emphasize that we really can’t find happiness in
the future by holding on to something that made us happy in the past. Liz shows readers this by
trying to hold to her old life, instead of embracing her new one. Students can relate to this
because adolescence is usually a time of change. Students still want to be young or feel
comfortable in their bodies and still live old lives; they are afraid to face what might await them
if they embrace the changes. Liz is a great example of how eventually you have to accept the
changes, and once you do you can find happiness even if it is hard.
Vocabulary issues:
The vocabulary of Elsewhere is relatively simple and students will not need
extensive vocabulary preparation. Some of the words in the book come from a
more developed vocabulary but the words are not numerous and do not hinder
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student’s reading. Some of these words would be defiantly page 4, erratic page 5, intricately page
9, and pygmy page 15. There are words that are specific to Elsewhere such as avocation,
Observation Decks, sneaker clause, acclimation etc. Students will need to pick up on context to
fully understand what these words mean, but the book describes most of these and students
should pick up on them easily. Many of the words used in Elsewhere could add to student’s
vocabulary knowledge.
Background Knowledge:
The premise of Elsewhere is fairly similar to most student’s lives. The events and characters are
familiar to students, and so they shouldn’t have much issue understanding the story. What
students may need in regards to background knowledge is an activity helping them to connect
and empathize with the emotions felt by the characters about dying. Since none of the students
have ever died, they may not understand that they don’t need to experience death to connect with
what the characters are feeling. Students may not recognize that Liz’s death is representative of
any kind of big trial that a person faces in life. It would be helpful to discuss trials in life and the
emotions one feels when faced with hardship. This could help students understand more fully
why Liz reacts this way to her environment and why she has such a hard time moving forward.
Another aspect of this would be helping students realize the loss a teenager would feel if they
died so suddenly. Throughout the book, Liz expresses her regret for not getting the chance to
finish her life on earth. Students may have difficulty fully understanding her regret and trying to
connect with her feelings about this. An activity to help students connect could provide students
with real world examples of teen death and the emotions that surrounded it. This makes the story
more real and expresses to students that there are teenagers out there just like them who died and
will never get the chance to go to prom, drive, or graduate.
One last bit of background knowledge that could make Elsewhere
more engaging to students is information about afterlife beliefs or
myths. Elsewhere often makes jokes about heaven, “up there,” or
other nicknames for the afterlife, so it would be helpful for students to
know some afterlife information to relate to these comments.
Elsewhere is by no means religious. It only mentions God once and
says nothing about existence. Elsewhere is not meant to be a
commentary about the afterlife. Instead it is about grief, trials, and moving on.
Student Diversity:
Elsewhere is where every person on earth goes after they die so it is a very diverse place
although the characters focused on lack diversity. There are three main characters that represent
diversity in Elsewhere. The first is Thandi Washington a black girl from Washington D.C.
Thandi grew up in a rough neighborhood where she was shot by a stray bullet in the end killing
her instantly. She is not accustomed to Liz’s nice suburban lifestyle where people don’t have to
look out for themselves. She is a vibrant African American girl with beautifully beaded
cornrows, and talks slightly differently than Liz. Although Liz and Thandi grew up in different
backgrounds they still are friends, which helps to support a theme of Elsewhere that everyone
should be loved.
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Curtis Jest is another example of diversity. He was an English rock star on earth and lived a
troubled life very different from Liz or student readers. He displays his differences by showing
Liz his nasty scars and talking about his raucous lifestyle. How character is accepted also shows
that it doesn’t matter who a person was on earth or what they did people still deserve acceptance
and friendship.
The last diverse character is Amadou Bonamy, the cab driver who hit Liz and drove off.
Amadou is from Haiti, and speaks with an accent. Amadou had major cultural differences and
was held back from achieving the same kind of life other character like Liz had. This explains
part of the reason why he drove off after hitting Liz; if he had stayed he would have lost his cab
and the opportunity to better himself in America. Liz accepts this fact and forgives him.
Elsewhere emphasizes acceptance, and the fact that deep down we are all the same.
Gender Issues:
Elsewhere doesn’t talk extensively about gender issues but does explain a little about Liz and her
feelings about never fully becoming a woman. When Liz died she was only fifteen and barely
starting puberty. A lot of the things Liz feels she will miss out on have to do with her gender and
exploring her sexuality. Some of these things are “get[ing] big boobs,” (51) feeling love from
someone else and developing into what she believes is a real woman. When she sees her parents
from the OD having sex, she is disgusted and vows to never have sex or at least not for a very
long time. (95) But later, when Liz is reclaiming some of her lost teenage years by falling in love
with Owen, she mentions “making it to the back seat,” showing that Liz is still interested in
developing as a female.
Can we really find happiness in a horrible situation?
Liz is internally asking herself if it is possible to find happiness in difficult circumstances
throughout the book, until the end when she finally decides that she can. At the beginning Liz
refuses to accept that she is actually dead, because it seems easier to think it’s all a dream instead
of accepting that she is dead, gone from all her family and friends, and everything familiar.
Elsewhere is horrible to some, because everything has been ripped from them and they can’t
accept good things around them. At first Elsewhere is like a prison to Liz; it is a place that keeps
her from everything good. Liz finally accepts that happiness is a choice and it isn’t what happens
to you that makes you truly happy. Even while in Elsewhere, some devastating things happen to
Liz and she is thrown back into her depression but when she finds the goodness all around her
she decides that she really is happy in Elsewhere.
Deep down everyone is the same.
Elsewhere is the great equalizer. Everyone dies and so when people arrive in Elsewhere it is
easier to accept new people. Another thing that Elsewhere does is to allow people to understand
others’ circumstances. For example When Liz meets Amadou after he has died, he explains why
he drove off after hitting her. He told her that he felt horrible his whole life, but he did it because
he couldn’t think of any other way to save his family from the poverty they would return to in
Haiti. Liz understands that he had a reason and it wasn’t a bad one, he was just scared and cared
about his family. Curtis Jest also exemplifies this idea, because he lived a troubled life, but in
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Elsewhere he just wanted peace. He never really wanted the lifestyle of the rock star but he got
caught up in it. In the end everyone makes bad decisions because sometimes they don’t know
what to do or how to get out of it. But everyone wants love, family, and friendship.
It’s the good people in our lives that can bring happiness.
One thing that anchors Liz to Elsewhere is the people around her. Without the friendship and
family she feels in Elsewhere Liz would be completely lost. Also, she doesn’t find true, lasting
happiness until she embraces all of her friends and family. Other characters are good examples of
this such as Betty and Owen. They find their lasting happiness in the people they love. They live
out their days in happiness because of these people.
Project Ideas:
Understanding Death
In Elsewhere characters have to learn to get over death just like people who are still living.
Students could pick a few lengthy obituaries that give details about the
person’s life and accomplishments. After reviewing and annotating the
obituaries students could reflect on what many people put in as
accomplishments and what seemed to be the most important to the people
who died and who wrote the obituary. Students will then connect the
information to Liz and Elsewhere and write an obituary for any character but
instead of it reflecting their life on earth it will reflect their life in Elsewhere.
This way students can draw parallels between the important things in life and
death.
Tracking Happiness
Liz’s happiness changes throughout the novel. It is important for students to
understand the journey Liz took to find her happiness. To do this, students
will find quotes that reflect Liz’s transformation and pair these quotes with
musical tracks they feel fit the tone and feeling of the quote. After they have
done this, students will prepare a play list either through emailing or on a
CD that has each song. Student can also create links to YouTube videos of
the song. The playlist will list the song and artist and include an appropriate
quote from the book. For each quote and song students will have an
explanation as to why they go together and provide some analysis on this.
Biography Poems:
Each character in Elsewhere deals with something difficult in their prior lives, and often times
their death has something significant to do with it. Students will pick three characters they like
and feel they can describe well. Then the students will take each of these characters and explain
them through a biography poem. After this, students will write a reflection piece about how they
learned more about the characters as they wrote the poem and what they realized about the
character. Students could possibly apply this to real life by then writing a bio-poem about
themselves or someone they are close to.
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Text Sets:
Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbit
Green Angel by Alice Hoffman
Aquamarine by Alice Hoffman
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