The Sweet Hereafter

The title of the novel suggests that death, in whatever form, brings a kind of sweetness. The survivors of the accident live in some version of the “sweet hereafter” that is similar to purgatory, a kind of quasi-death. The novel suggests, in various ways, that death is a form of release or escape from the uncertainty and grief of life. Ansel repeatedly wishes that he could join his wife, Lydia, and children in death. The title can also be taken to mean that the kind of death experienced by Nichole and Dolores, a living death, has sweetness too, perhaps in the form of a real and honest relationship to responsibility for one’s own life. This experience and knowledge alienates Nichole, Dolores, and Ansel from everyone else, but it also brings them out of denial and into a closer, truer understanding of grief and death.

The lawsuit appears to represent the amalgamation of the parents’ misdirected efforts to take action, apportion blame, and reach closure. Several characters, including Nichole, Abbott, and Ansel push back against and reject the lawsuit. These characters contend that no one is necessarily to blame for the accident. Ansel further asserts that the lawsuit will not give anyone peace or closure.