The Sweet Hereafter

The novel’s Epigraph, by Emily Dickenson, is as follows:

By homely gift and hindered Words

The human heart is told

Of Nothing —

“Nothing” is the force

That renovates the World —

This epigraph suggests the limitations and difficulties of writing about death. It also suggests that death, the most powerful fact of life, “renovates” the world by changing those it affects.  

“Made you appreciate living here, instead of some milder place, where I suppose life comes somewhat easier.” 

Sam Dent is not an easy place to live. The inhabitants of Sam Dent struggle against the elements of the town itself in the winter and against widespread sociological problems like alcoholism, poverty, and abuse. Banks emphasizes that the people of Sam Dent were already struggling to cope with life before the accident ever occurred. They do not have the emotional and financial resources to deal with the tragedy. 

“Fixing motives is like fixing blame—the further away from the act you get, the harder it is to single out one thing as having caused it.” 

Banks describes how people generally understand and experience tragedy as an event that has clear cause and effect. The law, too, treats accidents and events as if they follow logical patterns and have clear causes. But here, Dolores recognizes that time only complicates one’s understanding of what occurred, and who was responsible. Dolores doubts herself and still struggles, almost a year after the accident, to understand what happened, including what she saw in the road. Even though the accident was momentous, Dolores does not pretend to know for sure whether she was to blame.