n the love of people, compares their actions, and compares their histories. In her encounters with Raylene, Bone finds that love, for her aunt, meant sacrificing one person for anothers well being. Her experiences with the church show her that love is universal, and that each person should love one another. The problem lies in peoples actions regarding love. Had everyone acted similarly toward Bone, especially Daddy Glen, the child would not have been nearly so confused and traumatized.Love, indeed, is an abstract concept, very difficult for anyone, especially a child to grasp. Bone tries to find out what love means, but the situations in which she is placed do not lend themselves to analysis of a less-than-concrete idea. I think that without the readers own conception of love in the back of his mind during the story, the book would not succeed. Because love is socially regarded as a good thing, a beautiful thing, and something to be cherished, Bones conceptions of love, whatever it may be, frustrate and sadden the reader....
