Discuss the theme of individual conscience verses society and how it relates to the theme of freedom in the novel.

Susie can see into the thoughts and the memories of the people she watches on earth. She uses these memories to form fuller pictures of the people she knows; through examining memories of others, Susie is able to better understand both her killer and her mother. Memory is also important to the story because Susie lives in the memories of the people who are alive, and the frequency that they think of her and talk of her is indicative of their recovery from grief. As people think and talk of Susie less, she remains in their memories, and she also is able to accept the fact that she is no longer part of the living world.