Blog #3: Before I Fall

[Frannie]

In pages 60-90 in Lauren Oliver's Before I Fall their are many events that show Samantha and how she acted before her accident. Samantha has a boyfriend Rob but for a second it seems to be that she wants something she can't have.. Kent. The social rank makes this very unbelievable because she is at the "top of the food chain" while he's at the very bottom. A large paragraph sums up what the popular people say about the not popular people. "Obviously no freshmen are allowed in. The social bottom doesn't show up either. It isn't because people would make fun of them, although they probably would. It's more than that. They don't hear about these parties until after they've happened" (65). This quote contradicts itself when an unpopular girl named Juliet walks in. Samantha is shocked at how pretty Juliet actually is. Juliet stands up to Ally and calls her some mean words. Once everyone catches glimpse of this girl being in there and hear what she said they all start harassing her.. throwing beer on her, kicking her, hurting her. Samantha finds herself going along with the crowd but the theme of compassion comes in again because Samantha feels horrible about how she is being treated, and how she went along with the people treating her this way. She kept thinking about it the rest of the night and got even more upset when she found her boyfriend completely drunk and claiming that she is cheating on him. It is ironic because once the girls get back in the car Sam says, "I have this theory that before you die you see your greatest hits, you know? The best things you've ever done" (79). This is dramatic irony because we know something the characters don't, we know that when Sam died that is in fact the complete opposite of what she saw. The next couple pages actually replay the exact night of the car wreck. There are questions that really get one thinking… "is what I did really so bad, so bad I deserved to die, so bad I deserved to die like that?" (referring to being mean to Juliet).. "Is what I did really so much worse than what anybody else does? Is it really so much worse than what you? Think about it" (81). These questions really make me think about the situation and the question came to my head.. does everyone that bullies someone deserve to die? It is truly personal and everyone can have a different answer to it. Next, Samantha wakes up and looks at her phone.. it is February 12th. The same day it was the day she wrecked. What she does not yet know is she is living the day again to make things right. She thinks in her head about what she wants to tell her friends, "We were in a car accident after a party that hasn't happened yet. I thought I died yesterday. I thought I died tonight." (87).