The document provides summaries and analysis for the book "Before I Fall" by Lauren Oliver. It summarizes that the book is about a girl named Samantha who relives the day of her death over and over, trying to change events to break the cycle. Each section analyzes symbols and themes from different iterations of the repeated day that Samantha experiences, such as a key representing her journey of self-discovery and credit cards representing her reckless behavior. The final section notes that on her last try, Samantha works to deepen relationships before seemingly realizing what she needs to do to stop reliving the day.

1. before i fall
by Lauren Oliver
splinter, sykes, samantha, suicide, suv

2. before i fall is a story about love and death. I chose
a blurry background to illustrate the passage from
life to death, with a picture of a heart and a
tombstone, reinforcing this concept. Also, the key
symbolizes Samantha’s journey to unlocking her
true self: by reliving the same day again and again,
she gets a second chance (and a third, and a
fourth, and so on). Finally, I added a few words on
the cover that I strongly associate with this book.

3. When word goes around that there’s a Valentines Day party at Kent McFuller’s
house, of course only the cool kids are invited, including Samantha and her three
best friends. However, when Juliet Sykes, nicknamed Psycho, dares to show up
and insult the four friends, a catfight erupts. Outnumbered and humiliated, Juliet
escapes. This event sets off a chain reaction, leading to Juliet killing herself by
jumping in front of Samantha’s friend’s car. Lindsay, who was behind the wheel,
loses control, crashes into a tree, and Samantha is instantly killed.
This Valentine is a symbol
of Cupid Day, which is the
day the events of the book
take place.

4. The next day, to her
disbelief, Samantha wakes
up to another Cupid Day, her
last day alive. But this time,
she discovers she can
change little things. For
example, she knows the
school parking lot is full
except for one spot. By
making Lindsay late, she lets
another student not be late,
and get that spot. By not
being late, that student was
able to be at her swim meet.
By being at her swim meet,
she was not kicked off the
team. Samantha realizes
that the smallest of actions
can lead to big
consequences. The alarm clock
represents time; by
making Lindsay late,
Samantha changed the
events of the day.

5. By the time Samantha wakes up for her third Cupid Day in
a row, she doesn’t think she can live through the party and
the crash again. She begs her friends to just stay home
that night and watch a movie instead, hence the comfy
couch and TV in the picture. They agree but then, late at
night, they get the news that Juliet Sykes has killed herself
with a gun, leaving Samantha at a loss.
Juliet killed herself with
a gun, even though
Samantha stayed home
from the party.

6. On the fourth day, Samantha
gets really, really angry at the
Universe for making her go
through all this again. She
decides to do whatever she
wants because it won’t matter
tomorrow anyways. She yells at
her best friend, kisses a teacher,
and smokes with another student
in the bathroom. Then she goes
off and spends extraordinary
amounts of money on outfits for
the party, which doesn’t go well,
and Samantha dies in the car
crash again.
The credit cards represent
Samantha’s recklessness
and total rebellion.

7. The fifth day, Samantha feels
peaceful: since she’s done
everything she wanted to do
“yesterday”, she has no regrets.
She decides not to go to school,
under the excuse that her and
her boyfriend have broken up.
Her little sister, Izzy, also begs
to stay home. While their
mother is gone, Samantha
finally bonds with her little sister
and shows her Goose Point, the
cliff where Samantha had tried
to run away as a little girl. But
still, after going to the party and
opting to walk home, Juliet
throws herself in front of
Lindsay’s car, killing herself and
Elody, another friend of
Samantha’s.
When Samantha stays
home, she makes an
imaginary “To Do” list of
things she wants to do
before she dies.

8. On what turns out to be her
last time reliving Cupid
Day, Samantha deepens
her relationships as much
as she can by giving her
sister her grandmother’s
necklace and actually
talking to Kent McFuller
instead of just ignoring
him. She also lets go of a
few things as well, by
breaking up with her
boyfriend and standing up
to the teacher she kissed
on day 4. And at the end of
the day, Samantha realizes
what she needs to do to
break the cycle. What it
is…well, you’ll have to read
the book to find out.
The necklace
represents
Samantha’s final
parting gift to her
sister.

9. Made by Delphine Mossman Period 2
English
Hope you liked it!

10. Made by Delphine Mossman Period 2
English
Hope you liked it!