Gayle Forman's If I Stay

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In the book If I Stay by Gayle Forman, Mia, the main character, is full of many different personality traits but in this essay we are only going to discuss a few. In the book, Mia is all of a sudden ripped away from her family because of a fatal car accident. With her parents and her little brother gone Mia is stuck between making the decision to either Stay with her friend Amy and her boyfriend Adam, or leave and be with her brother and parents. Before the crash Mia is very happy, she is in love, and has a sense of humor. After the crash Mia is very scared and relieved. In the beginning of the book Mia is very happy to be with her family, for example on page 14 it states, “I hear the first few bars of Beethoven’s Cello Sonata no. 3, which …show more content…

I want to break the double doors. I want to smash the nurses’ station. I want it all the go away. I want it to go away. I don’t want to be here. I don’t want to be in the hospital. I don’t want to be in this suspended state where I can see what’s happening, where I’m aware of what I’m feeling without being able to actually feel it. I cannot scream until my throat hurts or break a window with my fist until my hand bleeds, or pull out my hair in clumps until the pain in my scalp overcomes the one in my heart.” (If I stay, Gayle Forman, Top of page 161) Mia is very stressed and depressed after hearing the news of her little brother’s death. Lastly, Mia is relieved she gets permission from her grandpa that if she wants to leave after all that's happened then she can. “He looks like he’s about to leave, but then he doubles back to my bedside, bends so his face is level with my ear, and whispers into it. “It’s okay,” he tells me. “If you want to go. Everyone wants you to stay. I want you to stay more than I’ve ever wanted anything in my life.” His voice cracks with emotion. He stops, clears his throat, takes a breath, and continues. “But that’s what I want and I could see why it might not be what you want. So I just wanted to tell you that I understand if you go. It’s okay if you have to leave us. It’s okay if you want to stop fighting.” For the first time since i realized Teddy was gone, too, I feel something unclench. I feel myself breathe.” (If I Stay, Gayle Forman, Top of page 181) As you see from this passage Mia is very relieved that her grandpa told her

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