This Song Will Save Your Life By Leila Sales: Character Analysis

In the book This Song Will Save Your Life written by Leila Sales, the main character, Elise Dembowski, struggles with accepting herself for who she is. Elise spends the summer of ninth grade completely renovating herself. She tries to study pop culture, update her wardrobe, and exercise. Elise’s first day of school does not go too well, and she struggles to make new friends. When a final attempt at popularity fails, Elise stumbles upon an underground warehouse club where she meets Vicky, a girl in a band; Pippa, a carefree spirit from England; Char, a charming DJ; and most importantly, her newfound love for DJing. This witty novel shows a brave protagonist, characterization, and an abundance of complicated conflicts.
First, the readers are introduced to Elise Dembowski and learn how she becomes brave throughout the story. The author states, “I could hear the music beginning to fade out, and I see on Char’s computer program that only twenty seconds remained. I took a deep breath, and then I shoved the slider over, as fast and as

far as it would go” (68). This statement means that even though it was only Elise’s second night at Start, she had built up the courage to perform something small in front of hundreds of people. From what the readers have read, Elise would not have done that in a million years without this encounter. Another statement from the novel is, “‘You’ve come to see your daughter’s big premiere?’ Mel nodded his approval. ‘You’ve got a good dad,’ he said to me” (263). In other words this means that Elise was caught by her father, and was forbidden to come back to Start. After Elise convinces her dad, he agrees to take her to her first official performance at Start, all by herself. In summary, Elise Dembowski develops the courage to achieve many things throughout the novel.
Next, the author uses many examples of characterization to describe the main characters in the novel. In the novel it states, “He nodded. ‘I know what you’re thinking, and I agree. Charming is a bit of an overstatement. But at least it gives me something to aim for’” (63). This illustrates the personality of Char. By the statement, you can tell he is cocky, but he has a sense of humor. Another statement showing characterization is, “Her friend spoke up for the first time. She was petite and had a blonde pixie cut. She reminded me of a little foal, all gangly and round eyes. She spoke with an accent that made her words just a little hard to understand…” (39). This illustrates the description of Pippa. Pippa is a free soul and does not care of what other people think. In conclusion, the author describes the characters and their personalities through characterization.
Finally, the author shows many struggles between Elise and many of the other characters, and herself.

One example from the selection is, “I again placed the X-Acto against the inside of my left forearm, but this time I pressed down. I drew a line straight across. It didn’t hurt. It just felt numb” (27). This conflict shows the readers how Elise tries to kill herself. Elise is trying to commit suicide because she cannot accept herself for who she is. Another example is, “I don’t know why I bothered to act like everything was okay. Start is small, and news travels fast. Soon enough they were all going to find out that Char had dumped me” (205). Elise also failed at an effort to make her relationship with Char work out. Elise desperately tried to make one thing in her life end happily, but it seems that her plan has not worked out like she had hoped. Overall, the writer’s use of complications excel the story and leave the readers

intrigued.
Moreover, the book This Song Will Save Your Life written by Leila Sales, portrays the literary elements of a courageous protagonist, characterization, and numerous conflicts that affect the main character greatly. The refreshingly genuine novel has a plot that includes friendship and the power of music to bring people together. The overall plot is well developed and is very unique. The characters are also well thought out and seem very realistic. However, the sudden disappearance of Char with no explanation is very disappointing, as well as Elise not making very many true friends as the story comes to an end. The book This Song Will Save Your Life develops the main character into having a brave characteristic, uses characterization to connect the readers into the characters personalities, and creates difficult situations for the main character.