Response to a quote in 'If I Stay'

Reading Response on 'If I Stay' by Gayle Forman

(Warning: Spoilers!)           

If I Stay is a touching book about grief and survival. The main character, Mia, had an ordinary life with a strong passion for the cello, a down to earth family, and an adoring boyfriend who loved her for who she was. The whole story, as I felt, was about how normal your life can be, and in one minute, and your life would be forever changed by just one action. That action, in the case of If I Stay, was one truck. One accident. Her life impacted forever. She was able to have an outer body experience in which she was able to be active in a coma. Throughout the book Mia debates if it is worth it to stay alive. I think that the whole theme to the book is choice. You always have a choice. The real struggle is finding which choice is the better one, for you and for others who care about you. Another theme could be sacrifice, because Mia had to chose to live on, or give up. Though, with every choice she had, there was a sacrifice she had to make.

One example of choice is on pg.152 when Mia realizes “And that’s how I know. Teddy. He’s gone, too.” (Spoiler! Sorry!) After her parents were killed in the crash, the only reason she was holding on to life was her little brother, Teddy, and her boyfriend, Adam. But since her brother’s passing, was Adam enough for her to keep on fighting? Another example is on pg.234, “… I need to hold his hand… I aim every remaining ounce of energy into my right hand… I summon all the love I have ever felt… and then I squeeze.” This shows us that Mia truly did believe in her love for Adam, and fought her way out of her coma for him.

An example of the theme sacrifice in the book If I Stay, could be when Mia was deciding to survive, or give up. Either choice would mean sacrificing something precious to her. Giving up would sacrifice Adam, her boyfriend, and her grandparents, but being able to see her parents and her little brother again. But fighting against the coma would sacrifice her parents and brother, but she would see Adam and her grandparents again. Another example of sacrifice, on pg. 231, Adam says to Mia; “If you stay, I'll do whatever you want. I'll quit the band, go with you to New York. But if you need me to go away, I'll do that, too. I was talking to Liz and she said maybe coming back to your old life would be too painful, that maybe it'd be easier for you to erase us. And that would suck, but I'd do it. I can lose you like that if I don't lose you today. I'll let you go. If you stay.” This truly, as I feel, is the most powerful quote in the book. It has so much meaning of love, and hope, and sacrifice to it. And it’s all bound together by choice.

In conclusion, the amazing book ‘If I Stay’ has many powerful meanings. The theme choice, as I think, is the most powerful theme in the whole book. The book is rounded around choice. The choices Mia made. The choices Adam made. The choices her parents made. The choices of all of the people around her. The choice to give up, or survive. She chose to sacrifice. She chose Adam over her family. She chose to survive.