Before I fall
By Lauren Oliver
Everyone must have some experiences about “death”, maybe through
one’s beloved relatives, friends or even pets. Most of them caught this
opportunity to ponder on some life issues. For instance, “What is the meaning
of life?” “Is there really a heaven or hell?” “Is there any destiny target
waiting us to achieve?” Moreover, some people may had thought about how will
the fateful moment happened and how will they feel when they have to face their
own “death”. If you had once thought about the issue above, you can never miss《Before I fall》.
The cover of 《Before I fall》 is a girl lying on a meadow, it made me inferred that it must be a
teenagers’ romance. Actually, I don’t like this
kind of story and I didn’t pay much attention on this novel. However, thanks to
my friend’s highly recommending, I fortunately didn’t miss this interesting
novel. Instead of the love between two adolescents,《Before I fall》is talking about a girl’s death and
what she had realized in her “die process”. The girl, whose name is Samantha, was
one of the most popular girls in her high school, she had a wonderful high
school life with her friends. But just as no morning sun last the whole day,
she died in the car accident when her friend drove her home after a party.
However, it’s just the beginning of the story.
Samantha felt that herself had already been dead, but she then be
woke up by her alarm clock and found that it was the morning of her doom day! She
had to repeat that day again and again. At first, she tried to avoid things
that may lead to her death, but what she had done was all in vain because she
would still die in other ways. Even if she had successfully avoided it, she got
in another repeat after she slept. Meanwhile, through experiencing her doom day
again and again, she found out that even the smallest decision she made that
day would cause a vast effect at the end of the day. Though it made her so
confused and had tortured her so much, she discovered some hidden facts in her
life, found out who really loves her and found out who only wanted to use her.
Most important of all, she found out that the most significant thing in her
life is her beloved family. After “practicing” so many times, Samantha found
the best way for her to live the very last day of her life.
In《Before I fall》, the author used the element “the butterfly effect”
to make the story more attractive. Because of the effect, Samantha had seven
totally different February 12 to found out many secrets and amazing facts and
finally realize what is the most important thing in her life that is worth it
to catch the last chance to spend her last day on. But the heartbreaking thing
is that she got the point too lately. At least she got the point at the last
chance and made herself a better ending, but how about we normal people in the
real world? Do we have the chance to regret and to change anything at
the last day of our lives? In the story, Samantha had drawn a line in her room
and forbad her mother to get through it for protecting her privacy. But in the
morning of the last day of the repeating ones, Samantha almost gave up to deal
with the confusing situation because she thought she had arranged all things in
the right place. She thought that she deserved a great ending but what she
found out after she opened her eyes was that she was on her bed with another
February 12. Feeling Frustrated, She powerlessly lay on her bed. Samantha’s
mother came upstairs to get her out of her bed to go to school and found
Samantha was not right. Without hesitation, Samantha’s mother stepped over the
line and hugged Samantha.
Though the author didn't explain why Samantha
has this unbelievable experience, the story is delicate enough to inspire me. Once I get close to “death”, maybe do
something dangerous or when some of my relatives passed away, I would think
about the questions about meaning of life again.
Sometimes I may not only think about the meaning of life but also what we should
pursue and cherish. Moreover, I may think about why human beings should have to
experience those complicated expressions and cope with those complex
relationships. Are those above gifts or torment from god?
After finishing
reading《Before I fall》, I saw the movie《Seven Days in Heaven（父後七日）》, another excellent movie which focus on
the love between family members, the meaning of life and the rituals of
traditional Chinese funeral. It's great by using a humor way to see those sad
things, which made the audience have a stronger feeling to the ironical points
by many intensive contrasts. Compare to《Seven Days in Heaven》,《Before I fall》has more focus on teenagers’
bullying issues and their rebelliousness in the gloomy salad days, which makes
them neglect they family. I think that is the main idea that the author wants
us to realize ── we should not only cherish our family but catch every
opportunity to enjoy in our family love because life is always fickle.
No comments:
Post a Comment