Poe Character Analysis in Five Feet Apart

Poe, another cystic fibrosis patient, met Stella when they were six years old. Poe and Stella are best friends, and they share many fond memories of the time they’ve spent together at Saint Grace’s over the years. Poe’s family lives in Colombia, and he wants to visit them but doesn’t have enough money to make the trip. Poe worries about how he will pay for his medical expenses after he turns 18. He dates many different men, but Stella encourages him to get back together with his most recent partner, Michael, who Stella thinks truly loves Poe. Towards the end of the novel Poe does pursue a relationship with Michael, and he plans a trip for them both to visit Colombia. Poe is never able to make the trip however, as he dies suddenly in his sleep on the night of Will’s birthday.

Poe Quotes in Five Feet Apart

The Five Feet Apart quotes below are all either spoken by Poe or refer to Poe. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

We’ve fought CF together for a freaking decade. Well, together from a safe distance, anyway. We can’t get too close to each other. For cystic fibrosis patients, cross-infection from certain bacteria strains is a huge risk. One touch between two CFers can literally kill the both of them.

Related Characters: Stella Grant (speaker), Will Newman , Poe

Page Number and Citation: 17

Explanation and Analysis:

“He’s choking! Poe’s choking!” I shout, tears filling my eyes as I fly down the hallway behind Julie, pulling on a face mask as I go. She bursts through the door ahead of me and goes to check the beeping monitor. I’m scared to look. I’m scared to see Poe suffering. I’m scared to see Poe…Fine.

Related Characters: Stella Grant (speaker), Poe, Julie

Page Number and Citation: 46

Explanation and Analysis:

Probably because for the first time in eight months, I’m a car ride away from home. Home. Where Hope and Jason are. Where my old classmates are slowly chugging their way to finals, shooting for whatever Ivy League school their parents selected for them. Where my bedroom, my freaking life, really, sits empty and unlived in.

Related Characters: Will Newman (speaker), Stella Grant, Poe

Page Number and Citation: 59

Explanation and Analysis:

Even before they knew me, they did their very best to help me feel like Saint Grace’s Hospital was my second home from the moment I got there. But, of everyone, it was Abby who really did that. She gave me three invaluable gifts that day.

Related Characters: Stella Grant (speaker), Poe, Abby Grant

Related Symbols: Patches

Page Number and Citation: 122

Explanation and Analysis:

For me, it was easy to give up. It was easy to fight my treatments and focus on the time I do have. Stop working so damn hard for just a few seconds more. But Stella and Poe are making me want every second more that I can get.

Related Characters: Will Newman (speaker), Stella Grant, Poe, Will’s Mom

Page Number and Citation: 132

Explanation and Analysis:

“She’d make a wish and she’d never, ever tell me what it was. She used to joke that if she said it out loud, it would never come true.” The tiny pinpoints of light twinkle in the distance, calling out to me, as if Abby is out there now. “But I knew. She wished for new lungs for me.”

Related Characters: Stella Grant (speaker), Abby Grant (speaker), Will Newman , Poe

Related Symbols: Holiday Lights

Page Number and Citation: 189

Explanation and Analysis:

Without me, my mom is all alone. All this time I thought she only saw my disease. A problem you fix. But, instead, she was looking right at me, trying to get me to fight alongside her, when all I did was fight her tooth and nail.

Related Characters: Will Newman (speaker), Stella Grant, Poe, Will’s Mom

Page Number and Citation: 198

Explanation and Analysis:

“I never even hugged him. Never. Don’t touch! Don’t stand too close. Don’t, don’t, don’t!” I scream out, hysterical, coughing, dizzy. “He was my best friend and I never hugged him.” And I never will. The feeling is so horribly familiar, I can’t stand it.

Related Characters: Stella Grant (speaker), Will Newman , Poe, Abby Grant

Related Symbols: Holiday Lights

Page Number and Citation: 217

Explanation and Analysis:

Poe Character Timeline in Five Feet Apart

The timeline below shows where the character Poe appears in Five Feet Apart. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...she hopes her parents will get back together. Stella’s favorite nurse, Barb, tells Stella that Poe was also just admitted to the hospital. Poe and Stella have been friends since they... (full context)

...videocalls her dad. She thinks he seems sad and tired. After hanging up, she and Poe videocall as they eat breakfast. Poe tells her that he broke up with his boyfriend.... (full context)

When Will gets back to his room, he meets Poe for the first time. They sit in the doorways of their rooms and talk. Will... (full context)

As Will and Poe talk more, Will can tell that Poe and Stella are very close. He wonders if... (full context)

...be in a lot of trouble. Stella listens at the door and hears Will reassure Poe that he disinfected his room before Stella entered. As Stella organizes Will’s medications on his... (full context)

Barb suspects that Stella was in Will’s room, but Stella denies it. Poe and Stella videocall, and Poe warns Stella that it’s a bad idea to get involved... (full context)

...purpose has been to stay alive to make sure her parents are okay. She texts Poe to meet her in the lounge. (full context)

Abby was the one who introduced Poe to Stella on her first day in the hospital. In the lounge, Stella tells Poe... (full context)

...dejected, and Stella doesn’t speak to him all day. Walking down the hall, he hears Poe speaking Spanish on the phone in the hospital chapel. Will goes in, and Poe explains... (full context)

Stella goes back to sleep and wakes up again to see that Michael, Poe’s ex, messaged her. She learns that Poe is thinking of going to Colombia, and Stella... (full context)

...leaving her room. She waits in the atrium for a while, but Will doesn’t come. Poe shows up and informs her that Will isn’t coming, and that Will sent Poe to... (full context)

...precautions. Stella knocks on Will’s door, but he refuses to come out. In the hall, Poe tells her that it’s for the best. Poe compares Will to Abby—they’re both risk takers.... (full context)

Over the next few days, Stella doesn’t talk to Will or Poe and she feels lonelier than ever. Eventually Poe and Stella make up. Poe says that... (full context)

Poe helps Stella choose her outfit for her date in the atrium with Will. Poe laughs... (full context)

...other’s reflection in a window. Stella kisses Will’s reflection. Suddenly, Stella sees a text from Poe that Barb is looking for her and Will. Stella sprints to the neonatal intensive care... (full context)

...a scavenger hunt all around the hospital and eventually to the cafeteria. He finds Stella, Poe, Jason, Hope, Camila, and Mya all waiting for him. Will is thrilled. Poe cooks for... (full context)

Stella follows Poe into the kitchen where he’s baking a pie for everyone. He tells her that he... (full context)

...an alarm blaring. An announcement says “Code Blue,” which means someone’s heart has stopped. It’s Poe. Panicked and confused, Stella follows Barb, Julie, and a team of emergency responders into Poe’s... (full context)

...as she runs back to her room. Will follows her. Stella shouts in anger that Poe’s parents and boyfriend will never see him again, and that she never hugged him even... (full context)

...It feels unbearable. Stella walks through the halls and sees Michael crying as he collects Poe’s things. She considers that spending so much time obsessing over her treatments was wasteful, because... (full context)

...healthier than ever as she and Will slide across the ice together. She’s devastated by Poe’s death, but being with Will makes it more bearable. Stella’s phone has been ringing all... (full context)

...she’s starting a new life, though she knows she will never get over losing Abby, Poe, or Will. Stella’s parents got back together. Stella is at the airport with Camila and... (full context)