Five Feet Apart

by

Rachael Lippincott

Death, Grief, and Guilt Theme Analysis

Themes and Colors
Love and Sacrifice Theme Icon
Death, Grief, and Guilt Theme Icon
Risk and Consequences Theme Icon
Survival, Terminal Illness, and Hope Theme Icon
Hardship and Family Dynamics Theme Icon
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Five Feet Apart, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Death, Grief, and Guilt Theme Icon

Though Stella’s chronic illness has made her aware of the possibility of death in a way that many teens aren’t, her life takes a turn when her sister Abby dies in an accident. Stella was always prepared for own death since cystic fibrosis is a life-threatening illness, but she never thought she would grieve the loss of her healthy sister. Abby’s death leaves Stella with survivor’s guilt—Stella feels that she should have been the one to die instead. Her sister’s death also intensifies the guilt Stella has always felt over the likelihood that she will die young, potentially leaving her parents with no living children. This guilt motivates Stella to live a strictly regimented life ruled by her treatment plan. When Stella’s best friend Poe dies too, Stella is overwhelmed by the sense that death and grief are inescapable. As much as this devastates her, it also ends up liberating Stella of some of the guilt she carries. Death is truly inevitable, she realizes, so there’s no reason to feel responsible for Abby’s death or for her own eventual death, nor for her parents’ grief. Stella’s journey suggests that accepting the inevitability of death, rather than being driven by the dread and avoidance of death, can lead to freedom from guilt and a healthier management of grief. 

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Death, Grief, and Guilt Quotes in Five Feet Apart

Below you will find the important quotes in Five Feet Apart related to the theme of Death, Grief, and Guilt.
Chapter 1: Stella Quotes

It’s not like I don’t want to go. It’s just, quite literally, a matter of life or death. I can’t go off to Cabo, or anywhere for that matter, and risk not coming back. I can’t do that to my parents. Not now.

Related Characters: Stella Grant (speaker), Abby Grant, Stella’s Mom, Stella’s Dad, Camila and Mya
Page Number: 4
Explanation and Analysis:

I close my eyes and take a deep breath, hearing the familiar wheeze of my lungs trying desperately to fill with air through the sea of mucus. Exhaling slowly, I slap a big Hallmark-greeting-card smile on my face before opening my eyes and pressing the enter key to go live.

Related Characters: Stella Grant (speaker), Will Newman , Abby Grant
Page Number: 10
Explanation and Analysis:

Lying back, I pick up the worn panda resting on my pillows and wrap my arms tightly around him. Patches, my sister, Abby, named him. And what a fitting name that became. The years of coming in and out of the hospital with me have certainly taken their toll on him.

Related Characters: Stella Grant (speaker), Abby Grant, Stella’s Mom, Stella’s Dad
Related Symbols: Patches
Page Number: 13
Explanation and Analysis:

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: 17
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 2: Will Quotes

There are a lot of things that piss me off about CF, but that’s not one of them. Pretty much all guys with CF are infertile, which at least means I don’t have to worry about getting anyone pregnant and starting my own shit show of a family.

Related Characters: Will Newman (speaker), Stella Grant, Will’s Mom
Page Number: 26
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 3: Stella Quotes

“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: 46
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 5: Stella Quotes

He stops, leg floating off the edge. One more step and he would have fallen. One more step and he would have…

Related Characters: Stella Grant (speaker), Will Newman , Abby Grant
Page Number: 65
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 9: Stella Quotes

“You ever think about, I don’t know…traveling the world or something?” I look back down to see number 27, “Sistine Chapel with Abby.” No line through it.

Related Characters: Stella Grant (speaker), Will Newman (speaker), Abby Grant, Camila and Mya
Page Number: 104
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 11: Stella Quotes

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: 122
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 13: Stella Quotes

I see Abby, right there in front of me, blurry at first and then as clear as day. My dad’s curly hair, and her larger-than-life smile, and her hazel eyes identical to my own.

“…more…time…”

She’s pushing me away from the light.

Related Characters: Stella Grant (speaker), Abby Grant (speaker)
Page Number: 142
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 14: Will Quotes

Stella’s been taking care of all of us. Her mom, her dad, me. I keep counting down to eighteen, to being an adult, holding the reins. Maybe it’s time I actually acted like it.

Related Characters: Will Newman (speaker), Stella Grant, Abby Grant, Stella’s Mom, Stella’s Dad
Page Number: 146
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 16: Will Quotes

Cystic fibrosis will steal no more from me. From now on, I am the thief.

Related Characters: Stella Grant (speaker), Will Newman
Page Number: 172
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 18: Will Quotes

I think about that very last breath. Sucking for air. Pulling and pulling and getting nothing. I think about my chest muscles ripping and burning, absolutely useless. No air. No nothing. Just black.

Related Characters: Will Newman (speaker), Stella Grant, Abby Grant
Page Number: 184
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 21: Stella Quotes

“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: 217
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 25: Stella Quotes

I take a deep breath, letting out a relieved sigh that I’ve been holding for more than a year now. My chest heaves suddenly, and I begin to cough, water pouring out of my mouth.

Related Characters: Stella Grant (speaker), Will Newman , Abby Grant
Related Symbols: Patches
Page Number: 243
Explanation and Analysis: