Five Feet Apart

by

Rachael Lippincott

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.
Risk and Consequences Theme Icon

The balance between taking risks and suffering potential consequences largely rules the lives of the novel’s main characters. Stella and Will’s romance is defined by their longing, yet inability, to be physically close. They both know that if they get within six feet of each other they risk transferring Will’s bacterial infection to Stella, which would cost Stella her life. Despite this harrowing reality, they each decide, on various occasions, to cross the six-foot boundary. At first, Stella refuses to take any risks that might endanger her. But after she survives a life-threatening surgery, Stella decides to “steal” one foot of space back from everything cystic fibrosis has taken from her, and she and Will only stay five feet apart instead of the recommended six. Stella and Will both deem this risk worth the consequences—it may be slightly more likely that Stella will contract Will’s infection from this closer distance, but they are both happier to be in closer proximity to each other.

On another occasion, Stella takes a risk by planning a surprise party for Will, against the hospital rules. The party is so fun that it is worth the risk for everyone who attends, even though nurse Barb ends up catching and punishing them. Stella and Will push the boundaries of how close they should be from each other many times, but they draw the line when Stella gets a lung transplant, and being near Will becomes even riskier. For the sake of Stella’s health, Will decides to cut their contact entirely. This decision comes with its own set of consequences—Stella and Will trade the fear of getting caught, or Stella getting sick, for the emotional devastation of losing each other. Every risk has consequences, but, the novel suggests, some risks are worth taking if the potential for human closeness outweighs the potential cost.

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Risk and Consequences Quotes in Five Feet Apart

Below you will find the important quotes in Five Feet Apart related to the theme of Risk and Consequences.
Chapter 2: Will Quotes

“Lighten up, Stella,” I say, sauntering to the door. “It’s just life. It’ll be over before we know it.”

Related Characters: Will Newman (speaker), Stella Grant
Page Number: 29
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 3: Stella Quotes

But walking around the hospital without a mask on? It’s no wonder he got it in the first place, pulling stunts like that. I’ve seen his type in the hospital more times than I can count. The careless, Braveheart type, rebelling in a desperate attempt to defy their diagnosis before it all comes to an end.

Related Characters: Stella Grant (speaker), Will Newman
Page Number: 38
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 4: Will Quotes

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: 59
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 19: Stella Quotes

“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: 189
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 30: Will Quotes

We need that touch from the one we love, almost as much as we need air to breathe. I never understood the importance of touch, his touch…until I couldn’t have it.

Related Characters: Stella Grant (speaker), Will Newman
Page Number: 270
Explanation and Analysis: