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Many people are bullied daily. This graph shows how bullying and suicide are related. More people who commit suicide or want to commit suicide or victims of cyberbullying than non-victims. Since Juliet in this book was bullied, it made her self-esteem lower and she felt the need to commit suicide. Teenagers are primary victims of bullying, and it makes these people feel bad about themselves which could possibly lead to them feeling the need to end their own life.

Text-World

http://www.wusa9.com/video/1521414048001/1/Teen-Records-Fatal-Drunk-Driving-Crash-As-It-Happens

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Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver could be compared to Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher. That is, if the main character was Juliet instead of Sam in Before I Fall. Juliet can be compared to the story line of Thirteen Reasons Why because she killed herself for what I am sure is more than one reason. One reason she killed herself that we are introduced to in the book is because Lindsay used to be her best friend, and now Lindsay bullies her for some rumor that she herself started. Juliet is bullied by many people in this book, and she doesn't have many friends, which could have easily led to her suicide plan. The main character in Thirteen Reasons Why is a victim of bullying, which is a reason that she kills herself, too.

Sources

1. Before I Fall by Lauren Oliver 
2. http://www.laurenoliverbooks.com/before_i_fall.php
3. http://www.wusa9.com/video/1521414048001/1/Teen-Records-Fatal-Drunk-Driving-Crash-As-It-Happens
4. http://www.cyberbullying.us/2007_charts/Cyberbullying_and_suicide_2007.JPG

Day 7: The Last Chance

     As Sam wakes up she figures out what the key to her getting out of the dream-state she is currently stuck in is. She gets ready for the day excited for what is to come. Knowing this could be the last time she will ever see them, Sam says, "I love you," to everyone in her family. She also gives the necklace she never takes off to Izzy, as a gift.
     At lunch she talks to Kent on her way to find Juliet, and she says thank you for the rose he gave her for the first time in the seven days. She breaks up with Rob. So far, so great.
   

***

     She goes to the party like she did the previous night. Just before Juliet could come in and yell at her and her friends, Sam brings her into the bathroom and tells her to calm down and stop what she's doing. Juliet tells Sam that the reason she hates Lindsay is because Lindsay bullied her and teased her and called her names for no reason. Really, Lindsay was covering up for something she did by spreading rumors about Juliet. After talking to her for a while, Juliet runs out of the bathroom and heads straight for the woods. 

     Sam catches Kent on her way out. To show him that she cares about him, she kisses him and tells him that she's glad he knew the real her. He tries to grab her before she runs away, but she's already set on getting to Juliet before she makes the same mistake for the seventh time in a row. 

     When she gets near her, Juliet takes one look at Sam and dashes for the street. Sam runs in after her, pushes Juliet out of the way, and gets thrown in the air by a massive truck. In order to get out of her between-death state, she found that she had to put others before herself. Sam had to throw her own life away to preserve Juliet's life.

Day 6: It Just Can't be Fixed

     As Sam leaves her house on February 12 for the sixth time in a row, she tells her family that she loves them. She realizes that Lindsay isn't mad at her because "yesterday" never happened, and she acts as though everything is normal on the way to school. Before her first period she stops into the Rose room where they store all the roses for Cupid's Day. She orders many roses for Juliet and addresses them "From Your Secret Admirer." She is extra nice to Kent, considering the night before he took care of her after he found her out in the cold. Even though he can't remember anything that had happened, she feels it is the best thing she can do.
     She goes to the party with her friends like she did on the first night. She ditches her boyfriend, breaking up with him, and tries to find Juliet with no success. She talks to Kent, and eventually she kisses him. She tells Kent that she has to get to Juliet. Sam can't find her anywhere in the house, so she runs out to the woods where she saw her the previous night. When she finds her she tries to stop her, but she fails. Juliet jumps out in front of a car that isn't Lindsay's, and when Sam falls asleep, the day starts over again.

Day 5: The Reason the Car Crashed

     Sam wakes up on the same day again for the fifth time. She decides to not go to school. Izzy convinced her mom to let her stay home, too, and they spend the whole day together. Sam takes her to a place in the woods where she used to escape to. It was called Goose Point. They come back home when Sam sees a storm brewing, and they decide that Disney movies would be a perfect way to spend the rest of the day.
     Their parents get home and decide to take them out for sushi like they used to. At the sushi place, Sam recognizes one of the girls who was dressed as an angel and delivered some of her roses to her in the previous days. She realizes that the girl is Marian Sykes, Juliet's little sister. They talk for a bit before Sam has to leave with her family. She leaves thinking about, actually worrying about, Marian, hoping that if Juliet shot herself, she wouldn't be the one to find her.
     Sam arrives home and ventures out to find the Sykes' house. She knocks on the door and is answered by Juliet's mother when she gets there. She talks to her about Juliet, and Sam realizes that she isn't home; she must be at the party by now. She gets into her car then heads for the party to save Juliet.
   

***

     She spots Juliet in the woods, inches away from the road. It was raining, freezing, and cars were zooming by. Sam tries to convince her to not dive into the road, but Juliet doesn't care about what she says. She grabs Juliet's wrist and tells her to get off the road. Just before she dives into the road, Juliet turns to Sam saying, "Maybe next time, but probably not." The car that would've run into her swerves and goes down into the woods. The people Sam sees in the car are Lindsay, Ally, and Elody. Lindsay and Ally come out safely, but Elody was killed in the accident. She was sitting in the front seat, where Sam had been sitting the first and second night, and where most of the impact occurred. The words that Lindsay yelled out on the first night was not sit or shit or sight, but Sykes. Sam now knows that it was Juliet whom they had run into on the first day.

Day 4: A Whole New Sam

     Sam wakes up again, and she realizes the flaws in her friends and herself. She knows that she deserved to die, but she doesn't know how to get out of where she is. She figures that this is a repeating cycle where she'll keep waking up to February 12. So, she decides to totally change herself. Her outfit to school is really inappropriate. In the car on the way to school she says rude things to her friends, including her calling Lindsay a bitch. Lindsay would never tolerate this, especially not from a friend, so she forces Sam out of the car, making her walk to school.

    

***

     Sam is one of the most popular girls in school. Since Lindsay practically hates her, she sees girls that she could hang out with, if the time came. And well, the time came. She went to the mall with them and buys a bunch of expensive stuff, basically to show it all off. She arrives at the party and ignores Lindsay. She meets up with her boyfriend, Rob, and they almost "go all the way". 

     Being as drunk as could be, she makes it to an empty room and cries by herself. So she thinks, until Kent comes in. He leads her to a bed and stays with her until she falls asleep. As she drifts off, she remembers hearing the "Psycho" chant starting to begin.

Day 3: The First Change

     Sam has awakened for the third time on February 12th. Her mom tells her to get ready for school or she'll be late (as usual), but she tells her that she isn't feeling well and goes back to bed. When she wakes up again and decides to go to school later, she makes an effort to be nicer. She is suddenly a little bit nicer to her family, and when her mom drops her off at school she tells her she loves her. 

     When Lindsay asks if she's going to Kent's party for the third day in a row, Sam says that she isn't up to party that night. She claims that they do something every weekend, and she just wants to stay home. So, they spend the night at Ally's house. Lindsay, Elody, and Ally are all trying to convince Sam that she should stop laying around and actually have fun, but she can't when she is still thinking about dying at 12:39. As she lays around and the clock ticks to 12:40, though, she feels as though it is over and she is alive. Little does she know...

     Around 2 A.M. Ally's mom gets a call from Juliet's mom saying that she killed herself. As they all slowly drift asleep, so does the day, and Sam dreams that she is falling, falling, falling one more time.

Day 2: The First Repeat

     When Sam wakes up, she doesn't know what is happening. She knows that she was supposed to die, but she doesn't know why she still woke up. As her sister calls her name just like she did the day before, Sam realizes that Cupid's Day could be repeating. Her suspicions are confirmed as she gets a text from Lindsay talking about Cupid's Day at school. She gets ready for school as quickly as possible while still trying to sort through her confusion.
     At school everything is the same, and none of her friends seem to be going through the same thing. Throughout the day she doesn't change anything because she has no clue what is going on with her. She figures that maybe it was just a glitch. They go to the party and when they are in the car, she counts down to 12:39 A.M. This is when they died the first night. This is also when they die, at the exact same moment, the second night.

Day 1: The Day of the Accident

     Sam wakes up late on Friday, February 12, also known as Cupid's Day at Thomas Jefferson High. She runs out of the house, leaving her little sister, Izzy, and her parents, for school. Lindsay picks her up every day. After Sam's house they make a quick stop to pick up Elody and then they're off to school.
     It is a tradition of Thomas Jefferson High that on Cupid's Day there are valograms to be bought and sent out. They are roses with little messages attached. It is also a "tradition" for Sam, Lindsay, Elody, and Ally to send a valogram out each year to Juliet. The note attached reads, "Maybe next year, but probably not."
     The roses basically signify popularity. The more roses you get the more popular you are. This is one reason why they send the valogram to Juliet; they want her to feel defeated, like she doesn't belong.

                                                                          

 ***

     Sam later hears about a party Kent McFuller is hosting at his house that night. Being the popular girl she is, of course she had to be at "the place to be" when everyone else was. She and her friends get to the party, and it is packed. They get upstairs and she runs into her boyfriend. Finally she meets back up with her friends in a back room of the house. The whole room suddenly grows quiet, so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Everyone is staring at the door where Juliet stands. She walks firmly to where the four girls stand, turns to Lindsay, and says, "You're a bitch." She turns to each one directly, calling them each a bitch. Lindsay, Elody, Ally, and Sam are all drunk, and they start pushing Juliet back and forth through the crowd, spilling drinks on her, and chanting "Psycho". Like any person would, Juliet runs out of the room. 

     

***

     Lindsay, as the "designated driver", pulls out of her spot at Kent's house and starts driving down the road. It's raining and dark. It is just one of their normal drives after one of the normal parties they have gone to. And then they get in a car crash. Sam says that Lindsay yelled something along the lines of, "sit or shit or sight", and then she has a dream where she is falling, and she can't stop. 

     

Character Analysis

Samantha (Sam) Kingston- 

• thinks she can get away with anything and everything
• She was shy when she was younger, but she has become very outgoing since she met her best friend, Lindsay.
• Lindsay used to make fun of her

Lindsay Edgecombe-

• outgoing and crazy
• designated driver (even though she isn't a "good" driver)
• won't back down when being challenged

Elody-

• fun
• As Sam says, "You could never be upset when she is around." She is always happy, and tries to make other people happy in the same way.
• carefree

Juliet Sykes-

• outsider
• called by many names, including "Psycho"
• quiet and shy
• isn't associated with people in the story (doesn't really have friends)

Kent McFuller-

• He and Sam were best friends as children, but now she believes that she is too good for him.

http://www.laurenoliverbooks.com/before_i_fall.php

Summary

Sam was a normal girl. Her life was perfectly fine. In fact, she had it all: popularity, a popular boyfriend, three best friends. Her life was amazing until the accident. The accident that changed her life. Or, should I say, her last day. When Sam and her friends, Lindsay, Elody, and Ally get in a car crash everything is not what it seems. Sam wakes up, but she was supposed to die. The catch: it is the same day. She must journey through the day of her death seven times in a row. She realizes that all she has to do to get out, is to fix everything that was wrong with that night. And she finds out that it isn't as easy as it looks.