what is the story of before i fall

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What happened to Sam and Juliet?

Sam tries to talk Juliet out of committing suicide, but Juliet again runs into oncoming traffic for a second time and kills herself. Sam drives Lindsay home after Juliet's death, and after she drops Lindsay off, she talks with her about Juliet.

What happens when Juliet runs onto the highway?

When Juliet runs onto the highway, Sam pushes her out of the way and is struck by a van instead.

What does Sam do on the seventh day?

On the seventh and last day, Sam wakes up and does everything right. She tells her family that she loves them and gives her grandmother's necklace to her sister Izzy. Sam compliments her friends, sends a single rose to both Juliet and Kent, and walks in on Alex and Anna's date to give Anna an art book that she knows Anna will like. Sam arrives early to the class that Mr. Daimler teaches and calls him out for being a pervert before her classmates arrive.

What does Sam tell Anna about Alex?

As Anna leaves the bathroom to hang out with a boy, Alex, who is cheating on his girlfriend with Anna, Sam tells Anna that she is too good for Alex. When Juliet enters the party that night, Sam is desperate for a distraction and so leads a drunk Rob over to an empty bedroom with the intention of having sex.

Why does Sam break up with Rob?

Sam breaks up with Rob, who gets extremely angry because he had always shrugged her off as not being cool enough for him although there was never an actual attraction on either side. She now knows that she is disgusted by him and does not like him. When it is time for the party, Sam makes sure that Lindsay does not drive herself since she is aware that Lindsay is a bad driver who often drives under the influence of alcohol. Sam gets picked up by Kent, and they make out in the car when they get to his house, but she accidentally lets slip that she "doesn't have much time." Aware that something is going on, he tries to stop her, but she leaves for the party.

Why does Sam tell her sister to get ready for school?

The "next morning," Sam wakes up, and later, her sister comes to tell her to get ready for school, because she is going to be late. Sam tells her sister its Saturday, but then is confused to find that it is still February 12 on her clock - and that the day has magically restarted.

How old is Sam's sister?

She ditches school to spend the day at home with her 8-year-old sister, Izzy, and bonds with her.

Before I Fall: Introduction

A concise biography of Lauren Oliver plus historical and literary context for Before I Fall.

Before I Fall: Detailed Summary & Analysis

In-depth summary and analysis of every chapter of Before I Fall. Visual theme-tracking, too.

Before I Fall: Themes

Explanations, analysis, and visualizations of Before I Fall 's themes.

Before I Fall: Quotes

Before I Fall 's important quotes, sortable by theme, character, or chapter.

Before I Fall: Symbols

Explanations of Before I Fall 's symbols, and tracking of where they appear.

Before I Fall: Theme Wheel

An interactive data visualization of Before I Fall 's plot and themes.

Brief Biography of Lauren Oliver

Lauren Oliver was born Laura Suzanne Schechter in Queens, an outer borough of New York City, and raised primarily in Westchester County, New York—in a town she has described as being “very similar” to the town of Ridgeview depicted in Before I Fall.

Why did Samantha die in the movie?

A more convincing theory would be that Samantha was dead after the first accident itself. The time loops of the movie were simply a sort of purgatory where Samantha was expected to expiate all of her wrongdoings and make amends with the short life that she lived. The ending also shows that despite her arrogant demeanor, she, too, was a nice person all along. The reason why she lived as she did was only because of the people who surrounded her. This also explains why in the closing scene, Samatha tells Juliet that she saved her. If it wasn’t for Juliet, Samantha would never be able to get past her state of limbo and die peacefully.

What does Samantha tell Kent about Juliet?

Before the day almost comes to an end, she tells Kent that she really loves him, and then heads out in the woods to save Juliet. In the nick of time, just when Juliet is about to get hit by a truck, Samantha pushes her off the road and gets hit by the truck instead.

What does Samantha say to her parents in the final time loop?

In the final time loop, Samantha vows to live the day like it’s actually her last. She tells her parents that she loves them, she breaks up with Rob, and even sends roses to Kent and Juliet to make their day special. Before the day almost comes to an end, she tells Kent that she really loves him, and then heads out in the woods to save Juliet. ...

What is the storyline of "Before I Fall"?

Caught in a time loop and doomed to walk through the same day until one is able to alter a major element of one’s timeline— This pretty much sums up the storyline of ‘Before I Fall.’ However, as typical as it may initially seem, the film surprisingly offers something much deeper. More so, despite being stuck in time loops, ‘Before I Fall’ inventively weaves its story in such a way that you never really feel that it’s repetitive. The movie’s ending is another one of its aspects that make you realize that it’s very different from most other similar films. But this ending is so twisted, and even ambiguous, that many viewers will have a hard time understanding it. So let’s step back and break it all down.

What is the ending of Happy Death Day?

An obvious yet a little complex theory to explain the film’s ending would be that Sam’s death was the only way to end the loop. For instance, in ‘ Happy Death Day ‘, the main character keeps dying almost every single day, but still wakes up again to repeat her time loop because she still has several mysteries to unravel.

Did Samantha kiss Kent?

But to her dismay, right after this, Juliet ends up killing herself by running out in front of a car. Juliet’s suicide makes Samantha realize that in order to stop reliving her day, she’ll have to save Juliet from killing herself. However, as the ending of the movie reveals, this only turns out to be a red herring.

Does the Russian doll end the loop?

Similarly in ‘ Russian Doll ‘, the main character keeps dying but since she has unfinished tasks, her death never seems to be the answer to end her loop. Also, in the genre-defining ‘ Groundhog Day ‘, the main character tries to kill himself to end the loop but fails to do so as it’s not the right way to end it.

Does Sam die at the end of Before I Fall?

She sure does! If you found the movie ending confusing—Is Sam is going to wake up alive, freed from the time loop?— you should know that in the book, Sam is clearly dead, according to Reddit users. If you think that’s a dark or unsatisfying ending, book readers agree. Sam learned how to be a better person, only to die. It was the only thing she could do to save Juliet, sure, but man, that’s bleak.

Why did Linsday wet the bed?

Juliet was there when Linsday began wetting the bed out of stress during her parents’ divorce. On a camping trip, Lindsay wet the bed and blamed it on Juliet. Lindsay has been torturing Juliet ever since. After Juliet tells Sam all of this, she runs into traffic and kills herself.

What happens after Juliet tells Sam she is dead?

After Juliet tells Sam all of this, she runs into traffic and kills herself. Sam realizes Juliet was the cause of the car crash. She wakes up the next day with a sense of calm. She lives the day like it’s her last. She tells her friends and family that she loves them, she kisses the guy she loves—you know, typical last day stuff. Then she follows Juliet into the woods and pushes her out of the way before the car hits her. Instead, it hits Sam. As Sam lies dead on the ground, Juliet cries, “You saved me.” Sam—who is watching the scene as a ghost of sorts, outside of her own body—responds, “No, you saved me.” The movie ends.

What did Sam learn from Juliet?

Sam learned how to be a better person, only to die. It was the only thing she could do to save Juliet, sure, but man, that’s bleak. You could perhaps argue that Sam was always destined to die in that original car crash, and the time loop was a sort of purgatory.

What happens when Sam gets trapped in a time loop?

When Sam gets trapped in a time loop that begins with her friends bullying an outcast girl at school, and ends with her and her friends getting into a car crash, Sam learns how to be a better person—just in time to die.

Who is the girl in Before I Fall?

Before I Fall on Netflix—which is based on the 2010 Before I Fall book by Lauren Oliver—is a pretty much a classic time loop movie, complete with a confusing ending. Zoey Deutch stars as Sam Kingston, a mean girl in high school who is slightly less mean than her group of mean girl friends. When Sam gets trapped in a time loop that begins with her friends bullying an outcast girl at school, and ends with her and her friends getting into a car crash, Sam learns how to be a better person—just in time to die.

Who is Sam's best friend?

After living through the same day over and over again, Sam finally learns the truth about her best friend Lindsay and the girl they all bully, Juliet. Sam follows Juliet when she leaves the party after a fight. Juliet tells Sam that she and Lindsay used to be best friends.

What is Juliet Sykes' nickname?

Juliet Sykes is a social outcast at Thomas Jefferson High, a strange and quiet girl with no friends whose odd demeanor and unreadability have garnered her the nickname “Psycho” —or perhaps the nickname, and the cruel bullying she endures at the hands of Lindsay, Sam, Ally, Elody, and virtually every other student in school are what have made her so silent and inscrutable. At the party on the night of Cupid Day, Juliet shows up and makes a scene by berating Lindsay, Sam, Ally, and Elody for being “bitches.” The girls turn the tables on Juliet, however, and throw their drinks at her, and soon all of the other attendees are joining in. Juliet leaves, humiliated. That night, Sam and her friends get into a car accident, and the next morning, when Sam wakes up, she realizes that she is stuck in a time loop in which the events of Cupid Day are doomed to repeat themselves. As Sam navigates day after day, she soon realizes that it is Juliet she and her friends hit with their car that very first night—Juliet had been jumping out into the road, committing suicide. Juliet kills herself each night of the time loop, and though Sam tries to stop her, she fails again and again. Eventually, Sam realizes that the purpose of her loop was never to save her own life—it was only and always to save Juliet’s. In the end, Sam is successful, and though Juliet hovers over Sam as she loses consciousness for the last time and proclaims that Sam saved her, Sam insists that it is Juliet who saved her. Juliet’s pain is explored more deeply with each “day” that goes by, and it eventually comes to light that Juliet and Lindsay had been close friends as young girls, but the friendship ended when Juliet, who had borne witness to Lindsay’s pain during her parents’ divorce, was forced to bear the shame associated with Lindsay’s having wet her sleeping bag on a Girl Scout trip when Lindsay blamed the incident on Juliet. That shame and misery followed Juliet around for her entire life as a student, and Oliver uses the cruel irony and pettiness of the origin of Juliet’s ostracizing as a way of highlighting the unforeseeable but often inescapable effects of cruelty and bullying, even between young children.

Why does Elody wonder out loud if Juliet Sykes killed herself?

Elody wonders out loud if Juliet Sykes killed herself because of their rose and the cruel note attached to it. Lindsay... (full context)

What does Sam hear when he sees a truck approaching?

Sam hears a truck engine approaching, but Juliet isn’t moving into the road—she is just standing there, looking at Sam. Sam runs up... (full context)

What does Juliet tell Sam?

Juliet tells Sam that it’s too late, but Sam replies that it’s never too late. Still,... (full context)

Where does Sam look for Juliet?

As her friends raise their roses like glasses of champagne to cruelly “toast” Juliet, Sam leaves the cafeteria, looking for Juliet in the parking lot behind it. Sam is... (full context)

Who said "before I fall"?

The Before I Fall quotes below are all either spoken by Juliet Sykes or refer to Juliet Sykes. 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: ). Note: all page numbers and citation info for the quotes below refer to the HarperCollins edition of Before I Fall published in 2010.

Does Lindsay hate Juliet?

Lindsay hates Juliet —the two of them were in elementary school together and have been enemies ever since. It... (full context)

Overview

Plot

The story begins on a seemingly normal day for the popular 17-year-old Samantha "Sam" Kingston. On February 12, known as "Cupid's Day," Sam goes about her day as normal with her three best childhood friends: Elody, Lindsay, and Ally. That night, Sam attends the party of Kent McFuller, an unpopular boy at their high school who used to be her best friend, but Sam now treats him badly despite them both knowing he has romantic feelings for her. Sam was suppose…

Film adaptation

Reception

See also

External links