Senior 2: Don’t Fear Love

Question: What is a “conflict” in literature?  What is the main conflict in your book?  How does the ending resolve (or not resolve) the main conflict?  (Is the ending happy, unhappy, or indeterminate?)  Was the ending an appropriate ending for the book?  Explain.

In a previous entry, I mentioned that conflict in literature is a struggle between two forces opposite of each other. However in the sequel of Me Before You—After You–the conflict is different. In After You, the main conflict is character vs self. It is Louisa vs Louisa.

When I say this, I don’t mean Louisa is the evil villain and Louisa has to thwart her own efforts to destroy the universe. The problem is that Louisa is afraid to love Sam because of the feelings of loss she had experienced with Will. Sam began to get frustrated because he felt like Lou was “still in love with a ghost” and she continued to pretend she was “just using [him] for sex” (Moyes 290). Who wouldn’t get frustrated? She wouldn’t commit to him because she wasn’t sure but was he supposed to just wait around and be put off to the side until a miracle happened? She wouldn’t even define what they were doing. I don’t completely disagree with Louisa because she had just went through a traumatizing time in her life by losing Will. But it was time to move on and she kind of knew it. She had said,

“I loved a man who had opened up a world to me but hadn’t loved me enough to stay in it. And now I was too afraid to love a man who might love me, in case… In case what? I turned it over in my head in the silent hours after Lily had retreated to the glowing digital distractions of her room.

Sam didn’t call. I couldn’t blame him. What would I have said, anyway? The truth was I didn’t want to talk about what we were, because I didn’t know.

It wasn’t that I didn’t love being with him. I suspected I actually became slightly ridiculous around him–my laugh a bit too hard, my jokes silly, my passion fierce and surprising even to myself. I felt better when he was around, more the person I wanted to be. More of everything. And yet.

And yet.

To commit to Sam to the likelihood of more loss. Statistically most relationships ended badly and, given my mental state over the past year or two, my chances of beating the odds were pretty low. We could talk around it, we could lose ourselves in brief moments, but to me, it looked really like love ultimately meant only more pain. More damage–to me, or worse, to him.

Who was really strong enough for that?” (Moyes 293).

She was afraid to love another man, even though Sam had made her the happiest she had been since Will had committed suicide. I think she felt guilty, too. She loved Will Traynor and her whole world flipped when he had left. Now here comes a man that’s willing to give her what Will did and then some (and I do not mean sexually, get your head out of the gutter) but she probably felt that being with him somehow betrayed Will so she told herself it wasn’t what it was. Eventually, she made the choice to just go with the flow and be with Sam and hope that it worked out.

I mentioned before I didn’t like this book but the ending was (too) happy. I enjoyed the previous book because the ending wasn’t so cliche so for me, this book was missing that for me. It can only be described as a Lifetime movie.

Moyes, Jojo. After You: A Novel. New York: Penguin, 2016. Print.

Senior 2: Disappointing Perspectives

Question: What point of view does the author use?  What are the advantages/disadvantages to the author’s chosen point of view?  (What is the author able to do, because they chose to tell the story with that point of view?)  How would the book be different if it employed a different point of view (e.g., 1st person instead of third person, or a different first-person narrator)?

Like Me Before You, in After You Moyes decided to have the story primarily narrated by Lou but in other chapters another character is the star. It worked really well in the first book but not so much in this one because it was done another way.

In Me Before You, when a chapter was titled with someone else’s name (e.g. Steven Traynor) the chapter was narrated by that character in the first person. In my opinion, it was an interesting way to get the perspective of other characters and get the feelings of characters besides Lou.

In chapter 19 of After You, we finally get an insight on what’s been up with Lily. It’s told in the third person and I completely disagree with this decision.

When we learned what had happened to Lily, it was described as follows:

“She felt the lump swell in her throat and thought for a moment that he was reaching for a handkerchief, but it was then that he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a phone. Peter’s phone. He tapped it, once, twice, and she saw a flash of her own image. Her breathing stalled in her chest. He clicked on it, making it bigger. Her cheeks flooded with color. He stares at the photograph for what felt like several years. ‘You really have been quite a bad girl, haven’t you?… A very bad girl’” (Moyes 229).

This was an intense and honestly, pretty disgusting moment of the story. Her father’s coworker tried to take advantage of her, a 16-year-old girl. A disadvantage of using third-person POV for this moment made it so we as readers didn’t really know what Lily was thinking in the moment. We can assume she was afraid and angry but I think that revealing her thought process would have been meaningful.

If the story had been told another way, at key points within the novel we could have connected to characters that weren’t the protagonist–but of course, Lily wasn’t the only character that I felt deserved a spotlight. Plus, I would have preferred anyone else but Louisa to narrate at any time. I possibly would have felt differently if it had been the same Lou from Me Before You but I can’t do anything to change that. *shrugs*

Moyes, Jojo. After You: A Novel. New York: Penguin, 2016. Print.

Senior 2: Airports are so Fly

Question: What are the meaning of the symbols used in the book?  How do you know?  How do these symbols reinforce the meaning (theme) of the book?

Another corny title. You’re welcome.

In After You, Moyes uses a lot of symbolism to support the theme that moving on is hard. One of the symbols that were used was the airport Lou worked at–The Shamrock and Clover. In the story, the Airport represents Louisa not being able to move on from Will’s death and the position that her life was currently in. Inside of the Airport, her new boss represented the pressure to actually go on.

In the beginning of the story, Lou was content with her job. Her life was full of the same routine. She seemed fine with the position she was in. However, from the moment she fell of off the roof of her flat (also the moment Lily appeared for the first time), the pressures of her job came to life. When she came back to work nine months later she described, “From the moment I returned, Richard Percival was, in the words of my father, all over me like a bad suit. He measured my measures, inspected every corner of the bar for molecular peanut crumbs, was in and out of the loos checking on hygiene, and wouldn’t let us leave until he had stood over us cashing up and ensuring each till roll matched takings to the last penny” (Moyes 42). Obviously, Mr. Percival didn’t know anything called personal space. Plus, he had his employees walking around looking a mess. Of course, that isn’t the point that I am trying to make. I think Moyes made Richard so obnoxious to show the weight on Lou’s shoulders and to show that it was time for her to get a new job instead of just being miserable.

As the story developed, Louisa became to wrapped up in her own life that Richard was put off to the side. When Lily went missing, she refused to do anything except go out looking for her. I took it as Lou giving everything she had into helping everyone else that she didn’t have anything for herself. But once all of her personal business was figured out she finally came face to face with moving on and the force that had been weighing on her. She confronted Richard by saying, “I’m human and I have a life, and just for a short while I had responsibilities that meant I couldn’t be the employee you–or I–would have liked. I came here today to ask for my job back–actually, to beg for my job back, as I still have responsibilities and I want a job. I need a job. But I just realized that I don’t want this one” (Moyes 268). The finally had finally got to her. In that moment, Lou had made her decision, it was time to move on…Well, not really because later on, she decided to stay. Richard told her, “But you know what, Louisa? You should get out while you can. You’re pretty, you’re smart, hardworking–you could get something way better than this. Now go. Seriously, Louisa. Get out” (Moyes 269). Although Louisa was having a hard time moving on from Will’s death, it was time for her to move on. The extra pressure that was put on her by her job made the decision more valid. Even her horrible boss knew it.

Eventually, the place where she started is where she eventually ended. Louisa had taken that job in New York and got on the plane and left. She was able to let go of the anchor of grief holding her down and literally fly away. I really did not enjoy this book because it was really cheesy. Honestly, it kind of ruined Me Before You for me. One thing I can say is Will (tears) would have wanted her not to dwell on his death, but go after what was going to push her out of her comfort zone–which she did.

Moyes, Jojo. After You: A Novel. New York: Penguin, 2016. Print.

Senior 2: Serendip-Lily

Question: Choose a character who is not the protagonist.  How does he/she change or affect the plot?  If this character did not exist in the novel, how would the plot have been different?

After You by Jojo Moyes

In case the corny title confuses you, click here.

One of the characters in After You that helped shape the plot was Lily Houghton-Miller (Traynor). Before I even continue, Will having a daughter was one of the biggest plot twists of the story.

Before Lily entered Louisa’s life, it was pretty sad, which is understandable. After the death of Will Traynor, Lou had lost everything that was her, even her taste in clothes! Lily brought those out, too (even though Lou was not happy about it). She said, “I found myself going through the clothes that Lily had pulled out of the closet, clothes that had ignored since leaving England for Paris two years previously. There had been no point in wearing them. I hadn’t felt like that person since Will died” (Moyes 162). It seemed like Will brought out the best in Louisa and she was so depressed after he was gone that she gave up on herself. She was drinking all the time and lived in a house that was nowhere near a home and she isolated herself from everyone.

Lily was exactly what Lou needed at that moment. There were plenty of examples of Lily brightening up Lou’s life (sometimes literally), which included painting walls and going dancing–making Louisa remember “the joy of just existing, of losing yourself in music, in a crowd of people” (Moyes 127). She revealed, “for a few dark, thumping hours, [she] let go of everything, [her] problems floating away like helium balloons: [her] awful job, [her] picky boss, [her] failure to move on. [She] became a thing, alive, moving, joyful” (Moyes 127). Lily brought the old Lou back, even if it was just for a moment. She made her happy, just as her father did.

If Lily had not…surprisingly, appeared in Louisa’s life, I don’t think anything would have been the same. In a way, Lily brought everything that fell apart two years before, back together. She brought the Traynors back together and Lou and her family back together.

Moyes, Jojo. After You: A Novel. New York: Penguin, 2016. Print.

Senior 1: True Feelings Revealed

Question: What point of view does the author use? Does the author use point of view primarily to reveal or to conceal?  Explain.

The point of view in Me Before You is primary in first-person, narrated by Lou. However, in four of the twenty-seven chapters, the narrator is different (Camilla, Nathan, Steven, and Treena). These chapters tend to happen during situations where either Lou doesn’t know what’s going on so I feel like Moyes made this choice to reveal.

In Me Before You (the book, not the movie), Steven Traynor is having an affair with Della that everyone knows about, even Lou. But nobody knew how serious it actually was except Steven. He said in his chapter,

“Poor Della. I could see her fighting her instinctive urge to ask me about our future – to consider how this unexpected development [Will’s trip] might affect it – but I didn’t suppose she ever would. Not until this was all resolved.

We walked, watching the swans, smiling at the tourists splashing around in their boats in the early evening sun, and she chatted away about how this might all be actually rather wonderful for Will, and probably showed that he was really learning to adapt to his situation. It was a sweet thing for her to say as I knew that, in some respects, she might legitimately have hoped for an end to it all. It was Will’s accident that had so curtailed our plans for a life together, after all. She must have secretly hoped that my responsibilities towards Will would one day end so that I could be free.

And I walked along beside her, feeling her hand resting in the crook of my arm, listening to her sing-song voice. I couldn’t tell her the truth – the truth that just a handful of us knew. That if the girl failed with her ranches and her bungee jumping and hot tubs and what have you, she would paradoxically be setting me free. Because the only way I would ever be able to leave my family was if Will decided, after all, that he was still determined to go to this infernal place in Switzerland” (326).

Steven Traynor was completely different in Louisa’s eyes than he was in everyone else’s. From the outside, he seemed like a man that was quiet and cheated on his family. On the inside, he truly loved Della and as horrible as it seemed, he needed his son to kill himself to be with her.

I think Moyes added this chapter and the others to give the less developed character some personality and also to say that suicide affects everyone closest to the person. Just like after Lou found out about Camilla planning to let Will commit suicide and in her chapter, she said she never planned for it to happen. Also, Camilla was kind of a (insert school appropriate word here) throughout the entire story, especially to Lou. If it wasn’t for her and Steven’s chapters I wouldn’t have known she was like that because she was so hurt. The only thing I would’ve wished to see is a chapter from Will’s perspective to see what really went through his mind; but I guess that’s another story for another time.

Moyes, Jojo. Me Before You. New York, N.Y: Pamela Dorman Books/Viking, 2012. Print.

Senior 1: Live Above Imaginary Limitations

Does the book address broader social issues? What stance does the author take on this issue?  How do you know?  Do you agree with the author?

One of the social issues Me Before You brings up is the topic of disabilities, in this case, a physical one (quadriplegia). Although many may disagree, I do believe Jojo Moyes’ intention was to say that people with disabilities have the capability to enjoy life as able-bodied people do.

This can be seen in many places of Me Before You, but mostly on the internet. Lou used the internet to get advice on what she could do to help Will change his mind about suicide. She sought out other quads because she felt they’d give her the best information on other quads. Eventually, she changed her goal from finding out how to make Will live to seeing what other quads like to do to show Will that just because he is in his chair, doesn’t mean that his adventurous life is over.

“There were tales of bungee jumping for quadriplegics, of swimming, canoeing, and even horseback riding, with the aid of a special frame. There was swimming with dolphins, and scuba diving with supporters. There were floating chairs that would enable him to go fishing, and adapted quad bikes that would allow him to off-road. Some of them had posted photographs or videos of themselves taking part in these activities. I loved them–these quads in their caregivers–for their courage and their generosity and their imaginations. I spent two hours that evening writing down their suggestions, following their links to related Web sites they had tried and tested, even talking to a few in the chat rooms” (308-309).

A lot of people don’t realize that there are activities that are available to both able-bodied and the disabled which proves that the author Jojo Moyes had to do her research in order to even put this in her story. Authors don’t make certain choices just to make things interesting. She purposely made the choice to list these activities (and also make sure Lou said she wanted activities that were fine for all) to bring awareness that the disabled are able to enjoy life like anyone else and, well, wasn’t that the main plot of the story? Even though the ending may not agree with Moyes’s stance, it doesn’t show that she had a negative view about it. Now, I wonder if she wrote the story because she knows someone with a physical disability.

In the end, I agree with Moyes’ stance that the able-bodied and physically disabled can enjoy life the same way. Hopefully, Me Before You opened the eyes of others dealing with similar situations or even educated others through the text.

Moyes, Jojo. Me Before You. New York, N.Y: Pamela Dorman Books/Viking, 2012. Print.

Senior 1: Life Versus Death

Question: What is a “conflict” in literature? What is the main conflict in your book? How does the ending resolve (or not resolve) the main conflict? (Is the ending happy, unhappy, or indeterminate?) Was the ending an appropriate ending for the book? Explain.

Conflict in literature is a struggle between two forces opposite of each other. The main conflict in Me Before You is Will Traynor versus Will Traynor.

Honestly, in the beginning, anyone could argue that Me Before You would be the same as any Lifetime movie where life obstacles bring two people together and they live happily ever after…blah blah blah. If I wasn’t recommended the book and had the basic plot already explained to me, I wouldn’t have read it.

Although the only problems we see (originally) in the book is the fact that Will had no use of his arms and legs; however, we become aware of the conflict of Will v. Will within the first 7 chapters when his sister Georgina arrives from Australia accusing him of being “the most selfish man [she] ever met” (113). Of course, to the reader (if you didn’t see the movie before the book or know what the conflict was already), you didn’t have any clue of what she was talking about. However, in what was supposed to be a private conversation with Camilla, the family’s skeletons poured out of their large closets. Finally, Camilla told her daughter that her brother attempted to commit suicide and he was planning to go through with it within the next months. Although it sounds horrible, I believed Camilla really tried to stop Will from killing himself and that she saw something in Louisa that could make that happen. That is why the conflict is Will (staying alive) and Will (committing suicide).

I also, believe that Louisa did everything in her power to stop Will from committing suicide. The best part about the story, in my opinion, is that she dedicated everything she had to make someone happy, even before she fell in love with him. She did research on what people in his position could do, she found out what his likes (and dislikes) were, and she picked the most beautiful things that even closing resembled the life he used to have just so he could view life had meaning through new eyes.

Unlike Lifetime movies, the worst possible outcome happened in the end…kind of. Although it’s understandable why Will wanted to die, Louisa honestly believed that she had changed his mind. When the two sides of the conflict meet, Lou tells him “I know it all, Will. I’ve known for months. And, Will, please listen to me…I know we can do this. I know it’s not how you would have chosen it, but I know I can make you happy” (359). But it wasn’t enough. Will had made up his mind and he told her,

“Shhhh. Just listen. You, of all people. Listen to what I’m saying. This…tonight…is the most wonderful thing you could have done for me. What you have told me, what you have done in bringing me here…knowing that, somehow, from that complete arse, I was at the start of this, you managed to salvage something to love is astonishing to me. But…I need it to end here. No more chair. No more pneumonia. No more burning limbs. No more pain and tiredness and waking up every morning already wishing it was over. When we get back, I am still going to go to Switzerland. And if you do love me, Clark, as you say you do, the thing that would make me happier than anything is if you would come with me. So I’m asking you–if you feel the things you say you feel–then do it. Be with me. Give me the end I’m hoping for” (362).

I guess you could say the ending was resolved. Although, I did finish reading Me Before You in the middle of the night and sobbed for about 45 minutes. I probably shouldn’t have, but I watched the movie two times after that and continued to sob. Especially when Will told her to wear her stripy legs with pride. I guess I can file Will Traynor as the fictional character that ruined my life (jk, I love you Will).

Moyes, Jojo. Me Before You. New York, N.Y: Pamela Dorman Books/Viking, 2012. Print.

Senior 1: Will’s Gift

Question: Are any of the characters a developing character, changing over time?  Explain how the character changed in the story. (What were they like before? What were they like after?  Who or what changed them?)  Was the change a large or a small change?  Is the change believable for the character in his/her situation?

The characters that is a developing character in Me Before You is Louisa Clark. There are many things that had happened in her life that affected her. The first is that before the story even begins, we learn that young Louisa was completely different from 26-year-old Louisa.

When she talked about who she was before, she admitted, “I dressed normally in those days. Or, should I say, I dressed like the other girls in town–long hair, flicked over the shoulder, indigo jeans, T-shirts tight enough to show off our tiny waists and high breasts… And I had ideas. Things I would do” (173). Of course, anyone who read the book would know that is not the Louisa Clark we grew to love with her very expressive outfits. However, later on, she revealed to Will the sexual assault that she experienced in the maze at the castle that lives between Will and Lou. She revealed to Will that she was so drunk and high that during the assault that she had no choice but to fill in the half hour that she lost (while unconscious) with her own embarrassment along with the taunting. That day, she said, was the day she lost all fear. It was also the day “[She] had worked out who [she] was, and it was someone very different from the giggling girl who got drunk with strangers. It was someone who wore nothing that could be construed as suggestive” (186). From that day on, she changed everything about herself.

Due to the assault, she experienced, she felt the need to be around those that made her feel safe and she dared not leave the safety of her family and Patrick. She was so used to being home that she knew “there [were] 158 footsteps between the bus stop and home” (7). When she began working with the Traynors, she had to walk past the place that changed her life forever and at one point she even had to look at it in the face, thanks to Will.

He taught her that her life didn’t have to be restricted to just the comfort of her home and he told her, “Some mistakes…just have greater consequences than others. But you don’t have to let that night be the thing that defines you” (276). Those words must have lived on inside of Lou because after will was gone, she began to explore what her life had the potential to be the whole time.

Overall, As unfortunate as it was, sexual assault affected everything about Lou and it took her meeting Will Traynor to turn that negative around because he had always believed in the potential she had. All she needed was to get pushed out of her comfort zone which was the best gift he could have given her.

Moyes, Jojo. Me Before You. New York, N.Y: Pamela Dorman Books/Viking, 2012. Print.

3. The Last Word

Question: Is the ending happy, unhappy, or indeterminate. Is the ending the appropriate ending for this book?

The ending was very unpredictable and was definitely a jaw dropper but overall unhappy for all parties involved. Amy was way too smart. She was losing the control of her husband and she began to see him as a threat; meanwhile, he was trying to build evidence against her to bring himself justice for her framing him for “murder.” So, what else would Crazy Amy do to get out of that situation and get her control back? That’s right. Something drastic that she could use against her husband.

Once Amy told Nick she was pregnant, she had him right back under her thumb because it was the child he always needed, so he could prove he wasn’t exactly like his father. But, no. That wasn’t Amy’s intention. She just wanted to keep Nick. After she told him she was pregnant, she told him,

“I’ll need to do a few things for my security, Nick,” she said. “Just because, I have to say, it’s almost impossible to trust you. To start, you’ll have to delete your book, obviously. And just to put that other matter to rest, we’ll need an affidavit, and you’ll need to swear that it was you who bought the stuff in the woodshed and hid the stuff in the woodshed, and that you did once think I was framing you, but now you love me and I love you and everything is good” (Flynn 411).

After Nick asked what would happen if he were to refuse, “she put her hand on her small, swollen belly and frowned. ‘I think that would be awful'” (Flynn 411). They had battled for so long over who had the control of their marriage, and she had to win. Nick was cornered but also had a speck of joy because of his son that was growing in the witch’s belly. To keep that son, he had to do anything and everything Amy demanded because “[he] was a prisoner after all. Amy had [him] forever, or as long as she wanted, because [he] needed to save [his] son, to try to unhook, unlatch, debarb, undo everything that Amy did. [He] would literally lay down [his] life for [his] child, and do it happily. [He] would raise [his] son to be a good man. [So he] deleted [his] story” (Flynn 412).

So, I guess, in the end, Nick somewhat got what he wanted (his son). But what he didn’t get was his justice or revenge on Amy. Also, Amy got what she wanted (to be a controlling “Psycho Bitch”) but she didn’t get her perfect love from Nick. And I did not get what I wanted. I did not get emotionally healed for the damage the Elliots and Dunnes caused me. I only like Margo. Go is the only one that makes me happy. But, since these are the kind of books I like, I really did enjoy the ups and downs.

Flynn, Gillian. Gone Girl. New York: Crown, 2012. Print.

3. Amy and the Cuckoo Clock

Question: If the story makes use of symbols, how do they reinforce the meaning?

The symbols in Gone Girl aren’t as obvious to spot as some other books might have them be so bear with me. I’m about to blow some minds here comparing a control freak and a clock.

Was I the only one reading and wondering why I was supposed to care about the cuckoo clock? Think about it: the clock was brought up so many times and we were meant to believe it was just a clock that “emits a dying wail” (Flynn 118). Well, that horrible clock is the perfect symbol for Amy Elliot Dunne.

When Amy and Nick had been living in Carthage, Missouri a month after moving from Amy’s hometown, New York, to Nick’s, Missouri, she wrote in her diary,

“Nick and I are currently embroiled in what I have taken to calling (to myself) the Cuckoo Clock Conundrum. My parents’ cherished heirloom looks ridiculous in the new house. But then all our New York stuff does. […] I do miss our old place—all the bumps and ridges and hairline fractures left by the decades. […] But new is nice too! Just different. The clock would disagree. The cuckoo is also having a tough time adjusting to its new space” (Flynn 118).

First of all, we all know Amy hated Missouri and if you didn’t know that then you are under the spell of Diary Amy and she is manipulating you. Like the clock, Rand and Marybeth Elliot just let Nick take their daughter Amy to Missouri (which is one reason she felt so much resentment towards them). Also like the hated cuckoo, Amy was extremely out-of-place and Nick wanted to get rid of them both. Amy moved from her former life just for her to feel like she had to “[make] the best of a really bad situation, and the situation [was] mostly bad because [her] husband, who brought [her there], who uprooted [her] to be closer to his ailing parents, [seemed] to have lost all interest in both [her] and said ailing parents” (Flynn 139). Also, let’s not forget Amy even made the comparison (more than once)! She wrote in her diary, “I don’t feel like Nick’s wife. I don’t feel like a person at all: I am something to be loaded and unloaded, like a sofa or a cuckoo clock. I am something to be tossed into a junkyard, thrown into the river, if necessary. I don’t feel real anymore. I feel like I could disappear” (Flynn 102). She used her husband’s hatred of a clock to help frame him because said clock represented everything Amy was. 

If you saw the post I made before this about the theme, you’ll know one of the overall messages of Gone Girl is that marriage is complicated. With marriage also comes sacrifice. Amy sacrificed her whole life in New York in order to help and support her husband and move to his hometown in Missouri. Amy symbolized an object, (well, the object symbolized Amy) a cuckoo clock that was out-of-place and hated. That’s exactly how Amy felt in her marriage. Along with the recurring theme, so did this idea that Amy was just shipped off to be in a foreign place in a marriage that was too complex to be enjoyed.

Flynn, Gillian. Gone Girl. New York: Crown, 2012. Print.