Before I Fall

by

Lauren Oliver

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on Before I Fall makes teaching easy.
Elody is one of Sam Kingston’s closest friends. Flamboyant, confident, and somewhat promiscuous, Elody is the “nicest” member of their clique, according to Sam, though her playful and unabashed preoccupation with sex sometimes veers toward obsession, and her party-animal personality seems to point to a deeper problem with—and possibly an addiction to—alcohol. Nevertheless, Sam speaks of Elody fondly, and on the fifth night of the time loop, when Sam avoids driving home from the party with her friends and as a result Elody, sitting in the passenger seat of Lindsay’s car, is killed instead of Sam, Sam becomes wracked with horrible grief despite her knowledge that the loop will reset itself in the morning. Elody is a loyal friend, and her sunny, outgoing disposition stands in stark contrast to her friends’ more prevalent cruelty and cliquey-ness.

Elody Quotes in Before I Fall

The Before I Fall quotes below are all either spoken by Elody or refer to Elody. 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:
Fate vs. Agency Theme Icon
).
Chapter 2  Quotes

Lindsay, Ally, Elody and I are as close as you can be, but there are still some things we never talk about. For example, even though Lindsay says Patrick is her first and only, this isn’t technically true. Technically, her first was a guy she met at a party when she was visiting her stepbrother at NYU. They smoked pot, split a six-pack, and had sex, and he never knew she hadn’t done it before. We don’t talk about that. We don’t talk about the fact that we can never hang out at Elody’s house after five o’clock because her mother will be home, and drunk. We don’t talk about the fact that Ally never eats more than a quarter of what’s on her plate, even though she’s obsessed with cooking and watches the Food Network for hours on end. We don’t talk about the joke that for years trailed me down hallways, into classrooms, and on the bus, that wove its way into my dreams: “What’s red and white and weird all over? Sam Kingston!” And we definitely don’t talk about the fact that Lindsay was the one who made it up. A good friend keeps secrets for you. A best friend helps you keep your own secrets.

Related Characters: Samantha Kingston (speaker), Lindsay Edgecombe, Elody, Ally Harris, Patrick
Page Number: 106-107
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Before I Fall LitChart as a printable PDF.
Before I Fall PDF

Elody Quotes in Before I Fall

The Before I Fall quotes below are all either spoken by Elody or refer to Elody. 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:
Fate vs. Agency Theme Icon
).
Chapter 2  Quotes

Lindsay, Ally, Elody and I are as close as you can be, but there are still some things we never talk about. For example, even though Lindsay says Patrick is her first and only, this isn’t technically true. Technically, her first was a guy she met at a party when she was visiting her stepbrother at NYU. They smoked pot, split a six-pack, and had sex, and he never knew she hadn’t done it before. We don’t talk about that. We don’t talk about the fact that we can never hang out at Elody’s house after five o’clock because her mother will be home, and drunk. We don’t talk about the fact that Ally never eats more than a quarter of what’s on her plate, even though she’s obsessed with cooking and watches the Food Network for hours on end. We don’t talk about the joke that for years trailed me down hallways, into classrooms, and on the bus, that wove its way into my dreams: “What’s red and white and weird all over? Sam Kingston!” And we definitely don’t talk about the fact that Lindsay was the one who made it up. A good friend keeps secrets for you. A best friend helps you keep your own secrets.

Related Characters: Samantha Kingston (speaker), Lindsay Edgecombe, Elody, Ally Harris, Patrick
Page Number: 106-107
Explanation and Analysis: