Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Five Feet Apart, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Love and Sacrifice
Death, Grief, and Guilt
Risk and Consequences
Survival, Terminal Illness, and Hope
Hardship and Family Dynamics
Summary
Analysis
Stella struggles to swim, sinking deeper into the water. She reaches out and tries to chase after her stuffed panda Patches, who had been tucked under her coat and is now drifting away. In her effort, her vision blacks out and she sees stars. She reaches out to take someone’s hand. Suddenly, she’s dry. She sees Abby next to her and hugs her. Stella asks if she’s dead, and Abby says she’s not. They both watch from above and see Will struggling and turning blue as he gives CPR to Stella. Stella can see and hear Will more clearly with each breath he takes. Abby says that it didn’t hurt when she died. She tells Stella that Will loves her, and that she wants Stella to live.
Abby got Patches for Stella when they were kids, and Stella has had the stuffed animal with her during her hospital visits ever since then. Patches represents Stella’s attachment to Abby and her grief and guilt after Abby’s death. In the pond, Stella lets go of Patches and is unable to catch him again, which symbolizes Stella’s personal growth. When she envisions Abby after passing out and hears Abby say that her death wasn’t painful, Stella feels that she can finally move on from the grief and guilt she harbors. Stella’s moving on, and her near-death experience, is the climax of the novel.
Themes
