Five Feet Apart centers around two teenagers, Stella and Will, who fall in love while hospitalized for cystic fibrosis. Terminal illness and the danger of cross-infection frequently force Will and Stella to make difficult decisions about what they are willing to sacrifice to continue their romance. When they first meet, in fact, Stella is closed off to the idea of a relationship with Will, since he carries a bacterial infection (B. cepacia) that could kill Stella if she contracts it. As she falls in love with him, though, she becomes increasingly willing to potentially shorten her life in order to spend time with him. At the same time, Will becomes more mindful of Stella’s health as he falls in love with her, and he ends up sacrificing his proximity to her in order to keep her safe. Though these sacrifices come with hardship and pain, Will and Stella both end up happier than they were before they met. Falling in love makes both characters realize that they value the other’s needs even more than their own desires.
Stella, Will, and many of the novel’s other characters also find themselves making personal sacrifices for friends and family. After Stella’s sister Abby dies, Stella sacrifices much of her limited time and energy to make sure her parents are okay, even when Stella herself is suffering. In return, Stella’s parents do their best to ensure that Stella is happy, even though they are suffering through the grief of losing their other daughter, as well as a divorce. Sharing the common goal of refocusing on Stella’s wellbeing instead of their own ends up bringing Stella’s parents back together. Will’s mother also sacrifices a lot of time and money to ensure Will gets the best treatment. At first, Will resists complying with his treatment regimen, but he eventually abandons his personal motto of “life fast, die young” for the sake of both his mother and Stella. Through these complex relationships, the novel illustrates how sacrificing personal desires for the sake of loved ones can end up being paradoxically fulfilling.
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Love and Sacrifice ThemeTracker
Love and Sacrifice Quotes in Five Feet Apart
It’s not like I don’t want to go. It’s just, quite literally, a matter of life or death. I can’t go off to Cabo, or anywhere for that matter, and risk not coming back. I can’t do that to my parents. Not now.
We’ve fought CF together for a freaking decade. Well, together from a safe distance, anyway. We can’t get too close to each other. For cystic fibrosis patients, cross-infection from certain bacteria strains is a huge risk. One touch between two CFers can literally kill the both of them.
There are a lot of things that piss me off about CF, but that’s not one of them. Pretty much all guys with CF are infertile, which at least means I don’t have to worry about getting anyone pregnant and starting my own shit show of a family.
He stops, leg floating off the edge. One more step and he would have fallen. One more step and he would have…
But as I roll over and turn out the light, I realize for the first time in a long time, I don’t really feel alone.
“You ever think about, I don’t know…traveling the world or something?” I look back down to see number 27, “Sistine Chapel with Abby.” No line through it.
For me, it was easy to give up. It was easy to fight my treatments and focus on the time I do have. Stop working so damn hard for just a few seconds more. But Stella and Poe are making me want every second more that I can get.
A bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck.
Stella’s been taking care of all of us. Her mom, her dad, me. I keep counting down to eighteen, to being an adult, holding the reins. Maybe it’s time I actually acted like it.
Cystic fibrosis will steal no more from me. From now on, I am the thief.
I take a deep breath, letting out a relieved sigh that I’ve been holding for more than a year now. My chest heaves suddenly, and I begin to cough, water pouring out of my mouth.
We need that touch from the one we love, almost as much as we need air to breathe. I never understood the importance of touch, his touch…until I couldn’t have it.
