Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in If I Stay, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Sacrifice and Choice
Music and Harmony
Love, Family, and Relationships
Life and Death
Summary
Analysis
Much to Mia’s relief, Adam finally arrives at the hospital, accompanied by members of Shooting Star. From the windowsill in the ICU, Mia sees Kim follow Adam into the hospital, and realizes her friend went to find Adam at the concert venue to personally give him the news and escort him to the hospital. Though Mia is happy Adam has arrived, she is nervous to see how he will react to her injuries.
Mia is both excited and scared at the prospect of seeing Adam. He is her number one comfort, outside of her immediate family, and she knows that seeing him will make her choice whether to stay or to leave much harder than it already is.
Themes
Mia notices the late hour, and realizes that Shooting Star will probably not be playing their concert to open for Bikini, a popular local indie band, in order to accompany Adam to the hospital. Mia recalls another time one of the band members was too distraught to play due to a breakup, and though another drummer offered to take her spot, the band refused and cancelled their tour rather than go on without their band mate.
Adam and his band had been in Portland to open for a popular indie band, Bikini. It is a show of solidarity that they cancel the gig to support Adam, and thus Mia as well. Despite their wild punk personas, Adam and his band still put each other first, no matter what the cost.
Themes
Unfortunately, when Adam and Kim reach the ICU to see Mia, they are denied entry to see her because they are not “immediate family.” While Mia knows the nurse is not trying to be cruel (as Mia no longer has an immediate family), Adam and Kim are outraged and attempt to reason with the nurse, who will not budge. Kim bears Adam’s weight, with his arms around her shoulders, as they are turned away from seeing Mia.
Adam and Kim have always been separate parts of Mia’s life, but the two teenagers come together to show support in the face of the day’s events. While Adam has always been calm and cool, Mia is struck by the metaphorical image of Kim bearing Adam’s weight, showing that her friend is much stronger than she knew.
Themes
In a flashback, Mia remembers how she and Kim developed a theory that everything in the world can be divided into two groups, such as people who like pop music and people who like classical music, or girls who have boyfriends in high school, and girls who don’t. As Mia and Kim both assumed they belonged in the latter category, and that they would have to wait for college for romance, it came as a surprise to both of them when Adam and Mia began dating. When Mia broke the news to Kim, she already knew, thanks to the gossip circulating their high school. Kim told Mia that she supported the relationship, as long as their friendship remains intact.
Neither Mia nor Kim considered themselves popular in school, and therefore never expected to be the kinds of girls that teenage boys are interested in. When Adam and Mia begin dating, Mia is worried that Kim will see her new relationship as a threat to their friendship. Kim is apparently secure enough in their friendship, however, to not be concerned about the addition of a new person into Mia’s life. This is one those life choices that doesn’t involve sacrificing something beloved.
Themes
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Though Adam fits right in with Mia’s family once they begin dating, Mia is upset when he and Kim do not become fast friends. Mia accuses him of being a “snob,” and Adam points out that he’s dating Mia, not Kim. Kim, too, is unfazed that she and Adam don’t click as friends, and tells Mia that it’s okay to have discrete parts of your life that don’t blend perfectly. Though Adam and Kim would always be bound through their love of Mia, that didn’t mean they would be bound to each other. Their distance continues to make Mia upset until the moment she sees them walk away from the ICU together. She finally realizes that they have come together to support one another in the face of the tragedy.
Kim and Adam’s incompatibility teaches Mia that it is possible to have distinct parts of one’s life that don’t always agree or go together (such as her love of the cello in a family of rockers). When Kim lets Adam lean on her shoulder, Mia realizes that the separate parts of her life will come together in the precise moments that they need to.
Themes
