All the Bright Places

All the Bright Places

by

Jennifer Niven

Violet Markey Character Analysis

Seventeen-year-old Violet is one of the novel’s protagonists and is Finch’s love interest. Nine months before the novel begins, Violet and her older sister Eleanor were in a car crash that killed Eleanor, a tragedy that traumatized Violet as well as Violet’s mom and Violet’s dad. Violet and Eleanor were extremely close, and in the novel’s present, Violet is overwhelmed with grief for her sister. She wears Eleanor’s glasses, changes her hair to look more like Eleanor’s, and can’t bring herself to work on the website that she and Eleanor started, EleanorandViolet.com. Indeed, Violet finds she can’t write anything, whereas she used to want to attend NYU’s creative writing program and be a writer. Violet and Finch meet on top of their school’s belltower, which they both intend to jump off of. But Finch talks Violet off the ledge, and the two soon fall in love. With Finch’s prodding, Violet starts to take interest in life again: he convinces her to ride in a car (which she refused to do after Eleanor’s death) and inspires her to write again. As Violet recovers, she comes up with the idea for Germ, an online magazine. Just when she feels stable again, though, Finch’s mental health deteriorates quickly. Violet finds Finch’s odd behavior somewhat disturbing, as she realizes that he’s living in his walk-in closet and learns from Amanda that Finch has attempted to commit suicide before. This prompts Violet to suggest that Finch seek help, but he refuses. She continues to try to help Finch, even after he stops contacting her and runs away from home. Because of the fact that Violet and Finch spent parts of their relationship exchanging Virginia Woolf quotes, Violet is the only one who’s able to put together what’s going on with Finch when she and Finch’s family and friends all receive cryptic emails from him. She realizes that Finch drowned himself in the Blue Hole, a beautiful swimming spot, much like Woolf committed suicide by drowning herself in a river. Though Violet again has to grieve, she ultimately realizes that she has to take Finch’s advice and live—and that if she takes full advantage of her life and remembers both Finch and Eleanor, her deceased loved ones will never truly be gone.

Violet Markey Quotes in All the Bright Places

The All the Bright Places quotes below are all either spoken by Violet Markey or refer to Violet Markey. 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:
Mental Health, Stigma, and Suicide Theme Icon
).
2. Violet: 154 days till graduation Quotes

I have a headache. Probably from the glasses. Eleanor’s eyes were worse than mine. I take the glasses off and set them on the desk. They were stylish on her. They’re ugly on me. Especially with the bangs. But maybe, if I wear the glasses long enough, I can be like her. I can see what she saw. I can be both of us at once so no one will have to miss her, most of all me.

Related Characters: Violet Markey (speaker), Eleanor Markey
Related Symbols: Eleanor’s Glasses
Page Number: 23-24
Explanation and Analysis:
6. Finch: Day 7 of the Awake Quotes

“But that isn’t why. The why is that none of it matters. Not school, not cheerleading, not boyfriends or friends or parties or creative writing programs or…” She waves her arms at the world. “It’s all just time filler until we die.”

“Maybe. Maybe not. Whether it’s filler or not, I’m pretty glad to be here.” If there’s anything I’ve learned, it’s that you need to make the most of it. “It mattered enough for you not to jump.”

Related Characters: Theodore Finch (speaker), Violet Markey (speaker), Eleanor Markey
Page Number: 61
Explanation and Analysis:
11. Violet: 151 days till graduation Quotes

I look in the direction Brenda pointed and there he is. Theodore Finch leans against an SUV, hands in pockets, like he has all the time in the world and he expects me. I think of the Virginia Woolf lines, the ones from The Waves: “Pale, with dark hair, the one who is coming is melancholy, romantic. And I am arch and fluent and capricious, for he is melancholy, he is romantic. He is here.”

Related Characters: Violet Markey (speaker), Theodore Finch
Page Number: 107
Explanation and Analysis:
21. Finch: Day 22 and I’m still here Quotes

“Why are we doing this, Dec?”

“Because they shouldn’t be in there mixed with the good. They like to trick you.”

And somehow I know what she means. I think of the Bartlett Dirt and all its mean words, not just about me but about every student who’s strange or different. Better to keep the unhappy, mad, bad, unpleasant words separate, where you can watch them and make sure they don’t surprise you when you’re not expecting them.

Related Characters: Theodore Finch (speaker), Violet Markey, Finch’s Dad, Kate Finch, Decca Finch, Josh Raymond
Page Number: 166
Explanation and Analysis:
26. Violet: 133 days to go Quotes

I set her glasses down on her dresser. “Thanks for the loan,” I say. “But they make my head hurt. And they’re ugly.” I can almost hear her laughing.

Related Characters: Violet Markey (speaker), Eleanor Markey
Related Symbols: Eleanor’s Glasses
Page Number: 191
Explanation and Analysis:
28. Finch: Day 28 Quotes

For once, I don’t want to be anyone but Theodore Finch, the boy she sees. He understands what it is to be elegant and euphoric and a hundred different people, most of them flawed and stupid, part asshole, part screwup, part freak, a boy who wants to be easy for the folks around him so that he doesn’t worry them and, most of all, easy for himself. A boy who belongs—here in the world, here in his own skin. He is exactly who I want to be and what I want my epitaph to say: The Boy Violet Markey Loves.

Related Characters: Theodore Finch (speaker), Violet Markey
Page Number: 202-03
Explanation and Analysis:
32. Finch: The first warm day Quotes

“What are you most afraid of?”

I think, I’m most afraid of Just be careful. I’m most afraid of the Long Drop. I’m most afraid of Asleep and impending, weightless doom. I’m most afraid of me.

“I’m not.”

Related Characters: Theodore Finch (speaker), Violet Markey
Related Symbols: Water (the Blue Hole, Swimming Pools, Rivers)
Page Number: 221
Explanation and Analysis:
48. Violet: March 21 and beyond Quotes

“Listen, I’m the freak. I’m the weirdo. I’m the troublemaker. I start fights. I let people down. Don’t make Finch mad, whatever you do. Oh, there he goes again, in one of his moods. Moody Finch. Angry Finch. Unpredictable Finch. Crazy Finch. But I’m not a compilation of symptoms. Not a casualty of shitty parents and an even shittier chemical makeup. Not a problem. Not a diagnosis. Not an illness. Not something to be rescued. I’m a person.”

Related Characters: Theodore Finch (speaker), Violet Markey, Eleanor Markey, Finch’s Mom, Finch’s Dad, Gabe “Roamer” Romero
Page Number: 307
Explanation and Analysis:

“He’ll be back. He always comes back.” That’s just his thing. It’s what he does.

I want to say to her and Charlie and Brenda, to Kate, to his mom: Doesn’t anyone care why he comes and goes? Have you ever stopped to think that something might be wrong with this?

Related Characters: Violet Markey (speaker), Decca Finch (speaker), Finch’s Mom, Finch’s Dad, Kate Finch, Charlie Donahue, Brenda
Page Number: 313
Explanation and Analysis:
49. Finch: Day 80 (a muthaf#@*ing world record) Quotes

All I know is what I wonder: Which of my feelings are real? Which of the mes is me? There is only one me I’ve ever really liked, and he was good and awake as long as he could be.

I couldn’t stop the cardinal’s death, and this made me feel responsible. In a way, I was—we were, my family and I—because it was our house that was built where his tree used to be, the one he was trying to get back to. But maybe no one could have stopped it.

“You have been in every way all that anyone could be…If anybody could have saved me it would have been you.”

Related Characters: Theodore Finch (speaker), Violet Markey
Related Symbols: The Cardinal
Page Number: 314
Explanation and Analysis:
54. Violet: May 3 Quotes

In all his words, the preacher doesn’t mention suicide. The family is calling his death an accident because they didn’t find a proper note […]. I stand, thinking how it wasn’t an accident at all and how “suicide victim” is an interesting term. The victim part of it implies they had no choice. And maybe Finch didn’t feel like he had a choice, or maybe he wasn’t trying to kill himself at all but just going in search of the bottom.

Related Characters: Violet Markey (speaker), Theodore Finch, Finch’s Mom, Finch’s Dad
Related Symbols: Water (the Blue Hole, Swimming Pools, Rivers)
Page Number: 341
Explanation and Analysis:
55. Violet: May—weeks 1, 2, and 3 Quotes

Then he adds, “I feel responsible.”

I want to send his computer and books crashing to the floor. You can’t feel responsible. I’m responsible. Don’t try to take that from me.

He continues, “But I’m not. I did what I felt I could do. Could I have done more? Possibly. Yes. We can always do more. It’s a tough question to answer, and, ultimately, a pointless one to ask. You might be feeling some of the same emotions and having some of these same thoughts.”

Related Characters: Violet Markey (speaker), Mr. Embry (speaker), Theodore Finch
Page Number: 347
Explanation and Analysis:

She looks at me. “In those moments, none of it matters. It’s like that stuff is happening to someone else because all you feel is dark inside, and that darkness just kind of takes over. You don’t even really think about what might happen to the people you leave behind, because all you can think about is yourself.”

Related Characters: Amanda Monk (speaker), Theodore Finch, Violet Markey
Page Number: 351
Explanation and Analysis:
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All the Bright Places PDF

Violet Markey Quotes in All the Bright Places

The All the Bright Places quotes below are all either spoken by Violet Markey or refer to Violet Markey. 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:
Mental Health, Stigma, and Suicide Theme Icon
).
2. Violet: 154 days till graduation Quotes

I have a headache. Probably from the glasses. Eleanor’s eyes were worse than mine. I take the glasses off and set them on the desk. They were stylish on her. They’re ugly on me. Especially with the bangs. But maybe, if I wear the glasses long enough, I can be like her. I can see what she saw. I can be both of us at once so no one will have to miss her, most of all me.

Related Characters: Violet Markey (speaker), Eleanor Markey
Related Symbols: Eleanor’s Glasses
Page Number: 23-24
Explanation and Analysis:
6. Finch: Day 7 of the Awake Quotes

“But that isn’t why. The why is that none of it matters. Not school, not cheerleading, not boyfriends or friends or parties or creative writing programs or…” She waves her arms at the world. “It’s all just time filler until we die.”

“Maybe. Maybe not. Whether it’s filler or not, I’m pretty glad to be here.” If there’s anything I’ve learned, it’s that you need to make the most of it. “It mattered enough for you not to jump.”

Related Characters: Theodore Finch (speaker), Violet Markey (speaker), Eleanor Markey
Page Number: 61
Explanation and Analysis:
11. Violet: 151 days till graduation Quotes

I look in the direction Brenda pointed and there he is. Theodore Finch leans against an SUV, hands in pockets, like he has all the time in the world and he expects me. I think of the Virginia Woolf lines, the ones from The Waves: “Pale, with dark hair, the one who is coming is melancholy, romantic. And I am arch and fluent and capricious, for he is melancholy, he is romantic. He is here.”

Related Characters: Violet Markey (speaker), Theodore Finch
Page Number: 107
Explanation and Analysis:
21. Finch: Day 22 and I’m still here Quotes

“Why are we doing this, Dec?”

“Because they shouldn’t be in there mixed with the good. They like to trick you.”

And somehow I know what she means. I think of the Bartlett Dirt and all its mean words, not just about me but about every student who’s strange or different. Better to keep the unhappy, mad, bad, unpleasant words separate, where you can watch them and make sure they don’t surprise you when you’re not expecting them.

Related Characters: Theodore Finch (speaker), Violet Markey, Finch’s Dad, Kate Finch, Decca Finch, Josh Raymond
Page Number: 166
Explanation and Analysis:
26. Violet: 133 days to go Quotes

I set her glasses down on her dresser. “Thanks for the loan,” I say. “But they make my head hurt. And they’re ugly.” I can almost hear her laughing.

Related Characters: Violet Markey (speaker), Eleanor Markey
Related Symbols: Eleanor’s Glasses
Page Number: 191
Explanation and Analysis:
28. Finch: Day 28 Quotes

For once, I don’t want to be anyone but Theodore Finch, the boy she sees. He understands what it is to be elegant and euphoric and a hundred different people, most of them flawed and stupid, part asshole, part screwup, part freak, a boy who wants to be easy for the folks around him so that he doesn’t worry them and, most of all, easy for himself. A boy who belongs—here in the world, here in his own skin. He is exactly who I want to be and what I want my epitaph to say: The Boy Violet Markey Loves.

Related Characters: Theodore Finch (speaker), Violet Markey
Page Number: 202-03
Explanation and Analysis:
32. Finch: The first warm day Quotes

“What are you most afraid of?”

I think, I’m most afraid of Just be careful. I’m most afraid of the Long Drop. I’m most afraid of Asleep and impending, weightless doom. I’m most afraid of me.

“I’m not.”

Related Characters: Theodore Finch (speaker), Violet Markey
Related Symbols: Water (the Blue Hole, Swimming Pools, Rivers)
Page Number: 221
Explanation and Analysis:
48. Violet: March 21 and beyond Quotes

“Listen, I’m the freak. I’m the weirdo. I’m the troublemaker. I start fights. I let people down. Don’t make Finch mad, whatever you do. Oh, there he goes again, in one of his moods. Moody Finch. Angry Finch. Unpredictable Finch. Crazy Finch. But I’m not a compilation of symptoms. Not a casualty of shitty parents and an even shittier chemical makeup. Not a problem. Not a diagnosis. Not an illness. Not something to be rescued. I’m a person.”

Related Characters: Theodore Finch (speaker), Violet Markey, Eleanor Markey, Finch’s Mom, Finch’s Dad, Gabe “Roamer” Romero
Page Number: 307
Explanation and Analysis:

“He’ll be back. He always comes back.” That’s just his thing. It’s what he does.

I want to say to her and Charlie and Brenda, to Kate, to his mom: Doesn’t anyone care why he comes and goes? Have you ever stopped to think that something might be wrong with this?

Related Characters: Violet Markey (speaker), Decca Finch (speaker), Finch’s Mom, Finch’s Dad, Kate Finch, Charlie Donahue, Brenda
Page Number: 313
Explanation and Analysis:
49. Finch: Day 80 (a muthaf#@*ing world record) Quotes

All I know is what I wonder: Which of my feelings are real? Which of the mes is me? There is only one me I’ve ever really liked, and he was good and awake as long as he could be.

I couldn’t stop the cardinal’s death, and this made me feel responsible. In a way, I was—we were, my family and I—because it was our house that was built where his tree used to be, the one he was trying to get back to. But maybe no one could have stopped it.

“You have been in every way all that anyone could be…If anybody could have saved me it would have been you.”

Related Characters: Theodore Finch (speaker), Violet Markey
Related Symbols: The Cardinal
Page Number: 314
Explanation and Analysis:
54. Violet: May 3 Quotes

In all his words, the preacher doesn’t mention suicide. The family is calling his death an accident because they didn’t find a proper note […]. I stand, thinking how it wasn’t an accident at all and how “suicide victim” is an interesting term. The victim part of it implies they had no choice. And maybe Finch didn’t feel like he had a choice, or maybe he wasn’t trying to kill himself at all but just going in search of the bottom.

Related Characters: Violet Markey (speaker), Theodore Finch, Finch’s Mom, Finch’s Dad
Related Symbols: Water (the Blue Hole, Swimming Pools, Rivers)
Page Number: 341
Explanation and Analysis:
55. Violet: May—weeks 1, 2, and 3 Quotes

Then he adds, “I feel responsible.”

I want to send his computer and books crashing to the floor. You can’t feel responsible. I’m responsible. Don’t try to take that from me.

He continues, “But I’m not. I did what I felt I could do. Could I have done more? Possibly. Yes. We can always do more. It’s a tough question to answer, and, ultimately, a pointless one to ask. You might be feeling some of the same emotions and having some of these same thoughts.”

Related Characters: Violet Markey (speaker), Mr. Embry (speaker), Theodore Finch
Page Number: 347
Explanation and Analysis:

She looks at me. “In those moments, none of it matters. It’s like that stuff is happening to someone else because all you feel is dark inside, and that darkness just kind of takes over. You don’t even really think about what might happen to the people you leave behind, because all you can think about is yourself.”

Related Characters: Amanda Monk (speaker), Theodore Finch, Violet Markey
Page Number: 351
Explanation and Analysis: