Previous
Chapter 25: Stella
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
Will’s lungs burn as he administers CPR to Stella. He is barely able to continue. He gives her one last breath before his vision fades. He thinks it’s the last breath he’ll ever take, and he wants to give it to Stella. He hears sirens in the distance—he had called an ambulance. Will doesn’t know if his CPR was enough to save Stella, but he can’t go on and he passes out on top of her.
Just as Stella witnesses in an out-of-body experience, Will is struggling to give her CPR. He seems to have pulled her out of the pond but found that she wasn’t breathing. Will knows that Stella may die if he doesn’t help her, but administering CPR is incredibly taxing and is itself dangerous for someone with cystic fibrosis—not to mention that highly contagious B. cepacia poses a threat to Stella. The effort of giving CPR makes him faint, but he thinks he is dying. This sacrifice shows how deeply he cares for Stella.
Themes
