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Chapter 28: Will
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 wakes up from surgery to a room full of people, but she doesn’t see Will. Stella can’t speak because she’s hooked up to a ventilator. Her mom hands her a present from Will, and it’s a sketchbook full of their memories together. Julie plays a video Will made for Stella. In the video, he says that his only regret is that Stella didn’t get to see the lights at the park. Julie turns off the lights in the room, and outside, through the window, Will is in the hospital courtyard, which is lit up with the holiday lights. Will calls Stella on the phone so she can hear him, and they share an emotional goodbye through the window.
The elaborate goodbye that Will plans for Stella is reminiscent of the scavenger hunt she arranged for his birthday. These gestures illustrate the deep love they have for each other. When Stella and Will set out to see the holiday lights, they didn’t end up making it. The lights represent the experiences that she will no longer let her illness prevent her from having. Finally seeing the lights indicates that going through with the transplant will allow her to live a longer and fuller life. She will have many meaningful experiences, even if being with Will isn’t one of them.
Themes
