If I Stay Reading Response

Life is all about making choices and its no different for Mia Hall. Mia of If I Stay by Gayle Forman was living a normal teen life- thinking of college, boyfriends, and family, but this all changes when her and her family get into a car accident during a snowstorm. However, before and after the crash Mia’s life is all about making decisions. Her choices, much like the ones people have to make in the world, are essentially the hardest things that she has to overcome in the story.

Most importantly, before the accident, Mia had to decide whether or not she will attend Juilliard in New York. There seems like an obvious answer, to go to Juilliard, but it wouldn’t be so difficult if leaving to New York means leaving her boyfriend, Adam. This is shown when Forman writes, “Professor Christie had taken that to mean a guaranteed acceptance. I wasn’t so sure it was true. And I wasn’t 100 percent sure that I wanted to be true.” (7). This shows Mia’s thoughts on the choice of music or Adam. Mia wants to get in, but a part of her doesn’t want to get in because that means leaving her friends and family behind, especially Adam. This decision is one of the hardest things that Mia has to go through in her life because she feels as if she will never have someone like Adam again, considering she is a awkward, classical girl and Adam is a popular, rock guy. On the other hand, she’s been playing cello since she was a little girl and music is in her blood. Choosing between Adam and her future is one of the hard things in Mia’s life, but it is no longer a priority after her accident.

Another significant rough decision Mia has to make in her life, is to choose if she wants to wake up or die. To stay alive seems like the obvious answer because life is a gift, but waking up would mean waking up hurt and in critical condition. However, waking up also means she gets to see all her friends and family. Her thoughts are shown when Forman writes, “I don’t know exactly what’s happened to me, and for the first time today, I don’t really care. I shouldn’t have to care. I shouldn’t have to work this hard. I realize now that dying is easy. Living is hard.” (174-75). This shows Mia thinking about what to do. It is especially hard to choose because she can die quickly with everyone in her life being hurt, but if she lives they’ll be happy and she’ll be hurt since she has to work and recover back into her life. This is really hard for Mia because everyone’s happiness is depending on her. She has the power to make everyone ecstatic or everyone miserable, and having this power can be very stressful. The book is told in Mia’s perspective and shows a choice people in comas may have to make.

Having to make decisions is apart of everyday life. Having to choose between school far away and friends and family is very common in people’s lives. Many times it happens when deciding colleges. For instance, my sister is deciding what college to go to now, but she still has to think about the distance away from home and if she is willing to leave for a better education. However, choosing to stay alive or die is a decision that is not yet proven to happen. People don’t know what happens when people are in comas until they have actually experienced being in a coma. The decision to stay alive may happen in real life but there is no evidence to prove it, so it is possible that it actually occurs in real life.

All in all, the hardest things shown in Mia’s life are making decisions. First, she has to decide whether or not to go to New York and leave her friends and family behind. The obvious hard thing is the car accident, but the car accident shows Mia’s responsibility of deciding if she wants to stay alive or die. Mia overcoming the choice is essentially harder for her than the car accident because her decisions show Mia’s vulnerable side. When she was alive, besides deciding on college, she seems like she’s got everything under control, but when she has to choose between Juilliard or Adam and staying or dying, she shows her weaker side and it is sort of a wake-up call that she can’t always be in control. So, maybe a hard thing in life, can really just be a blessing in disguise.