After Ever After

The final section of the novel provides closure for all the character arcs and resolves the story’s main conflicts. Jeff and Tad’s conversation in the workout room marks a turn in their relationship, as Jeff realizes that their pact is compromised. Tad stating that he is unable to walk at graduation with his friends foreshadows his absence from Jeff’s future. Jeff’s reaction reveals his fear of change and his anxiety about Dealing with Loss and Grief: “All of a sudden, [getting Tad onto his machine] felt like the most important thing in the world. Sometimes when you’re at a huge fork in the road, you don’t even realize it until later. But other times, you can feel it in your bone marrow” (204-05).

Jeff’s behavior during this exchange does not merely reflect his anxiety about Tad’s future; rather, it speaks to his own insecurities, which his conversation with Dr. Galley lays bare. Dr. Galley highlights Jeff’s irrational guilt about causing his family’s problems, using the metaphors of “applying” for cancer and being dealt a bad hand at cards to illuminate Jeff’s mindset. As a result, Jeff has a breakthrough that allows him to reframe his perspective on The Impact of Life-Threatening Illness on Family Dynamics. He gains further understanding through conversations with his family members. For example, the parallel between Jeff’s current situation as Tad’s friend and Steven’s when Jeff was sick leads the young boy to empathize with his brother: “What was it like being you when I was sick? Geez, I was furious at you three paragraphs ago, and now I almost feel sorry for you” (193).

Though Steven himself is not a major character—his own character development takes place entirely off the page—his words when he returns home also mark a turning point in Jeff’s arc. Steven reflects that his journey “would have been pointless if [he] hadn’t come back” (256); his travels enabled him to realize that he needed to be with his family. Jeff comes to a similar conclusion about the meaning of life, stating that “the purpose is to keep moving forward. To stick with the people you love, even when they push you away. Even when they’re hurting, and especially when you’re hurting” (259). He has learned these lessons through his relationships with Tad, Steven, and Lindsey, as well as through the loss he has experienced. The realization is intimately connected to the motif of the beau geste, which culminates with Jeff and Tad accomplishing beautiful gestures on behalf of their loved ones. Jeff reconciles with his father and honors Tad first with the bike-a-thon and then by honoring their pact. Tad, on the other hand, works with Lindsey and the entire school to denounce the tests’ innate unfairness.

Because it draws so many of the novel’s characters and ideas together, the school walkout looks at first glance like the novel’s climax. It certainly involves a major source of tension and conflict for Jeff, and the speeches given by academic authorities illustrate the systemic aspect of the inequity he has been grappling with. Indeed, the superintendent and the principal’s speeches can be read as an allegory for the discourse around social justice, as the former attempts to repress the students’ rebellion while the latter praises their courage but tries to reinforce rather than challenge the status quo.

That Jeff successfully passes his math test highlights his growth, but the novel also downplays the significance of the moment by juxtaposing it with Tad’s death. This is the novel’s true narrative climax, and it occurs during another of Jeff’s major successes: his bike-a-thon. Tad’s playlist, intended to be a morbid joke, takes on a more tragic dimension when Jeff finishes the race, the end of the bike ride symbolizing the conclusion of Jeff and Tad’s friendship. Ultimately, the choice to shift focus from Jeff’s academic success underscores that the more significant challenges he has faced have been personal ones, culminating in the loss not only of his best friend but of someone who could understand firsthand what Jeff has been through.

The cyclical nature of the novel’s structure underscores how far Jeff has come. Chapter 24 opens with the same paragraph as Chapter 2, but its meaning shifts significantly with the context of Tad’s death. In addition, while the beginning of the novel was framed as an ending, the final chapter of the book introduces new beginnings: Jeff and Lindsey are about to start high school together, which gives the novel’s conclusion a hopeful and forward-looking tone.