Every Last Word Character Analysis

Today's society seems to thrive off the illusion of perfection, but pull back that perfect curtain and there is a hidden and personal battle in everything around us, some are just better at hiding it than others. This is clearly shown in Tamara Ireland Stones novel Every Last Word. Samantha McAllister, she is the definition of perfect and normal to everyone at her high school. Even her best friends are convinced, but hidden behind her expertly applied makeup and pin straight hair is a crippling war constantly raging behind her eyes, she has Purely-Obsessional OCD, leaving her surrounded by horrible thoughts and worries that won’t stop no matter how hard she tries. Just when Samantha starts to feel normal, a horrifying truth comes forward making

Caroline was like Samantha in the way that they both fought with a mental illness but they had different ways of dealing with it. Samantha hides it, and she did that well. Whereas Caroline showed her depression out in the open. Despite their differences, they became friends, Samantha opening up to her like she never has before to anyone but her mother and therapist. She was confused on why she was so open to practicality a stranger, but went along with it, as Samantha was just happy to have a new friend. Caroline showed her poets corner, A secret room under the school theater but Caroline never said anything when others were around, she also wouldn't text Samantha, Samantha thought it was a little strange but never thought much about it. Caroline gave Samantha the words for her poems and told her what to say to people so they would let her into Poet’s Corner. Samantha starts to feel a real connection, she starts to feel normal for the first time since being diagnosed, only to find out it was not real. Caroline committed suicide years before. Samantha never met her and she made her up. After seeing Caroline’s news story online, she used that to generate her into her life, even though she never was. “He stares at the ground for a long time, and finally, he looks at me again. ‘Do you know who Caroline Madsen is?’ ‘Of course, I do.’... ‘Sam’ I hear a strange hitch in his voice when he says my name.

She won’t get invited to things with them and always feels like she is at the bottom of the ladder. There is always something going on with them that stresses her out, but she doesn’t want to be friends with anyone else. “Their friendship might require weekly therapy, but I have fun with them. And I’d be truly crazy to say goodbye to parties every weekend, cute guys crowded around us at lunch, and VIP tickets to every major concert that comes to town” (43, Stone). Samantha always felt singled out and alone being part of the crazy eights, the name they gave their friend group. Even though she knew it wasn’t good for her to be friends with the eights but she knew it could be worse if she were to leave. She continued to stick it out and hide her disorder from them. Samantha also hid her new relationship with AJ, a boy from poet’s corner. When she finally opens up to them about the relationship, they all reject it and start bashing her and saying cruel things about them both. Instead of cowering away and hiding she stood up for him and more importantly herself. It gave Sam a new power over the eights and surprised them all. Samantha was tired of always hiding everything and know she felt like she did not have