Essay for "before i fall"

Before I Fall

By Andrea Basile

       What would you do if you saw the real you? That’s what happens to Samantha Kingston in the amazing yet terrifying book “before i fall” by Lauren Oliver. Samantha realizes that she has been a brat and a jerk to the people around her, and in 7 days she changes completely. This story teaches that even though you have everything, you still need to respect others.

          Samantha had it all, the boyfriend, the best spot in lunch, the best car, the best parking space, the best friends, and most importantly, popularity. But what she didn’t have was people who loved her. Samantha never realized how crude she was because she was too into herself and her friends. Many people have this problem. Many people have money and popularity so they think that they can do and say whatever they want to other people. But that’s not true. You need to respect other people and help pick them up off the ground.

          An example of Sam being mean is on page 38 when Sam was at a pool party for a girl named Sarah.  Sam then found a bunch of underwear with mirmaids and princesses on them. She bursted out laughing and she took all the underwear that she found and then went on the balcony above the pool (where everyone was) and through them over the ledge. All the embarrassing underwear went all over people heads and everyone started laughing while Sam screamed “Nice underwear Sarah!”. Another example is on page 274 when Sam is talking to a “loser” “Hey Sam!” The girl says. “Um…why are you talking to me? You’re lucky I even looked at you.” Sam replies then she walks away shaking her hips back and forward.

          Even though Sam is mean to her classmates, she is also mean to her mom and dad. An example is that everyday Sam’s mother makes breakfast and asks her if she wants breakfast and Sam’s reply is “Mother I already told you a thousand times, NO! There. Are. Too. Many. Carbs!” I thought that was so mean because the mother was only trying to be nice and Sam keeps on being horrible.

          So as you can see Samantha Kingston was not the girl to be around when it comes to respect. The truth is, once you say something bad, you can’t take it back. Words hurt other people like poison. And if something happens to the person you made fun of, you’re going to feel so guilty. So as a quote that reminds me how to behave is “If you don’t have something nice to say…DON’T SAY IT!” And it is so true, because you don’t know how much words can hurt people.  This story teaches you that even though you have everything, you still need to respect others.