60 pages • 2 hours read
Sarah DessenSomeone Like You
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 1998A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Character Analysis
Halley Cooke
Content Warning: This section references a death by vehicle accident and abusive behaviors.
As the protagonist of the text, Halley undergoes the biggest transformation. She begins the text as a young woman who feels that she is still waiting for her identity to form: “When I pictured myself, it was always like just an outline in a coloring book, with the inside not yet completed” (23). Halley is more passive as compared to Scarlett, happy to follow along but without a strong sense of self. She feels that the “inside”—her identity, personality, and wants—are lacking, and through her experiences in the text, she begins to form that identity.
Halley’s lack of a clear sense of identity leads her to look to others to help develop her sense of self, specifically through her relationship with Macon. She describes Macon as “wild, different, and when [she is] with him, caught up in it all, [she can] play along like [she is], too” (62). Halley seeks validation through her relationship with Macon, compromising some of her values and straining other relationships in her life, such as with her parents and Scarlett. With Macon, Halley feels that she can access a new part of herself: “letting loose that girl from the early summer and the Grand Canyon. At that moment, suspended and free-falling, I could feel her leaving me” (131). Halley is so eager to let go of the girl that she was that, at times, she is willing to make decisions that make her unrecognizable to herself and her loved ones.
One decision she grapples with throughout the text is whether or not to have sex with Macon. As their relationship progresses and Macon becomes increasingly impatient, Halley understands that she will lose Macon if she does not have sex with him. Still, when she thinks “of that sketched black outline, the color inside just beginning to get filled in. The girl [she]’d been, the girl [she] was […] [she thinks] of Scarlett, always Scarlett, and that new color, that particular shade, which [she isn’t] ready to take on just yet” (182). Even when she does relent and tells Macon about her decision to have sex with him for the first time on New Year’s Eve, the decision does not sit right with her: “I told myself it was the right thing, what I wanted to do, yet something still felt uneven and off-balance. But it was too late to go back now” (214). Rather than feeling secure in her decision, Halley feels unsettled and trapped, thinking it is too late to go back and change her mind.
Halley’s perspective shifts after the car accident and Macon fails to show up to support Halley either at the hospital or when she returns home. His actions prove to Halley that it is not a failing on her part but his:
I deserved better. I deserved I love yous and kiwi fruits and flowers and warriors coming to my door, besotted with love. […] I deserved to grow, and to change, to become all the girls I could ever be over the course of my life, each one better than the last (243).
This quote illustrates that Halley’s sense of self-worth has developed and that she now sees herself as someone deserving of love and care. This quote has important implications beyond the context of romantic relationships as well. In the latter half of this quote, Halley realizes that being “unfinished” is not a bad thing but a sign that she has more growth and change to undergo. Halley understands now that she will never be quite finished and that her “outline” will continue to grow and expand to accommodate the life experiences she accumulates.
Scarlett Thomas
Scarlett is Halley’s best friend and one of the principal characters in the text. Early in the narrative, Scarlett loses her boyfriend, Michael Sherwood, in a motorcycle accident. She soon learns that she is pregnant with Michael’s child, and she spends the remainder of the novel navigating teen pregnancy. Halley admires Scarlett and believes that “Scarlett had always been the stronger, the livelier, the braver” of the two of them (20). When Michael dies, Scarlett relies on Halley to help her through, proving to them both that Halley has more inner strength than she believes. Scarlett and Halley’s relationship speaks to The Importance of Friendship, as the two help one another grow and navigate difficult obstacles throughout the text. Sometimes, they seem to only be able to rely on one another, emphasizing the unique importance of friendship during adolescence.
Scarlett was raised by a single mother, Marion, and has had to carry a lot of responsibility in her life. When she discovers her pregnancy, she decides that she is going to take the path of parenthood: “I mean, sure, nothing is going to be normal for me anymore. But how normal has my life ever been? Growing up with Marion sure wasn’t, losing Michael wasn’t. Nothing ever has been” (113). Scarlett has a strong understanding of who she is: reliable, confident, and hardworking. The thought of pregnancy is daunting to her at times throughout, but her resolve to have the baby remains steadfast. Even when others cast judgment toward her decision, Scarlett does not waver: “I’m not ashamed, Halley. I know I’m doing the right thing and they can’t make me think any different” (200). This speaks to Scarlett’s inner strength; she is self-assured in a way that many young adults struggle with, including Halley, during their teenage years.
Scarlett tries hard to impart this same confidence in Halley: “Someone like you. Any guy would be damn lucky to have you, Halley, and you know it. You’re beautiful and smart and loyal and funny […] You’re special” (80). She wants more for her best friend than Halley is often willing to give herself. She encourages her to think critically about her relationship with Macon and whether he is the right person for Halley to be with, let alone have sex with as her first time: “Don’t give up something important to hold onto someone who can’t even say they love you” (221). Scarlett often sees things in Halley that Halley struggles to see herself, and she reminds her of her value and worth even when Halley makes decisions that Scarlett disagrees with. Scarlett and Halley’s friendship speaks to the importance of platonic love. Throughout the challenges they each face, Scarlett and Halley are each other’s constant and steadfast support system. They navigate these challenges together, and Scarlett offers a sign of her love and devotion for her best friend in naming her daughter, Grace Halley, after Halley.
Macon Faulkner
Macon is Michael Sherwood’s best friend and Halley’s first love. Both charismatic and troubled, Macon has a reputation around school: “Macon was wild, different, and when I was with him, caught up in it all, I could play along like I was, too” (62). Halley is attracted to him because he seems so opposite to her: He is wild and carefree, skips school, and gets into trouble.
As Halley explores her relationship with Macon, he causes her to become more isolated from her loved ones. Macon is disinterested in getting to know her family, and Halley keeps him at an arm’s length from her parents because she knows they would not approve. Though he makes her feel fun and desirable, their relationship quickly devolves as Macon becomes increasingly focused on having sex with Halley: “He didn’t want to stay and watch TV or just hang out and talk […] I already knew I’d lose Macon, probably soon, if I didn’t sleep with him” (181). It becomes clear the longer they are together that Macon’s interest in Halley is primarily physical. The time they spend together revolves around sneaking out and finding places to be intimate, and when Halley stops things from progressing further, Macon quickly loses interest in spending time with her.
As much as Macon pulls Halley away from her family, he does not share many aspects of his life with her in turn: “No matter how well I thought I was getting to know him, there was always some part of himself he kept hidden: people and places, activities in which I wasn’t included” (105). This, coupled with Macon’s emphasis on the physical aspects of their relationship, illustrates the way that Macon views their relationship as more casual and less serious than Halley does. The pressure Macon places on Halley to have sex comes to a head when she gets sick at the New Year’s Eve party on the night she told him she planned to have sex with him for the first time. He becomes angry, speeding on the drive home after drinking and smoking marijuana, which causes an accident. Only after the accident does Macon express real emotion for Halley: “I remember Macon holding my hand, tightly between his, and saying it finally, in the wrong place at the wrong time, but saying it. I love you. Oh, God, Halley, I’m sorry. I love you” (234). This quote illustrates Halley’s realization that Macon will never be the kind of boyfriend or partner that she desires, stating that he told her he loved her both at the wrong time and in the wrong place.
The reader is left to have ambiguous feelings about Macon at the end of the narrative. Despite the harm he caused Halley and his unresolved issues, Macon shows up for Halley and Scarlett by driving them to the hospital when Scarlett goes into labor. He decides to stay at the hospital, and Halley sees him in the waiting room “leaning against the candy machine” (278). Macon is meant to represent the intensity of first love and everything that comes with first love, although it is clear at the end of the text that he will not be Halley’s last.
Julia Cooke
Julia is Halley’s mother and is a therapist and author of multiple books that center on the parent-child relationship. For all of her parenting knowledge, Julia struggles as Halley begins growing apart from her the more she explores adolescence. This conflict between Halley and Julia thematically captures Navigating Family Dynamics in Adolescence. As Halley begins exploring interests outside of her relationship with her mother, whom she used to tell everything to, the distance grows between them, and Julia and Halley occupy two different worlds: “The world I was in now, of high school and my love affair with P.E., with Michael Sherwood gone, had no place for my mother or what she represented” (66). To Halley, her mother and her once-close relationship with her represents childhood, a time when her mother had more influence over her thoughts, decisions, and actions. As she becomes involved with Macon and seeks to explore the world of adolescence, Halley begins to see her mother as a roadblock to true growth and maturity rather than a guiding hand that can help shape her future.
The tighter Julia tries to hold on to Halley, the more Halley pushes her away. Using punishment and trying to forbid Halley from seeing Macon only causes Halley to go to greater lengths to hide their relationship through sneaking around and lying. For all of their conflict, Julia does have a deep understanding of her daughter’s behaviors and the risks she is taking by being involved with Macon: “I am talking about you falling in with the wrong crowd, getting influenced to do something you aren’t ready to do. That you don’t want to do” (170). Without knowing the full context of Halley’s grappling with the decision to have sex with Macon or not, Julia displays profound insight into Halley’s current predicament.
Julia learns how to let go of the girl that Halley was in order to re-form her relationship with who her daughter is becoming. They have a powerful conversation after Halley reveals that she has broken up with Macon for good. Julia at first assumes that Halley is going back to Macon, but Halley’s response, “I will never learn […] until you let me” (245), finally gets through to Julia. She understands that Halley needs to learn to make her own mistakes and that as scary as it might be, Julia needs to trust that she has given Halley the tools to make good decisions. Julia’s willingness to stay silent, to let Halley figure things out rather than interceding right away, illustrates Julia’s own growth as a mother, someone who can help guide Halley and be there for support without forcibly moving her.
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