You've Reached Sam

A smart, forward-thinking, practical girl, Julie Clarke is the story’s protagonist and she functions as the heroine who needs to change and grow into a better version of herself. She’s intelligent, quiet, creative, and thoughtful. As a natural planner, Julie wants a safe, secure life and responsibly takes steps to reach her goals, such as attending her dream college. Before Sam’s death, Julie is organized, practical, and studious. Afterward, she is distracted, irrational, and lost; she falls behind in school, isolates herself, and can’t cope with the unplanned.

Although Sam adores her and praises her many positive qualities, her flaws include her concentration on the future, inflexibility, and inability to cope or face conflicts. Julie works to correct these areas by learning that she cannot control or plan for everything, a lesson Sam tried to teach her while he was alive: “Sam kisses me on the cheek. ‘You know, Jules, you can’t always plan out every detail, though. There will always be things we can’t prepare for,’ he says. ‘You have to live in the moment sometimes. Let life surprise you’” (192). Despite multiple characters, such as her mom, Sam, and Mika, telling Julie that she needs to live in the present and accept the unplanned, she cannot stop thinking about the lost future with Sam. Linking to major themes of Change as Growth: Accepting the Unplanned and Coping With Grief and Letting Go, Julie must learn to be more spontaneous and feel at peace with even the most surprising experiences.

Julie becomes so overwhelmed by her grief that she at first can’t exercise empathy for anyone else who is hurting, such as Mika, Oliver, and James. With Sam’s help, she becomes more aware of others’ feelings and how her absence affects them, such as her mom feeling disconnected from her, Sam worrying she forgot him, and Mika falling into grief without her support. In contrast to Mika, James, and others’ understanding, Julie’s teacher, Mr. Gill, doesn’t show her any empathy; he doesn’t give Julie any extra extensions on her paper, jeopardizing her grade for graduation. Julie’s inflexibility to adapt is mirrored in Mr. Gill, since she isn’t able to put aside her own grief to assist others until later, and her teacher doesn’t change his policies.

Julie’s love for Sam makes the main conflict of grief and letting go much harder for Julie to battle, especially since she thinks she will lose him twice after the phone calls end. Julie couldn’t predict Sam’s death, her parents’ divorce, her rejection from Reed College, Mika’s anger, or her phone breaking. She also couldn’t predict Sam’s memories fueling her writing, becoming close friends with Oliver, or talking to Sam after death. By the end, Julie learns how to cope. She starts to live in the present and accept the unanticipated, feeling more confident to adapt to changes and enjoy every day while always keeping Sam alive in her heart.