Since You Ve Been Gone Literary Analysis
The first literary element in Since You’ve Been Gone is irony. In this book Emily, the main character, is left behind all summer without knowing where her best friend, Sloan, went. The only thing she has is a list of 13 tasks Sloan left that are extremely out of Emily’s comfort zone. Throughout her attempt to complete the list, Emily meets a guy named Frank and they become friends. One night they show up to Emily’s house to find her parents, two playwrights, in need of two actors to play parts in a production they have to put on later that night. Frank gladly agrees to be a part to help out her parents, but they still were missing one character. Completely out of character, Emily chimes in and says, “ I’ll do it” (Matson 216). The fact that
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Throughout the book, Frank and Emily become really close and start to use a phrase over and over again. “In a well-ordered universe” (Matson 246). This is used repetitively to symbolize a larger meaning in the book. The phrase itself means that if everything went perfectly smooth in the world, then this would happen but, the symbolically meaning is different. It relates to how everything in Frank and Emily’s life that summer is not going according to plan or how they expected it to be. “In a well-ordered universe.” In their case, the universe happened to work in their favor because even though their summer did not go “perfectly smooth”, everything worked out the way is was supposed to, and everything ended up happening for a reason and made their lives better than they would have thought.
The significance of the title, Since You’ve Been Gone, relates to how Sloan leaves Emily for the summer, alone with the list. Even though at first Emily thought that Sloan being gone was the worst thing that could happen to her, she eventually realizes that it was a good thing. She learned more about herself and “came out of her shell”. She changed as a person, in ways she could not have done if Sloan was with her. When Emily finds Sloan at the end of the book, with all 13 things completed, she realizes that since Sloan was gone, she learned to be alone and
Throughout the book, Frank and Emily become really close and start to use a phrase over and over again. “In a well-ordered universe” (Matson 246). This is used repetitively to symbolize a larger meaning in the book. The phrase itself means that if everything went perfectly smooth in the world, then this would happen but, the symbolically meaning is different. It relates to how everything in Frank and Emily’s life that summer is not going according to plan or how they expected it to be. “In a well-ordered universe.” In their case, the universe happened to work in their favor because even though their summer did not go “perfectly smooth”, everything worked out the way is was supposed to, and everything ended up happening for a reason and made their lives better than they would have thought.
The significance of the title, Since You’ve Been Gone, relates to how Sloan leaves Emily for the summer, alone with the list. Even though at first Emily thought that Sloan being gone was the worst thing that could happen to her, she eventually realizes that it was a good thing. She learned more about herself and “came out of her shell”. She changed as a person, in ways she could not have done if Sloan was with her. When Emily finds Sloan at the end of the book, with all 13 things completed, she realizes that since Sloan was gone, she learned to be alone and