37 pages • 1 hour read
LancaliI Fell in Love with Hope
Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2022A 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
Sam
Sam is the narrator of the novel. He is omniscient in that he knows what each character thinks and feels. At the beginning of the story, he appears to be a typical hospital patient. He has a history with previous patients and develops a close friendship with Sony, Coeur, Neo, and Hikari. However, Lancali reveals that Sam is an unreliable narrator; he intentionally leaves information out that would be relevant to the reader, such as not having a room of his own. The final chapters reveal that Sam is not actually a person at all; he is a physical manifestation of the hopes and dreams people have when they come to the hospital for healing.
At the beginning of the novel, Sam is bitter and unwilling to love another person because the boy he loved before died and left him alone at the hospital with nothing but a name and memories. In the process, he loses his hope that people can live and love—he has seen too many deaths in his time to believe that it is worth connecting with people. When Hikari arrives at the hospital, she reunites Sam with the soul of his lost lover, Sam, and rekindles the hopes and dreams that Sam is meant to reflect.
The symbol of the sun is expressed through Sam’s character. Sam comments that people cannot see the light they shine. Sam has never seen his own light or the hope he brings to other people. It is only when Sam and Hikari come into his life that Sam realizes the impact he has on others, and the reasons he gives them to live. Sam needs Hikari and Sam, as he needs those with metaphorical darkness (struggles caused by their chronic illnesses) to see the metaphorical light he creates.
Neo
Neo is the first friend Sam makes at the hospital. The friendship is difficult at the start. Neo tries to keep Sam at a distance; on the surface, it is easier to struggle alone without becoming attached to others. As the narrative progresses, Neo comes to realize that he appreciates Sam’s friendship. More importantly, he appreciates the friends that he makes because of Sam—Sony, Hikari, and the boy he comes to love, Coeur. Neo, once a “loner,” develops a group of friends with whom he makes an unbreakable bond. As he prepares to move on to the afterlife, he is impatient to join his waiting friends.
Through Neo, Lancali emphasizes the importance of friendship and connection when going through challenging times. At the start of the story, Neo is isolated and refuses companionship; he lacks friends who believe in him and his father is oppressive. Through his connection with Sam and the others, he learns to stand up for himself and appreciate who he is and what he is good at. Though his father never accepts him, Neo dies happy. He knows he has people who do accept and love him for all he is—a writer, a creative person, and a member of the LGBTQIA+ community.
Sony
Sony is the second friend that Sam makes in his physical body at the hospital. Her feistiness is shown in their first encounter, when she kicks a vending machine for stealing her money and not giving her food. She is energetic and loves to live life to the fullest. She wants to steal everything and take back what the world has taken from her—the chance to live. She does not need Sam’s hope, but his proximity allows her to enjoy moments of joy as they come to her.
Through Sony, Lancali highlights the need for Living in the Moment while dealing with hardships. Dependent on an oxygen tank with only one functional lung, Sony could give up and spend her life fearing death. Instead, she finds ways to make the most of her remaining life. With her dying breath, she focuses on the good day at the beach the quintet of friends had. She reminds Sam that life isn’t made up of only bad moments and that living means finding the good among the bad.
Coeur “C”
Coeur, called C, represents the importance of empathy. He is bulky and athletic, but he prefers to use his words rather than violence. He cares deeply about his friends and will do whatever he must to protect them, even at personal cost to himself. Though his illness leaves him with only half a heart, he remains compassionate and loyal through everything that life throws at him. He doesn’t allow his terminal diagnosis to change him or prevent him from being kind.
Through C, Lancali underscores the transformative power of kindness. No matter how hard life pushes him down, he continues to defend Neo against his father, Sam from himself, and Sony from being left behind. When tough times strike, a person has two options—be bitter or be kind. C reminds Hikari, and the audience, that kindness carries one further than bitterness.
Hikari
Hikari’s condition, depression, is the only one Lancali names. Hikari puts on a façade for the others, but battles every day, trying to find ways to cope with living. Her first act in the hospital is to recruit Sam to steal parts of a pencil sharpener—the parts necessary to self-harm. Her struggles are not at once explicit, unlike the others in her friend group.
Hikari represents the challenges that come with fighting an invisible illness. She shows that even when the battle is at its toughest, there is hope. Her ending is not tragic. She leaves the hospital, makes friends, and lives her life. She is the sole survivor of the group, and while she carries the weight of losing her friends, she learns to live her life to the fullest through the lessons she gained from each of her hospital friends.
In her final act in the novel, she promises to return to the hospital and to Sam one last time before dying and being reborn. This signifies a return to hope at the end of life. Though death is sad, there is also light. Lancali shows how Neo, C, and Sony found each other, and chose to remain part of each other’s lives. They left the story when Hikari no longer needed their individual lessons, but they remained with her. This becomes Hikari’s final message—those you love never truly leave you. They are always part of you through the lessons they taught you.
