44 pages • 1 hour read
Lynn PainterThe Do-Over
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.
Symbols & Motifs
Confessions
Each chapter begins with a confession from the confessions box Emilie hides in her room, which serves as a motif for The Importance of Authenticity. These confessions incorporate humor into the story, provide glimpses into what is to come for the chapter, and show the tiny pieces that make up Emilie—the imperfect, true Emilie who hides herself to put others at ease. The first chapter begins with the confession, “When I was ten, I started putting confession strips into a box in my closet so that if anything happened to me, people would know that I was more than just the quiet girl who followed the rules” (4). This first connection embodies the novel as a whole. While not explicitly revealing anything, it hints at the underlying emotions Emilie refuses to face—that as much as she hides herself from people and avoids conflict, she yearns for others to know her on a genuine level.
Another confession reads: “I once pulled a hotel’s fire alarm because my parents were sleeping in and I wanted to get to Disneyland before there was a line to see Belle” (18). The extreme measure Emilie goes to wake her parents without simply telling them her desires outright demonstrates how she has a lot of character growth to achieve throughout the novel in terms of embracing her authenticity. Many of the confessions include Emilie engaging in behaviors for others to notice her without outright asking for attention or, conversely, fleeing from attention only to end up harming herself. These confessions all hint at the negative effects that being inauthentic to oneself and others has on a person’s life.
“Walking on Sunshine” Ringtone
Every day of the Valentine’s Day time loop begins with the “Walking on Sunshine” song that Josh set for Emilie’s alarm clock. The first time it happens, Emilie is unbothered by the sound. It is a routine she’s become familiar with, even if she doesn’t particularly love it. By the third repeat, Emilie views the ringtone as “that annoying song Josh had programmed into [her] iPhone to wake [her] up” (56). Though Emilie is committed to not changing her plan for the day or her perception of her relationship with Josh, her increasingly frustrated reaction to the ringtone that Josh picked symbolizes her growing disillusionment with her life.
By Chapter 10, the same day has occurred several times and when the “Walking on Sunshine” song wakes Emilie up, she throws her phone across the room before burying her face into her pillow and screaming until she is out of breath. This occurs just after Emilie achieved what she believed was a solid Valentine’s Day, compared to the others. At this point in the novel, Emilie decides to have her Day of No Consequences. She decides she can say whatever she wants, believing it will be erased when the day repeats and she won’t face any punishment for her transgressions.
The song “Walking on Sunshine” also refers to the happiness one feels when in love. At the beginning of the novel, Emilie is practically walking on sunshine because she’s convinced herself that her relationship with Josh is perfect and her Valentine’s Day will be perfect, too. But as the time loop continues, Emilie begins to realize that she’s been lying to herself and that her life and relationship are not as perfect as she’s convinced herself it is. Her increased frustration each time the song plays illustrates her growing realization that she doesn’t feel love as real with Josh as the lyrics claim.
Day of No Consequences
The Day of No Consequences (DONC) serves as a motif for The Reality of Imperfection. In the DONC, Emilie quits trying for perfection and instead embraces the uncertainty of the day to come. The concept of the DONC evidences Emilie freeing herself from tethering her actions to her usual fear of judgment or reproach. With her newfound freedom, Emilie is free to act impulsively and break the rules without worrying that it’ll mess up her “perfect” plan for the day or her future. Though she wakes up the next morning to discover it’s the next day and her actions from the DONC will have consequences, Emilie discovers she doesn’t care quite as much as she would have initially expected. She’s previously lived her life in fear of consequences should she fail or misbehave. After doing her worst and dealing just fine with the consequences of her actions, Emilie has faced her greatest fear and no longer lives afraid of imperfection.
Just like everyone else, Emilie isn’t perfect. By accepting this and no longer striving for absolute perfection, she can discover who she truly is without monitoring her actions so heavily she becomes someone else. At first, she believes the “no-holds-barred Em that [she] was being on the DONC wasn’t [her] at all” but soon comes to wonder if it “was […] actually maybe sort of [her]” (210). Following her DONC, Emilie is no longer content with dealing with inconveniences in the passive way she used before, demonstrating the fundamental shift it has on her actions to follow. In embracing imperfection by acting on her desires, thoughts, and feelings without worrying about how others will react, Emilie reclaims agency over her life as well.
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By Lynn Painter
