The Parallel of Lisa

This flow follows Kelly Kelleher’s memory of Lisa Gardiner’s suicide attempt and its influence on her own struggle to remain alive.

increasingBearing stren­gth in each eventdecreasing

The Dormitory Emergency

Lisa’s Attempt A crisis witnessed Kelly Kelleher remembers Lisa Gardiner collapsing after taking sleeping pills. Kelly runs for help and waits as Lisa is carried to the emergency room. Life at the edge Lisa’s stopped heart and resuscitation make death feel immediate to the students. The event stays with Kelly as proof that a life can appear lost and still be restored.

A Survivor Returns

The Return to College Attention and resentment Lisa Gardiner returns after surviving the attempt. Some students resent the attention her near-death attracts, while Kelly Kelleher chooses to speak with her earnestly. A difficult claim Lisa describes the limited purpose she sees in individual lives, drawing on her experience as one half of a twin set. Kelly resists the idea that one person can be reduced to another.

Kelly’s Refusal to Die

A Promise to Live Rejecting self-destruction After the end of her relationship with G-----, Kelly Kelleher vows not to take her own life, believing that life is precious. Lisa as a distinction She repeatedly tells herself that she is not Lisa Gardiner. The comparison both strengthens Kelly’s insistence on her own identity and exposes how close the memory of suicide remains.

The Airway Memory

Remembering Resuscitation A bodily parallel Trapped underwater, Kelly Kelleher recalls Lisa’s emergency treatment, including the tube forced into Lisa’s throat and the effort to restart her heart. Survival imagined The memory gives Kelly a model of rescue: even a person who seems dead can be brought back. It also intensifies her awareness of how frightening survival can be.

A Different Ending

Rescue Cannot Be Repeated The remembered precedent Kelly Kelleher has seen Lisa Gardiner restored after a suicide attempt. That experience encourages her to believe that people can return from the brink. Kelly’s death In Indian Creek, no medical team reaches Kelly in time. The contrast marks the limit of analogy: Lisa’s survival does not guarantee that Kelly will be saved.

Several years before the accident

After Lisa’s hospital treatment

After her breakup with G-----

During Kelly’s struggle in Indian Creek

At the end of the novel