42 pages • 1 hour read
After Ever After
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Symbols & Motifs
Tests
One recurring source of narrative tension is Jeff’s worry about the end-of-year tests he will need to pass to be promoted to the next grade. Jeff’s decision to hide the letter about these tests from his parents conveys his fear and self-doubt. He is particularly afraid that he will not be able to pass the math test, which also symbolizes his difficult relationship with his father (who is very good at math). Significantly, Jeff eventually tries to mend this relationship by asking his father for help with a math problem.
When Jeff’s parents learn about the upcoming tests, their reactions parallel the discourse around disability accommodations. Jeff’s father wants to let him take the test without aid, whereas his mother wants his learning disability to be accommodated:
‘Advocate? Advocate? Is that what you call it? Because I call it “enabling,” as in, “you are enabling your child to remain an infant.” You saw Jeff’s grade on that midterm. He can do this!’
Mom fired right back: […] ‘I’m not saying he should be excused from taking the test—just from being held back if he fails. In education, we call that “protection from adverse consequences.” It’s considered an essential characteristic of a quality learning environment’ (174-75).
The test motif therefore supports the novel’s exploration of the discourse around disability inclusion, particularly in education. Narratively speaking, they are also a way to illustrate Jeff’s emotional growth as he gains confidence and learns to rely on his friends. At the end of the story, he does pass the math test, but Tad’s intervention leads the media to investigate the unfair and inaccurate methods used to measure students’ success: “In the words of the editorial that ran in yesterday’s paper, ‘How can the powers that be use this deeply flawed instrument to decide the fate of our children?’” (250-51).
Beau Geste
In English class, Miss Palma introduces the students to the concept of a beau geste through the play they are studying, Cyrano de Bergerac. Tad explains the concept of the beau geste to Jeff as follows:
‘A beau geste is a beautiful gesture—like throwing your coat down over a puddle so a fair damsel can walk on it and keep her feet dry.’
‘OK, so this is important why?’
‘Well, haven’t you ever wished that, just once, you could do something completely magnificent?’ (120-21)
For Tad, performing a beau geste is a way to confront his mortality by giving his life a purpose. Through his pact with Jeff, Tad finds a way to accomplish his beautiful gesture: “You’re my biggest beau geste. Getting you onto that stage is way more important to me than strolling across it” (204). This is why he decides to tutor Jeff and eventually to stage a walkout to raise awareness of the standardized tests’ unfair standards.
Inspired by the idea of a beau geste, Jeff later decides to mend his relationship with his father by asking for his help with a math problem. He also dedicates his bike-a-thon ride to Tad in order to show his friend that people support him. After Tad’s death, Jeff collects his friend’s diploma in his name, and Miss Palma states: “This is your beau geste, Jeffrey” (253). The motif of the beau geste thus comes to reinforce the importance of selflessness and compassion as life’s purpose, aiding the characters in Dealing with Loss and Grief.
Jeff and Tad’s Pact
When they learn about the end-of-year tests they will have to take, Jeff and Tad make a pact to help each other graduate. As Tad explains: “I can walk across the stage at graduation. All right? That’s the deal. We’re a team. I tutor you, and you work out with me. You pass, I walk” (49).
The pact symbolizes Jeff and Tad’s friendship and their reliance on each other. However, although Jeff does eventually pass his dreaded math test, Tad relapses and dies before he can graduate. Tad’s fate is foreshadowed when Jeff learns about his diagnosis and gets an ominous feeling, which drives him to urge his friend to stick to the plan as if nothing had changed: “I still wanted to get Tad onto his [treadmill], though. All of a sudden, it felt like the most important thing in the world” (204). That Jeff clings to the pact in the face of uncertainty shows that he is not yet emotionally prepared to let Tad go.
By contrast, Tad adapts the pact to suit the reality of his situation and Jeff’s needs. When he realizes that he will be unable to be at the graduation ceremony, Tad stages a walkout to protest the tests’ unfairness. This selfless act is Tad’s ultimate beau geste, which Jeff eventually repays by walking across the stage in his best friend’s honor. By the end of the novel, Jeff and Tad have each symbolically upheld their end of the bargain, which provides closure to both the pact and their friendship.
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By Jordan Sonnenblick
