If I Stay

Music functions paradoxically in Gayle Forman’s If I Stay, dividing the characters along lines of personal taste, personality, and worldview. For example, Mia’s parents, her boyfriend Adam, her best friend Kim, and the vast majority of her family’s close friends have an affinity for rock music. Her father spent his early adulthood as a musician and songwriter in a regional rock band, while her mother spent her young adulthood as a self-described “rock chick.” Their love of rock music helps to characterize them. Rock and Roll is traditionally the music of nonconformity, and both Mia’s parents sought to rebel against societal institutions and values that they found archaic. It is also the music of youthful idealism, and while Mia’s parents eventually get married and become their own quirky version of a traditional nuclear family, there is still a palpable tension between their youthful ideals and the pragmatic requirements of supporting and raising a family. Though they are still passionate and opinionated about what constitutes great rock music—for example, they love Jonathan Richman and The Melvins—their adult life has made them more open and accepting of Mia’s alternative musical pursuits.