When You Were Everything

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 2020

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Summary

Background

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Parts 1-6

Parts 7-10

Parts 11-16

Parts 17-20

Character Analysis

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Symbols & Motifs

Snow Globes

Cleo’s snow globes are symbolic of memory. Cleo has collected the snow globes for years, and each one is attached to a different moment in time or important relationship. Cleo loves the snow globes because when she looks through the glass, “everything [...] appears to be small and clean and pretty” (3). The snow globes therefore suspend the past into neat and definable moments in time. Cleo prefers to maintain control, and she therefore feels anxious and upset when confronted with unexpected circumstances. The same is true of her memories. When they become painful, she tries to control them by erasing or manipulating them. She likes the past to be as orderly as her snow globes.

When Layla Hassan stops speaking to Cleo, Cleo breaks one of her favorite snow globes, illustrating her complicated relationship with her memories and her past. In the morning, she discovers that the floor is “wet and covered in broken glass” (216) and realizes that she accidentally shattered the Peter Pan snow globe that Gigi gave her. This particular snow globe therefore symbolizes Cleo’s childhood memories, and when it breaks, the narrative suggests that Cleo is losing her innocence and beginning to grow beyond her younger self. Not long after this incident, she spends the day in the city alone and buys herself a new snow globe. The new addition to the collection illustrates Cleo’s desire to make new memories for herself on her own terms. The new snow globe can never replace the snow globe from Gigi, but it helps Cleo to feel that she is in control of her past and the memories she is making as she comes of age.

Dolly’s

Dolly’s is symbolic of safety. The diner has been a fixture in Cleo’s life for many years. Before she and Layla stopped talking, the two friends would spend regular weekend afternoons at the diner together. After their friendship begins to dissolve, Cleo continues to visit the diner because she feels comfortable in this environment and makes concerted efforts to spend time with new people in this setting, including Sydney Cox, Willa Bae, and Dom Grey. The setting offers Cleo an escape from her otherwise overwhelming and unpredictable life. The diner is one of the only consistently safe places where Cleo can be herself.

Over time, Cleo becomes increasingly reliant on the diner in order to balance her emotions. She continues eating and doing her homework here, and she also starts helping Dom’s family by picking up hostess shifts. This new job distracts her from her emotional unrest and gives her a purpose to invest in. Furthermore, Dolly’s offers Cleo the chance to develop new relationships, particularly with Dom and his grandparents. The diner acts as a pseudo-home for Cleo and grants her a surrogate family structure. The more time she spends in this space, the more she learns about herself and her relationships with others.

Rumors

The rumor that Sloane Sorenson spreads about Cleo’s dad, Cliff Baker, is symbolic of disillusionment and change. Cleo has no interest in believing Sloane’s lies, but the rumor inevitably challenges Cleo to reexamine her world, her relationships, and herself. She begins to understand the ways in which she might have been ignoring the truth, and when she brings herself to acknowledge these realities, she finally learns to accept the ways in which her family is changing. Thus, the rumor indirectly urges Cleo towards maturity because it incites her to confront her parents about what really happened between them. The rumor serves as a narrative device used to awaken Cleo’s character and to propel her towards internal change and self-discovery.

London Program

The London Program to which Cleo applies is symbolic of her hope for new beginnings and experiences. When Ms. Novak first tells Cleo about the Young Scholars Summer School in London, she is thrilled because the program would give Cleo the chance to study Shakespeare in a new and inspiring environment. She sees herself as “a Shakespearean expert” (20) and hopes that getting into the program would support her dreams and validate her passions. She becomes particularly reliant on the possibility of attending the program after she and Layla start to drift apart. Thinking about the program is Cleo’s one form of hope and solace. This is why she is so devastated when she isn’t accepted, for in this moment, she loses her sense of hope and is forced to reevaluate her life and her future and invent new dreams for herself.