The Do-Over

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.