All the bright

places
A Reaction Paper

Submitted by:
Jhiro N. Cavestany
11 HE-iTunes

Submitted to:
Ms. Camille M. Perez
Subject Teacher

English for Academic and Professional Purposes 11 Reaction Paper

 S.Y 2023 – 2024
“All the bright places” is a young adult fiction novel by Jennifer Niven which is
based on the author's personal story. The novel was first published on January 6, 2015
through Knopf Publishing Group and is Niven's first young adult book. A film
adaptation starring Elle Fanning and Justice Smith was released on February 28, 2020
on Netflix.

“All the bright places” is a work of art, literally. It’s a story of a guy named
Theodore Finch and a girl named Violet Markey, it took place in modern Indiana
Finch is a boy that struggles with a harsh past and a mental illness, he is known
as “The Freak” at school and gets bullied frequently. The main plot focuses on
Finch teaching Violet to move on because of her sister who died in a car
accident but with that guidance Violet forgot to see the sadness within finch
and with his own issues he ended up drowning himself in a river. With it’s many
lessons the most highlighted purpose of the author is the importance of mental
health and for people to be wary of it. It is a movie with rollercoaster of emotions
including romance, grief, adventure, trauma, purpose, and survivorship.
My insights towards the movie is it’s bittersweet and touches me. The movie
itself have a heartbreaking climax but the resolution comes with a lot of lessons
like the importance of small things, everything has a meaning, and that there
are bright places even in dark times. And that, if there isn’t, you can be that
bright place… with infinite capacities. I personally relate to the main character/s
as someone who dealt with depression personally, I relate to the struggle of
Finch of keeping it all together, building and picking yourself up again and
again hoping that it would have a different outcome but in the end everything
you’ve built just crashes down in front of you, loathing yourself for messing up
everything, hating yourself for having a trauma that’s not even your fault for
having, family issues such as growing up with an abusive father. But it also taught
me that it is not about you leaving this world, it is also everything you’ll left
behind, everyone that cares for you, loves you, and will miss you. Just like how
Violet realized how it must’ve felt for her families and friend if she really jumped
from the bridge the moment Finch saw her and saver her life.

To summarize it is a warm and thoughtful portrait of teen trauma, grief and

moving on. The movie itself is amazing because it digs deeply into the reality of
mental illness and how hard it is for one to deal with. It’s a movie that made me

English for Academic and Professional Purposes 11 Reaction Paper

cry and took me long enough to move on from the climax. Although the ending
is heartbreaking I personally think that the lessons Violet shared in the film is an
ice to a burn, meaning it somehow comforts the pain as the lesson also focuses
on letting go of the person doesn’t mean letting go of the memories, and those
memories can live inside us forever even it that certain person left this world
earlier than we wanted them to. Overall it is satisfying and it couldn’t have been
any better , I think it’s perfect the way it is and with it’s resolution.

English for Academic and Professional Purposes 11 Reaction Paper

 Scenes from the Movie
It’s the scene where Violet is
about to jump from a bridge
and Finch running early
morning ran past her and
convinced her to get down
and that’s where the story
started.

This is the scene where

Violet attended school late
and dropped her books,
everyone laughed at her
so Finch threw his chair out
of nowhere stealing the
crowd’s attention which is
just so goddamn sweet.
This is where Finch visited Violet late
at night and walked with her thru
an empty street full of vandalisms in
walls. There is a list written in the wall
that says “Before I die I want to:”
and different answers of different
people. Finch wrote “To stay
awake” which means he wants to
feel in control of his life and actions
and Violet wrote “Be Brave!” meaning she wants to be free of her traumas and
anxieties.

English for Academic and Professional Purposes 11 Reaction Paper

This is a very crucial part of the
film where Finch left a stone in
Violet’s locker with a note
saying “Your Turn” meaning
sooner or later Violet have to
save herself alone
foreshadowing finch being
devoured by his “dark moods”
again caused by his bipolar
disorder.
Violet is too late to find Finch,
she realized that he must be in
the river which is one of the
places they visited for a school
project. She found his van in
the forest and his clothes in the
stones beside the river
meaning he drowned himself
not too long ago, even so
she’s late. She also shouted
Finch a lot of time and shouted “Marco” which Finch used to shout “Polo” as a
reply, but she heard nothing but silence. Literally living the quote I personally
made “Sometimes the silence hurts louder more than any words”.
Violet visited a place where
Finch told her that he’ll take her
there someday, it’s a monastery.
But she only visited alone since
Finch is dead already by that
time. Looking back when they
visited that street with
vandalisms they made epitaphs
and Violet said her’s would be “I
was here” and Finch said “Yeah,
I’m gonna steal that one from you” which he really did, ironically.

English for Academic and Professional Purposes 11 Reaction Paper

The last scene where Violet reported
her ”Wandering” project with finch
and her speech goes by, ”He taught
me that you don't need to climb a mountain
to stand on top of the world, and even the
ugliest places can be beautiful - as long as
you take the time to look. And it's okay to
get lost, as long as you find your way back.
But, in learning all of that, I missed seeing
something more important; seeing Finch. I
missed that he was in pain. I missed that he was teaching me all along how to move on. Finch
was a dreamer. He dreamt while he was awake. He dreamt of all the beauty in the world and
he made it come to life. Finch taught me that there's beauty in the most unexpected of places,
and that there are bright places even in dark times. And that, if there isn't, you can be that
bright place... with infinite capacities.”

REFERENCES: -https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3907584/characters/nm1102577
-https://www.filmxy.vip/
-https://decider.com/2020/02/28/all-the-bright-places-netflix-stream-it-or-skip-
it/

English for Academic and Professional Purposes 11 Reaction Paper