Simon Limbres

Simon is a 19-year-old man living in Le Havre with his mother, Marianne, and his sister Lou at the beginning of the novel. (His father, Sean, had recently moved out.) He has a girlfriend named Juliette. In the second chapter, Simon goes on an early morning surfing excursion with his two best friends, but on the way home their van hits a pole and Simon is thrown from the vehicle. At the hospital, it is determined that Simon is suffering from brain death and will not awaken from his coma. This is the inciting incident that launches the rest of the plot, as Simon's parents must determine whether or not they wish to allow his organs to be donated to others.

While thinking this through, Sean and Marianne contemplate whether Simon was "generous" (102). Marianne explains that "Simon had so much energy, he liked to exert himself, he...