The Notebook

Author’s Note: I wrote this piece to show my understanding of text analysis. While reading this piece, look for text evidence and really good body paragraphs.

The Notebook is a classic love story and a timeless novel. Throughout both the book and movie, Nicholas Sparks, adds a great amount of symbolism to really show Noah and Allie’s love for each other. Nicholas Sparks has written many other love stories similar to The Notebook, and  all of them contain great symbolism. While reading The Notebook, you really get attached to the characters Noah and Allie throughout their crazy, loving life together. The Notebook is all about two people who unexpectedly fall in love with each other, only to find out that Allie’s wealthy parents don’t approve. Whether the symbolism is really noticeable, or you have to dig to find, it’s always there, especially in this book.

The house that Noah builds is a huge symbol in this book. The house symbolizes Noah’s love for Allie and how much he still loves and cares about her even after she’s gone. “I want a white house with blue shutters and a room overlooking the river so I can paint,” Allie explained to Noah, and her wish was his command. Even after she moved away, several years later, Noah still decided to build the house of Allie’s dreams. The symbolism of this action is a turning point in the book that symbolizes Noah’s undying love for Allie.

“I wrote you 365 letters. I wrote you every day for a year,” another big symbol in this book is the 365 letters that Noah writes to Allie. This is another way that Noah symbolizes his love for Allie. These letters are a really big part of the book because Allie didn’t actually get and read the letters until years after Noah mailed them. Allie’s mother didn’t want them together, so she took the letters and hid them from Allie. Later, her mom realized that Allie should love whoever her heart desires.

The main theme in The Notebook is love, just like in the book A Walk to Remember. Although in A Walk to Remember, instead of moving away from each other, Landon finds out that Jamie has cancer. They fall in love and get married and Landon stays with her until her very last days. This love story is a little    different than Allie and Noah’s, but overall, they’re both still love stories that both contain a lot of symbolism about the love.

In all of Nicholas Sparks’ books, he puts a lot of symbolism in to really help create an image and describe a scene for the reader. Most, if not all his books main theme is love and the symbolism thrown in is what makes these novels so extraordinary. It is Spark’s use of symbolism that creates a dream world, making his novels difficult to put down.