Sparks uses Noah’s self-imposed physical and emotional isolation to show how his life is defined by his love for Allie-even if he hasn’t heard from her in 14 years. During conversations with his neighbor, Gus, Gus can tell that Noah is still hung up on his “first love.” “No matter what you do,” Gus warns Noah, “she’ll stay with you forever.” Though Noah tries to write off Gus’s words, everything about Noah’s life-a life lived on pause-demonstrates their truth. He lives alone in a renovated plantation home with only a three-legged dog for company. When readers meet Noah, it is October of 1946-over a decade since his love affair with Allie. Sparks uses Noah and Allie’s states of mind at the start of the novel to show how their lives have been defined by their love for each other-regardless of whether they want to accept that fact or not. By showing how love comes to define Noah and Allie’s lives, Sparks ultimately suggests that love is a force which can steer one’s destiny. After a summer of love, they are torn apart when Allie’s family leaves town and Allie’s mother begins confiscating the letters Noah writes-but 14 years later, they find one another and discover that their love is stronger than ever. Indeed, when Noah Calhoun and Allie Nelson meet in New Bern, North Carolina in 1932, it is love at first sight. Nicholas Sparks portrays love as an unstoppable power with the ability to change and bring purpose to one’s life. In the world of The Notebook, love overcomes all: class, logic, and even disease.
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