In The Last Song by Nicholas Sparks, there are many themes, such as love, friendship, and death. But the one I'm focusing on in this post is music. Music may not seem like something that would be a theme in a book, but in this book music is something powerful that connects everyone in the family.
First off, music generally plays a big role in Ronnie's life. As I mentioned in my last post, she plays the piano, and so does her dad. This allowed them to have a strong bond with each other, even if in the past they might not've had the best relationship. Before Ronnie's dad left the family, he taught Ronnie how to play the piano and that was their special thing just between the two of them. But when he left, Ronnie's life was affected and so was her music. She stopped playing because of that, and hated both the piano and him for what he did to them. But after spending time with him at his beach house after so many years of little or no communication, they reconneted.
Another connected that music "played" between them is that when Ronnie and her brother discovered their father was dying from cancer, Ronnie immediately felt bad about not forgiving him before, and she regretted not being with him more. To make this up, while Ronnie's dad was getting sicker and sicker, she finished the song on the piano he started writing for her. That was going to be their special song to share together, and in some ways they did, because she played that song at his funeral.
The final way music is a theme in this book is because it brought Ronnie and Will together in a less serious way than it did with Ronnie and her dad. When they first started dating, the two of them didn't really have much to talk about, because they didn't know anything about each other, so they were still more or less in that awkward stage. But when riding in Will's car, they were playing the radio and all of a sudden Ronnie started singing along. When Will heard Ronnie, he started singing along as well. Even though Will's singing was horrible, the fact that they both had a good time doing this formed a strong connection between them.
All of these three times that music has connected characters in the book, whether it was a deep connection or just a silly coincidence, it brought them together for the better. Music allowed Will and Ronnie's relationship to grow, and it also allowed Ronnie and her father to bond through the piano. I think that music is a really great connection in this book, as subtle as it may be.
First off, music generally plays a big role in Ronnie's life. As I mentioned in my last post, she plays the piano, and so does her dad. This allowed them to have a strong bond with each other, even if in the past they might not've had the best relationship. Before Ronnie's dad left the family, he taught Ronnie how to play the piano and that was their special thing just between the two of them. But when he left, Ronnie's life was affected and so was her music. She stopped playing because of that, and hated both the piano and him for what he did to them. But after spending time with him at his beach house after so many years of little or no communication, they reconneted.
Another connected that music "played" between them is that when Ronnie and her brother discovered their father was dying from cancer, Ronnie immediately felt bad about not forgiving him before, and she regretted not being with him more. To make this up, while Ronnie's dad was getting sicker and sicker, she finished the song on the piano he started writing for her. That was going to be their special song to share together, and in some ways they did, because she played that song at his funeral.
The final way music is a theme in this book is because it brought Ronnie and Will together in a less serious way than it did with Ronnie and her dad. When they first started dating, the two of them didn't really have much to talk about, because they didn't know anything about each other, so they were still more or less in that awkward stage. But when riding in Will's car, they were playing the radio and all of a sudden Ronnie started singing along. When Will heard Ronnie, he started singing along as well. Even though Will's singing was horrible, the fact that they both had a good time doing this formed a strong connection between them.
All of these three times that music has connected characters in the book, whether it was a deep connection or just a silly coincidence, it brought them together for the better. Music allowed Will and Ronnie's relationship to grow, and it also allowed Ronnie and her father to bond through the piano. I think that music is a really great connection in this book, as subtle as it may be.
Connecting the music and the themes was very perceptive. I also like the format. Formatting it like a 5 paragraph essay made it clear. Nice work.
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