The Last Song
By Nicholas Sparks
Ronnie Miller
Ronnie Miller, The Last Song's protagonist, visits her father in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina one summer. She approaches the visit with a closed mind, hating her parents for divorcing. However, once she settles in, she finds herself getting used to the peace that the beach provides in contrast to her usual busy New York environment. Due to a new found interest in a local teenage boy, Will Blakelee, Ronnie learns how to open her heart and let her musical talents shine. Ronnie and Will develop a strong young love that causes Ronnie to show him her musical abilities that got her accepted into Juliard back in New York. With the end of summer approaching, Ronnie finds herself emotionally and psychically unable to consider the idea of being away from Will. However, this all changes when Ronnie finds out something from Will's past that influences their relationship and personally effects her. Her struggle to find herself is similar to Chief Bromden's struggle to find his "bigness" while in the hospital ward in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. With the help of friends, both characters find who they really are and learn to not be afraid of the unknown. In the end, Ronnie finds herself where she belongs in Juliard while similarly, Chief Bromden frees himself from the hospital ward by throwing the control panel in a way that symbollically represents all that he has overcome.
"Life, he realized, was much like a song. In the beginning
there is a mystery, in the end there is confirmation, but it's in the middle
where all the emotion resides to make the whole thing worthwhile" (391).
Ronnie's father, Steve Miller, states this in one of the concluding chapters of the novel before he dies. Being a musician himself, he is able to recognize the similarities between life and a song. Both provide mystery in the middle because one will never know how one's life will unravel in between birth and death because it is up to that individual to decide how their life will play out. Ronnie's father knows this because at this point he is almost done experiencing life, and he recognizes that his daughter, Ronnie, has turned hers around. Sparks' reason for including this quote is to connect the events of the novel with the major themes of music, love, and self identity. The emotion that "makes the middle of a song worthwhile" is love, and that is expressed not only through Ronnie and Will's intimate relationship, but Ronnie and her father's relationship that strengthens as the novel progresses.
"Readers will be invested in this story from the beginning. that
it's never too late to strengthen relationships with loved ones is a central
focus, and it's exemplified by comparing life to a song. Another emotional
blockbuster!" ~ RT Book Reviews
I agree with RT Book Reviews in saying that the central focus of strengthening relationships is shown well with the comparison of life to a song. This comparison is made before the book is even opened because of the title The Last Song. This title suggests the closure indicated by Ronnie and Steve's "last song" together before Steve dies that Ronnie performs at his funeral. Music plays an important role in Ronnie and Steve's lives, and it brings them together later in the novel, causing Ronnie to regain her previous love of music she once had as a child.
Sea Turtles
In The Last Song, Ronnie finds a tampered sea turtle nest on the beach outside her father's house. She brings the issue up to Will who happens to work at the local aquarium, and both of them contribute their time to helping the turtles safely lay their eggs on the beach and help the baby turtles make it back to the sea. This is not only an issue raised in the book, but it is also a real life issue along the coasts today in America and other countries. The sea turtles are endangered not only because of natural causes but also due to interactions with humans. These turtles suffer from coastal development and beach erosion because both damage their nesting sites and can cause female turtles to deter from their nesting which is called a false crawl. Artificial lighting also contributes as one of the many reasons for false crawls because they follow the light they see which interupts their nesting. Many people also harvest the turtle's eggs for food and kill the turtles in order to produce certain products. Ronnie and Will help the turtles near Steve's house, and they grow as a couple as the turtle process continues throughout the novel.
Stained Glass Window
The stained glass window symbolizes Jonah and Steve's reconnection. Both characters start off the summer taking on a new project of replacing the stained glass window that was destroyed in the church fire Steve was in at the beginning of the year. Jonah and Steve worked on their window for the first couple of days of summer, and they then made it a daily activity to do together. This helps to reconnect father and son, and the stained glass window is mentioned frequently to show this symbolic meaning. When Steve's condition worsens while in the hospital, Ronnie offers to help Jonah finish the window, yet Jonah protests, "I told you to go away! Dad wants me to finish the window! Me! Not you! That's what we were doing all summer! This was what we did! All you ever cared about were the turtles! But I was with him every day!" (339).This exclamation shows his desperation to be reunited with his father again. Though Steve is happy his children finished the window, Jonah still wishes his father could have been the one to help him finish what they started.
whEN I LOOK AT YOU BY mILEY Cyrus
Miley Cyrus, who plays Ronnie Miller in the movie, plays the song "When I Look At You" as the song in the trailer that is used as the theme song to the movie. This song is most likely decribing the relationship between Ronnie and Will in The Last Song due to their close intimacy that develops as the novel progresses. "When I Look At You" may be seen as just another love song, but it is a love song that suits The Last Song well.
Everybody needs inspiration
Everybody needs a song
A beautiful melody when the night's so long
'Cause there is no guarantee that this life is easy
Yeah, when my world is falling apart
When there's no light to break up the dark
That's when I, I, I look at you
When the waves are flooding the shore
And I can't find my way home anymore
That's when I, I, I look at you
When I look at you, I see forgiveness, I see the truth
You love me for who I am like the stars hold the moon
Right there where they belong
And I know I'm not alone
Yeah, when my world is falling apart
When there's no light to break up the dark
That's when I, I, I look at you
When the waves are flooding the shore
And I can't find my way home anymore
That's when I, I, I look at you
You appear just like a dream to me
Just like kaleidoscope colors that prove to me
All I need, every breath that I breathe
Don't ya know, you're beautiful
Yeah, yeah
When the waves are flooding the shore
And I can't find my way home anymore
That's when I, I, I look at you
I look at you
Yeah, yeah, oh, oh
You appear just like a dream to me
Everybody needs inspiration
Everybody needs a song
A beautiful melody when the night's so long
'Cause there is no guarantee that this life is easy
Yeah, when my world is falling apart
When there's no light to break up the dark
That's when I, I, I look at you
When the waves are flooding the shore
And I can't find my way home anymore
That's when I, I, I look at you
When I look at you, I see forgiveness, I see the truth
You love me for who I am like the stars hold the moon
Right there where they belong
And I know I'm not alone
Yeah, when my world is falling apart
When there's no light to break up the dark
That's when I, I, I look at you
When the waves are flooding the shore
And I can't find my way home anymore
That's when I, I, I look at you
You appear just like a dream to me
Just like kaleidoscope colors that prove to me
All I need, every breath that I breathe
Don't ya know, you're beautiful
Yeah, yeah
When the waves are flooding the shore
And I can't find my way home anymore
That's when I, I, I look at you
I look at you
Yeah, yeah, oh, oh
You appear just like a dream to me