Love and spoken words: An analysis of the utterances of the three major characters in Nicholas Sparks’ novel, A Walk to Remember

Abstract

This qualitative research in a form of literary analysis aimed at analyzing the novel, A Walk to Remember, authored by Nicholas Sparks using a formalist perspective. This further aimed at analyzing the different types of love present in the novel. Discourse analysis was used in analyzing the content of the novel, which was composed of thirteen chapters and was used as the first-hand instrument of the study. Analysis revealed that the novel utilized first person narration in exposing the events in the story and the one narrating the story was also found to be one of the major characters in the novel. Flashback was used to retold past events that had happened in the love accounts of the major characters. The story setting had contributed in making the scenarios of the story more realistic and it had add color to the events and the characters in the novel. In addition, ironies were also employed by the writer to give realistic description of the events and give complexity on the focus of the study which is love. The most prevalent type of love present in the novel was Eros, the type of love felt between the major characters, Landon and Jamie. Several types of love were also present such as Philia (love for friends), Storge (love for family), and Agape (love for God). Further studies on literary analysis aside from novel was recommended especially for students taking English as major field of studies.