The Last Song

Back of Book Summary:

Seventeen-year-old Veronica 'Ronnie' Miller’s life was turned upside-down when her parents divorced and her father moved from New York City to Wilmington, North Carolina. Three years later, she remains angry and alienated from her parents, especially her father . . . until her mother decides it would be in everyone’s best interest if she spent the summer in Wilmington with him. Ronnie’s father, a former concert pianist and teacher, is living a quiet life in the beach town, immersed in creating a work of art that will become the centerpiece of a local church.

The tale that unfolds is an unforgettable story about love in its myriad forms - first love, the love between parents and children - that demonstrates, as only a Nicholas Sparks novel can, the many ways that deeply felt relationships can break our hearts . . . and heal them

*Spoilers ahead as I am unable to avoid them as I will be discussing the relationship development between the two main characters and how their relational closeness changes throughout their time together. But, I am guessing these will not really be spoilers to anyone as you have most likely seen the movie or read the book. (If you haven’t where have you been) To look at their relationship closeness I will be looking at major turning points.*

1. Bumping into her

   1. Again if you have read any of my posts up until now you can’t have relational closeness without the meeting.

2. Will come to help with the turtle nest

   1. During her time in North Carolina Ronnie finds a turtle nest and starts to protect it. She called the aquarium to help get the nest marked. The person to show up is Will, the guy who ran into her at the beach. She gets annoyed at first because she thinks I will just be one of those jock-type guys. But during this time Will sleeps outside with Roonie to help her protect the turtle from animals. This is a turning point as it is the first time they get to know each other and the idea Ronnie has of him shifts.

3. Takes her on a date

   1. Will takes Ronnie on a date, this is a huge turning point in their relationship as it completely changes the dynamic between the two of them. They finally feel like a couple, they enjoy their time together.

4. Wedding

   1. Ronnie gets invited to Will’s sister's wedding, although a little hesitant she is excited, for their relationship this will be the first time they are together at an event.

5. Break Up

   1. At the wedding, Ronnie gets blamed for something that was not her fault which causes Will and her to break up which is their first major negative turning point and hits the closeness in the book in my opinion.

6. Megan asked her to reconsider

   1. Will's sister asks Ronnie to reconsider causing Will and Roonie to get back together, and although this does bring them closer together it does not bring them back to the place they were.

7. Finding out her father has cancer

   1. Ronnie finds out her father has cancer and essentially withdraws from everyone to focus on mending her relationship with him while taking care of him, this forces her to separate.

8. Will goes to the funeral

   1. After some time of not seeing each other, Will shows up at Ronnie's father's funeral, which does spark something in Ronnie; she knows he still cares about her.

9. Tell her he is going to Europe

   1. This is then crushed when he tells her he is going to Europe. In a study, one of the most common ways relational closeness is affected is by geographical distance, as first it physically distances them, and secondly in this case time zones make it hard for them to communicate ( Johnson et. al, 2003)

10. Comes back and transfers to be closer to her.

    1. Lastly, after some time apart, a time in which Ronnie has had time to heal, will come back and tell her that he is transferring to a school close to hers so they can be together. This brings them not only physically closer but also emotionally as they know both realize they need each other.

Will and Ronnie's relationship, shocked me a bit as from my memory, I felt that I was more consistent than it actually was. Their closeness changed quite a bit in the novel. I also liked that although Will and Ronnie's relationship was part of the book, the book was also centered around her and her father's relationship. If I were to look at the turning point within that relationship I feel like it would have a pretty positive tendency toward closeness.

Reference:

Johnson, A. J., Wittenberg, E., Villagran, M. M., Mazur, M., & Villagran, P. (2003). Relational progression as a dialectic: Examining turning points in communication among friends. Communication Monographs, 70(3), 1. https://doi.org/10.1080/0363775032000167415