Critique of "Nights in Rodanthe

Rodanthe

Tragedy and Renewal in Rodanthe

Blossoming love is a theme more typically affiliated with the unbridled naivete of youth than with the sobering realities of middle age. This is especially so for those in the latter category who must find a new beginning at such an advanced stage of life. The notion of losing everything, whether in terms of profession, family of even a sense of self, can be devastating and impossible to surmount either emotionally or practically. Thus, when characters in such a disposition are able to channel the suffering and uncertainty of this condition into something new, something genuine and something inspiring, the outcome can be both moving and rewarding. It is thus that the characters in Nicholas Sparks' 2002 novel Nights in Rodanthe are particularly moving, inviting the reader to address one of the author's most frequently returned to themes. The principle of mature love which permeates his body of work is denoted here, where both Adrienne and Paul must find themselves through one another. For two adults looking back on lives that had been shattered by misfortune and misjudgment, the romance that would bud between them would help each to gather up the pieces of their various disrupted dreams and recast them in each other's image.

Certainly not a tale of happily-ever-after, Rodanthe still succeeds in relaying of love story that is ultimately buoyed not by the sustained union of two people but by the restorative power of that love for both characters, who would be inspired to new heights of self-awareness by one another. It is thus that the novel takes on the subject of emotional and personal renewal, using the chance intercession of the two characters at this critical point in their lives in order to suggest the potential for affirmation which can be had through others. Quite indeed, that we find out early in the story though Adrienne's retrospective on her love affair is a demonstration that this affirmation is not had by finding a new life partner. Though Paul seems an appropriate and desirable figure to step in where Adrienne's husband had taken flight from his family, the narrative is importantly driven by the overpowering notion of loss. In relaying the story of her experiences with Paul to her daughter, Adrienne attempts to bring her comfort in the face of her own husband's premature departure. For her daughter, the devastation of this tragedy is too much to bear, a condition which Adrienne is able to speak to with no small amount of personal authority.

But the story she tells about Paul is not intended to provide her daughter with a simple maternal comfort. Instead, it becomes a story of overcoming this hurt by reflecting on the value of that which had at first been gained. In Paul, Adrienne finds a man who brings her a greater sense of personal value and the belief that love could again be found at a seemingly late stage in one's life. Indeed, Adrienne's lesson is not the type that might be expected to bring immediate comfort to her daughter, who will understandably undergo the normal and healthy grieving process. But with time, her daughter may be able to reflect on the story of Paul as a way of casting new light on the darkness of tragedy. Rather than simply reflecting with mournful devastation, Adrienne suggests to her daughter that ultimately she will be able to take joy, pride and comfort in that which her husband's love had shown her about herself.

This is a theme which drives much of the novel. Though characters rely upon one another for emotional support and strength, there is also a broad emphasis on the struggles of the individual. For Adrienne and her daughter, their shared suffering is underscored by the reality that each woman has been foisted into a place of loneliness and solitude, but also a place from which greater strength of character and sense of purpose have emerged. This internal solitude is not reserved just for the female characters of Sparks' novel, but is indeed a sentiment endured by Paul and his son Mark as well. As the novel veers toward Paul's efforts to reconcile with his son, inspired as he has been by his chance-meeting with Adrienne, the novel takes on different proportions. For Paul and Adrienne, meeting one another would not just serve as a way to move into a new phase of life, but it would also become a catalyst to their respective dealings with the past. For Adrienne, this would come in the form of her consultations with her daughter and for Paul it would come in the initiation of a meaningful relationship with his son in adult life.

The novel makes metaphorical reference to this intercession of the past and a renewed hope through the house in Rodanthe. The beach bungalow carries its own sense of a bright history, a faded middle age and an internal promise of refreshing affirmation, even in Adrienne's own observation. Here, the author describes "with the sun hovering among the clouds, the air had a luminescent quality, as though particles of light were suspended in the haze, and for a moment Adrienne felt she'd traveled back in time. But looking closer, she gradually began to notice changes that cosmetic work couldn't hide: decay at the corners of the windows, lines of rust along the roof, water stains near the gutters." (Sparks, 1-2)

The author captures well here a major theme of the novel. For Paul and Adrienne alike, there would be a sense of some youth, innocence and newness as having been lost, but simultaneously, a sense of this house yet still holding a scintilla of its mysteriousness and allure. The context proves a perfect one for the joining of two disaffected individuals with a need for one another. Especially for Adrienne, this would come as nothing short of the opportunity to step outside of herself. In the old Inn and in the company of this stranger, she would be given the shift in perspective that would allow her to carry on with life, with or without Paul. The house and its company would help her to achieve the reinvention necessary to do so.