A Walk To Remember
by Nicholas Sparks
Table of Contents
Key Quotes
1. “When I was seventeen, my life changed forever.”—Prologue and chapter 13
This line is stated twice by Landon, who narrates the tale. He uses it to emphasize the important effect of the narrative—that it is meant to be a kind of coming-of-age story, or even a conversion story. Landon is converting, in fact, from a naïve, selfish adolescent to a mature and considerate young man.
2. “First you will smile, and then you will cry—don’t say you haven’t been warned.”—Prologue
Sparks uses this line to usher in the narrative. He is selling the story, in fact, on its ability to provoke two polar opposite emotions in the reader. He signifies by this line that he is appealing to the emotions of the reader, promising him that he will experience feelings that range from one end of the emotional spectrum to the other. For an audience that loves sentimentality, such a line is perfectly designed to attract. Sparks is not appealing to the reader’s intellect, but rather to the reader’s heartstrings and feelings.
3. “With that, Jamie and Hegbert started moving again, and I felt my heart surge with pride. It was, I remembered thinking, the most difficult walk anyone ever had to make. In every way, a walk to remember.”—chapter 13
This line connects the reader to the title of the novel and helps dramatize the importance of Jamie’s walk down the aisle on her wedding day—a moment she has always dreamed of. It is particularly special because she is in such an ill state and barely has the strength to do it. Yet she does, and everyone applauds her effort. It is a moment of triumph of the pure heart that Jamie represents over the superficial and the insincere.
4. “You have to promise not to fall in love with me.”—chapter 2
This is said by Jamie Sullivan to Landon after he asks her to the homecoming dance. He takes it as a joke (namely because he...
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