Analysis Of The Longest Ride By Nicholas Sparks

In The Longest Ride by Nicholas Sparks, a five hundred and sixty eight pages fictional romance novel, published by Grand Central Publishing in September 2013, a blooming romance between college student and bull rider begin to mirror the love story of two in the past. The novel takes place in the late twenty first century throughout and across North Carolina.
The story is based on the life of protagonist and college student, Sophia Danko, and professional bull rider, Luke. Many other characters appear as the author shifts between present time and the late 1950’s. The author compares Sophia and Luke's relationship to the relationship of Ira and Ruth, two more pertinent protagonist in the story. Ruth is a privileged girl similar to Sophia, and
Sparks uses many methods of characterization such as the adequate amount of detailed description that allows the reader to be able to comprehend who the character actually is. Another method used is the method of use of conversing between characters. “Finding a cute guys is the last thing I want right now” (46). This reference, a quote from Sophia, shows that Sophia isn't the type of girl that feels like she needs a boyfriend unlike many girls. is another method would be the use of actions within the story such as Luke riding horses and being a bull rider. The actions show what people prefer to do which is a part of their characterization. The last method found within the story is the use of reactions throughout the story such as when Luke chose bull riding over Sophia shows how dedicated he is towards something he is extremely passionate about. Each character in the Story is consistent, adequately motivated, and believable. Each character may be motivated in different aspects of their life but they are both motivated none the less. The main goal within the story would be to show the reader that true love can conquer anything. One characters that changes drastically would be Sophia. In the beginning of the story Sophia is a what some may call “good girl”, a girl who would make sure she has all her homework done even before the thought of parting comes up. Towards the end of the story and as he relationship with luke progresses, Sophia become more carefree and one to live in the moment rather than constantly stressing about her future. A weakness in The Longest Ride is the use of stereotypes. One main stereotype that is presented in the novel is that all cowboys are hopeless romantics which is not the case. Another weakness within this novel is the switching back and forth between decades, many readers