Interpersonal Analysis of the Notebook

1. INTERPERSONAL MOVIE ANALYSIS:
“THE NOTEBOOK”
BY BETHANY PENDLETON
FILM AND NOVEL BY NICHOLAS SPARKS

2. THE CHARACTERS
Allie Hamilton: 17 year old daughter of wealthy, Anne and John Hamilton.
Summer resident of Seabrook Island, North Carolina. Noah’s love interest
in the film.
Noah Calhoun: Hardworking country boy, native to Seabrook Island.
Brooding romantic, gentleman immediately smitten with Allie Hamilton .
Lon Hammond: Charming soldier who falls in love with Allie, later turning
into her fiancé. He is a very loyal man who fights for Allie until the end.
Martha Shaw: Neighborhood woman who falls for Noah and gets involved
with him, whilst Noah is desperately trying to find ways to get Allie off
from his mind in her absence.
Anne Hamilton: Mother of Allie
Hamilton. Very wealthy and
protective of her daughter.
John Hamilton: Allie’s father. More
easygoing in comparison to Allie’s
mother, yet still encourages a social
class standard amongst their family.
Frank Calhoun: Noah’s dad.
Hardworking and warm-
spirited native to Seabrook
Island. Very supportive of
Noah and Allie’s relationship.
Fin: Noah’s best friend.

3. FILM PLOT
Noah Calhoun is a mill worker, who diligently dedicates his time to
work and helping his father, Frank, as much as he can to help make a living for
them. His focus is soon disrupted by Allie Hamilton, a wealthy summer visitor,
who immediately turns Noah smitten for her. Noah is devoted to getting Allie to
like him, and won’t stop prying for her love until she agrees to go on a date with
him. They go on the date, and begin to fall in love, which leads to a summer of
passion and drama, causing Allie to leave early for school and Noah heartbroken
with her absence. Because Noah is so entangled in Allie’s love, he continues to
write letters to her every day for the next year, but little do either of them know
that Allie’s mother, Anne, is secretly keeping the letters hostage, forcing Allie to
try and move on with her life. Allie seemingly forgets about Noah, and gets
engaged to Lon Hammond, an army man with a lot of charm.
After time passes, Allie understands she is still very much in love with
Noah, and travels back to Seabrook Island to look at the beloved house that
Noah promised he would fix up for her someday, that she saw up for sale in the
newspaper while trying on wedding gowns.. To both of their surprise, Noah is
there working on the almost finished house, and Allie and him rekindle their
love, causing her to completely rethink her current life and choices. Noah has a
different life of his own now too with Martha Shaw, a neighborhood woman who
Noah took interest in to get his mind off Allie in her absence. Noah and Allie
revisit their love and Noah tells Allie of all the letters she wrote to her while she
was away, which causes Allie to completely leave everything in her life behind
to begin again with Noah. The story of their love is told through the voice of the
elder version of Noah, in a nursing home. Noah reads to Allie the story of their
love every single day, as Allie has Alzheimer’s and can’t remember who he is
most of the time, nor the family they made together. Allie shows great interest in
their story, even though she often forgets her favorite story is really an auto-
biography of the life they made together.

4. NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION
BETWEEN NOAH AND ALLIE
THE LOVESTORY THAT IS NOAH AND ALLIE STEMMED FROM OBVIOUS PHYSICAL
ATTRACTION TOWARDS EACHOTHER, BUT LASTED DUE TO THEIR WILLINGNESS AND
THE PLEASURE THEY GOT OUT OF HANGING OUT WITH EACHOTHER EVERY DAY .
NOAH AND ALLIE WOULD SPEND EVERY DAY WITH ONE ANOTHER, WHICH SAYS MORE
THAN JUST THEIR DAILY COMMUNICATION. NOAH WOULD ALSO GO THROUGH THE
EXTRA EFFORT OF GIFTING ALLIE FLOWERS, SEVERAL TIMES THROUGHOUT THEIR
LIFE TOGETHER, JUST TO MAKE HER HAPPY. THIS IS A SYMBOL OF HIS LOVE AND
WILLINGNESS TO MAKE HER A PRIORITY IN HIS LIFE.
ANOTHER TELLING EXAMPLE OF THE IMPORTANCE OF NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION
AMONGST NOAH AND ALLIE, IS THE HARD WORK NOAH PUTS INTO REBUILDING THE
OLD HOUSE FOR ALLIE, WHERE THEY FIRST LOST THEIR VIRGINITY TO ONE ANOTHER.
THIS HOUSE IS A SYMBOL OF THEIR EVERLASTING LOVE AND RESILIENCE THROUGH
THE DISTANCE THAT SEPARATED THE M FOR YEARS WHILE THEY TRIED MOVING ON
WITH THEIR LIVES.
NOAH WRITES ALLIE 365 LETTERS WHILE SHE IS AWAY , HOPING SHE WILL READ THEM
AND UNDERSTAND HOW HE FEELS ABOUT HER DEEP DOWN, REGARLDLESS OF THEIR
FIGHT THEY HAD BEFORE SHE LEFT. THIS SHOWS THAT HE TRUSTS HER WITH HIS
WORDS, AND VALUES THE ABILITY TO WRITE TO HER AND HIOPEFULLY GET HIS
WORDS UNDERSTOOD IN TIMES OF TROUBLE. WHEN THEY REUNITE TOWARDS THE
END OF THE FILM, ALLIE IS UNSURE ABOUT LEAVING HER LIFE BEHIND TO START
AGAIN WITH NOAH, UNTIL SHE IS TOLD THAT NOAH WROTE ALL THOSE LETTERS TO
HER AND THEY WERE BEING HIDDEN BY HER MOTHER. THE LETTERS THAT WERE
SHARED AMONGST THE TWO OF THEM MENDED THEIR RELATIONSHIP FULLY, WHICH
IS TELLING OF THE POWER OF THEIR NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION IN THE FILM.
NOAH’S DEDICATION TO MAKING ALLIE REMEMBER THEIR TIME SPENT TOGETHER
THROUGH STORY TELLING WAS ALSO A SYMBOL OF HOW MUCH HE CARED FOR HER
AND HOW PASSIONATE HE WAS ABOUT HIS RELATIONSHIP WITH HER. ONE’S EFFORTS
IN SHOWING THEIR LOVE AND RESPECT WITHOUT HAVING TO SAY IT VERBALLY, IS A
TRUE SIGN OF THEIR LEVEL OF RESPECT FOR ONE’S FEELINGS.

5. VERBAL COMMUNICATION
BETWEEN NOAH AND ALLIE
FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE FILM, NOAH AND ALLIE HAVE SHOWN INTEREST IN
EACHOTHER. NOAH WAS VERY BLUNT WITH HIS FEELINGS FOR ALLIE, AND INSISTED
ON TAKING HER ON A DATE. ALTHOUGH ALLIE DENIED HIS PLEA AT FIRST, SHE LATER
AGREED TO GO ON A DATE WITH HIM, WHICH LEAD INTO THEM DELVING INTO EACH
OTHER'S LIVES AND FALLING IN LOVE.
NOAH AND ALLIE SHARED EVERYTHING WITH EACHOTHER. THEY FOUGHT AND
PLAYED HARD, AND AT THE END OF THE DAY CHOSE EACHOTHER OVER ANYTHING
THAT CHALLENGED THEIR RELATIONSHIP. BECAUSE OF THEIR HONESTY WITH ONE
ANOTHER, THEY BOTH BECAME EXTREMELY VULNERABLE TO ONE ANOTHER’S
POWER OVER THEIR FEELINGS. EVERYTHING THEY SAID TO EACHOTHER BECAME
MUCH HARDER TO DIGEST IF IT WAS NEGATIVE, WHICH SHOWS IN THE SCENES WHERE
THEY FIGHT, PARTICULARLY IN THE BEGINNING DURING THE FIGHT THAT SEPARATES
THEM. THEY BREAK UP, BUT ALLIE QUICKLY WANTS TO GET TOGETHER WITH HIM
AGAIN AND REGRETS WHAT SHE SAYS.
THIS SHOWS THAT THE RELATIONSHIP THEY HOLD RELIES HEAVILY ON THE
STABILITY OF THEIR COMMUNICATION WITH ONE ANOTHER. EVEN WHEN THEY’RE
FIGHTING, THEY STILL LOVE EACHOTHER AND ARE LOOKING FOR RELIEF IN EACH
OTHER'S WORDS.

6. SELF-DISCLOSURE BETWEEN LON AND ALLIE
LON AND ALLIE’S RELATIONSHIP THEY SHARED WAS ENTIRELY
GENUINE, BUT THERE WAS NO HIDING THE FACT THAT ALLIE STILL
DEEPLY CARED FOR NOAH. DURING THE SCENE WHERE ALLIE FINDS
OUT THAT NOAH IS STILL PINING FOR HER AND RE-BUILDING HER
DREAM HOME, SHE TELLS LON THAT SHE NEEDS TO GO AND SETTLE
THINGS OUT BEFORE THEIR MARRIAGE.
LON AGREES TO LET HER GO, BUT FEELS AS THOUGH THERE IS
MORE TO THE STORY.
ALLIE EVENTUALLY TELLS HIM THAT SHE STILL DEEPLY CARES FOR
NOAH, AND HER TIME AWAY WAS SPENT REKINDLING WITH NOAH.
ALLIE DISCLOSED THIS INFORMATION WITH LON, AND HE TOOK IT
WELL. YOU COULD TELL THAT HE DEEPLY CARED FOR ALLIE, AND
JUST WANTED HER TO BE HAPPY IN THE END, EVEN IF THAT MEANT
LOSING HER. ALLIE TRUSTED HIM TO HANDLE THE SITUATION WELL,
AND FELT DEEP REMORSE FOR HURTING HIM. THIS SHOWS THAT
THEIR RELATIONSHIP WAS HEALTHY ENOUGH TO DISCLOSE THE
HARD PARTS TO ONE ANOTHER, EVEN IF THAT MEANT THEY
WOULDN’T END UP TOGETHER IN THE END.

7. SUCCESFUL RELATIONSHIP STAGES: ALLIE AND GUS
WHEN WE FIRST MEET FIN, HE COMES ACROSS AS A FLIRTATIOUS BOY, LIKE NOAH, WHO
IS LOOKING FOR A DATE ON THE WEEKEND. WE SEE HIM IMMEDIATELY TAKE A LIKING
TO ALLIE’S FRIEND, WHICH CAUSES ALLIE TO FEEL ALMOST IMMEDIATE TRUST WITH
HIM BEFORE SHE EVEN FINDS OUT HE IS NOAH’S BEST FRIEND.
THE NIGHT THAT ALLIE AND NOAH LOSE THEIR VIRGINITY IN THE OLD HOUSE THAT
THEY WILL ONE DAY LIVE IN, FIN BURSTS IN AND TELLS THEM THAT THEIR TOWN IS
LOOKING FOR THEM, BEFORE THEY BOTH GET IN TROUBLE. THIS IS WHERE THE TRUST
KEEPS BUILDING AMONGST THE DUO.
WE SEE ALLIE AND FIN’S ACQUAINTANCE STAGE FLOURISH INTO A FRIENDLY
RELATIONSHIP WHEN ALLIE RUSHES TO THE MILL TO TELL NOAH GOODBYE. NOAH
ISN’T THERE AT THE TIME, SO ALLIE TRUSTS HIM TO GIVE NOAH THE MESSAGE THAT
SHE LOVES HIM. NOAH SUCCESFULLY RECIEVES THE MESSAGE FROM FIN, WHICH THEN
PROMPTS HIM TO WRITE ALLIE 365 LETTERS THAT SUMMER. ONE COULD ARGUE THAT
FIN PLAYED A VITAL ROLE IN THE BUILDING OF ALLIE AND NOAH’S RELATIONSHIP.

8. DISCONFIRMING MESSAGES BETWEEN NOAH AND JOHN AND ANNE HAMILTON:
NOAH COMES FROM A POOR FAMILY, WHOM WORK HARD FOR WHAT THEY HAVE. ALLIE
WAS BORN INTO A VERY WEALTHY FAMILY WHICH HELD THE STANDARD OF MARRYING
INTO THE SAME CLASS AS YOU WERE BORN.
WE SEE ANNE AND JOHN HAMILTON’S DISTASTE WITH NOAH AND ALLIE’S
RELATIONSHIP WHEN THEY COME HOME LATE FROM HANGING OUT AT THE
ABANDONED HOUSE. ALLIE’S PARENTS TELL NOAH TO GO OUTSIDE WHILE THEY
DISCIPLINE ALLIE.
ANNE CALLS NOAH TRASH AND THREATENS ALLIE TELLING HER SHE HAS TO BREAK UP
WITH NOAH OR ELSE IT WOULD LEAD TO HER BECOMING PREGNANT OR
HEARTBROKEN.
IN THE SCENE WHERE THEY ARE ALL EATING DINNER WITH ALLIE’S FAMILY, ALLIE’S
PARENTS GRILL NOAH ON HIS PLANS FOR HIS FUTURE. NOAH EXPLAINS HE HAS NO
PLANS ON GOING TO COLLEGE AND THAT HE WOULD RATHER STAY HOME AND MAKE
MONEY WHICH SEALS THE IDEA FOR THEM THAT NOAH AND ALLIE AREN’T MEANT TO

9. CONFIRMING COMMUNICATION
AMONGST NOAH, ALLIE, AND
NOAH’S FATHER:
FRANK CALHOUN IS A TRUE
GENTLEMAN WHO VALUES HIS
FAMILY AND WORKS HARD FOR
WHAT HE HAS.
WHEN FRANK LEARNS OF
NOAH’S NEW RELATIONSHIP
WITH ALLIE, HE IMMEDIATELY
INVITES ALLIE INSIDE FOR
‘BREAKFAST FOR DINNER’, AND
THEY EVEN END UP ALL
DANCING LATER THAT NIGHT.
THIS SHOWS THAT HE IS
CONFIDENT THAT NOAH AND
ALLIE ARE SINCERE, AND
SUPPORTS THEIR FEELINGS.
EVEN THOUGH ONE MIGHT
ASSUME ALLIE WOULD BE
JUDGING OF NOAH AND HIS
SITUATION COMPARED TO
HERS, FRANK CALHOUN SHOWS
NOTHING BUT LOVE TO ALLIE
AND NOAH IN THEIR
ENDEAVORS TOGETHER.

10. EMPATHY IN NOAH AND MARTHA SHAW’S
RELATIONSHIP:
ALTHOUGH NOAH AND MARTHA SHARED A
SINCERE RELATIONSHIP IN ALLIE’S TIME
AWAY, NOAH KNEW ALL ALONG THAT THEIR
RELATIONSHIP WASN’T MEANT TO LAST.
MARTHA WAS IN LOVE WITH NOAH, WHILST
ALLIE WAS STILL ON HIS MIND, WHICH
WASN’T FAIR FOR HER TO ENDURE—
ESPECIALLY UPON MEETING ALLIE FACE TO
FACE AFTER NOAH AND HER REKINDLED.
EVEN THOUGH MARTHA HAS EVERY RIGHT
TO BE MAD AT NOAH FOR USING HER IN A
WAY, SHE TREATS BOTH OF THEM WITH
RESPECT AND EVEN BEFRIENDS ALLIE. SHE
TRULY UNDERSTOOD THEIR RELATIONSHIP,
AND ALL THAT NOAH WAS GOING THROUGH
IN ALLIE’S ABSENCE.
EMPATHY WAS ESSENTIAL FOR ALL
CHARACTER’S IN THIS SITUATION, AS THEY
WERE ALL INVOLVED IN THEIR OWN
PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS WITH
DIFFERENT PEOPLE, BUT OVERCAME IT
WITH NOTHING BUT RESPECT AND
UNDERSTANDING IN THE END FOR ONE
ANOTHER.

11. MY COMMUNICATION STYLE
COMPARED TO NOAH AND ALLIE’S
I REALLY ENJOYED REVIEWING THIS FILM AND ANALYZING THE
SCENES IN WHICH HELD INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION
SIGNIFICANCE. I RELATE CLOSELY TO THE RELATIONSHIP THAT NOAH
AND ALLIE HOLD, ESPECIALLY THEIR UNIQUE WAY OF VALUING
NONVERBAL COMMUNICATION. THEY MAKE SURE THE OTHER
PERSON FEELS WANTED AND SECURE JUST BY THEIR ACTIONS
TOWARDS EACH OTHER, WHICH IS APPLICABLE TO MY CURRENT
RELATIONSHIP. I VALUE ACTIONS OVER WORDS, AND BELIEVE THAT
THE KEY TO A LASTING RELATIONSHIP IS THROUGH THE EFFORTS OF
THE UNSPOKEN. NOT ONLY DO I RELATE TO NOAH AND ALLIE’S
COMMUNICATION STYLE, BUT I THINK IT’S ENTIRELY ACCURATE AND
APPLICABLE TO MANY RELATIONSHIPS TODAY. ALTHOUGH ONE OF A
KIND, THEIR RELATIONSHIP IS REAL AND RAW. THEY FIGHT FOR EACH
OTHER AND DON’T HOLD ANYTHING BACK. SOMETIMES THEY SAY
TOO MUCH AND SOMETIMES THEY SAY TOO LITTLE, BUT AT THE END
OF THE DAY THEIR RELATIONSHIP CAN REMIND US ALL THAT WORDS
ONLY GO SO FAR. ACTIONS DEFINE TRUE INTENTIONS AND ARE
TELLING OF YOUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE OTHER PERSON
INTERPERSONALLY.