There is a transcendent vision of love that First Lady
Clinton emphasizes in her 1996 speech which shares similarities to what Sparks offers in
his work. The first shared point is that both visions of love speak to something that
spans time. There is little convenience in both notions of love. Rather, love is seen
as something that must persevere and challenge the painful conditions of the present in
order to fulfill its larger conception. First Lady Clinton emphasize this in her
speech:
Right
now there are mothers and fathers just finishing a long days work and there are mothers
and fathers just going to work, some to their second or third jobs of day. Right now
there are parents worrying, what if the babysitter is sick tomorrow or how can we pay
for college this fall. And right now there are parents despairing about gang members and
drug pushers on the corners in their neighborhoods. Right now there are parents
questioning a popular culture that glamorizes sex and violence, smoking and drinking and
teaches children that the logos on their clothes are more valued than the generosity in
their hearts.
For First Lady
Clinton, it is the idea of being able to see that love is something that transcends such
conditions. It is the belief that love and the idea that "it takes a village" is
something that enables the power of love to overcome the challenging conditions of the
present. First Lady Clinton's vision of love is one in which individuals must endure
and withstand the harsh conditions of the present. To cave into the conditions she
outlines above only means to abdicate the power of love. Sparks' work stresses the same
idea. The love that Allie and Noah share is one that transcends the condition of what
is and speaks to a more transcendent hope of being. Allie and Noah have to overcome
geographical separation, class consciousness, parental interference, and then must face
their most arduous hurdle of Alzheimer's. Yet, neither of them acquiesce. Rather, they
recognize that the power of their love is what compels them to advance and to withstand
what is into what can be.
Another idea is the notion of "it
takes a village." The love that First Lady Clinton speaks of is one in which many
people recognize that their interests can be merged into a vision of love that can be
shared and appreciated by all. Certainly, this is something that is seen in Sparks'
novel. The love that Allie and Noah share even in the most difficult portion of their
loves is understood and supported by the nurses. They understand what the doctors fail
to grasp. Allie's memory, though brief, is restored because of the love that Noah has
for her. The nurses help to support something that they recognize is fundamentally
powerful and transformative, demonstrating First Lady Clinton's idea that "it takes a
village." In these instances, the love in the speech and in the work are very similar
in kind and in the hopes of redeeming the individual from what is into what can
be.
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