Dear John: The Ending

*Contains traces of spoilers.*

 

I love the novel and the film of Dear John, both causing my emotions to self-destruct into a puddle of tears, however, the ending of the novel is very different to the film.

 

Closing the novel in the summer of '09, I was confused. Once again, Nicholas Sparks had left me in a daze; he made me think, made me wonder. They weren't together. Two of my favourite fictional characters did not end up with the ending that I wanted. Why was that? I was sad and emotional, but I simultaneously knew that Nicholas Sparks was teaching me a cruel but beautiful (and alright, in hindsight, necessary!) lesson.

 

After my mum read the novel, she comforted me, told me to stop crying and see the rainbow of a moral, the sunshine after a storm, the stars lighting the darkness: John was a good man. "It would be what he wanted," my mum said. I continued to wallow in self-pity before I found myself happier one Sunday evening. I saw the silver lining.

 

"I wanted them to be happy. I wanted her to be happy." It look me a long time to read this without crying but once I was enlightened by this silver lining, I smiled. The character of John Tyree touched me a lot and his ending opened my eyes. Even re-reading that Epilogue now makes me slightly nostalgic: longing for John and Savannah to have their story continue beyond the pages of the novel, but also feeling a comfort deep down in John's actions. In my eyes, the moon to John was Savannah and stood for everything good and everything sweet and innocent and pure. John watched as Savannah, too, relaxed in the moon's presence and to me, that is everything. That let me feel at peace and realise the beauty of that ending.

 

After reading the novel, I thought John had no future without Savannah. That's not true: John had memories and love in his heart and the knowledge that Savannah had that love too. John had the reminder that Savannah had made him a better man, a more caring man. Savannah gave John his future.

My book may be tear-stained, but my heart is smiling from the solemn, yet comforting ending to this novel.

 

Happy Endings & Beginnings,

 

The Girl in the Moonlight.

 

P.s. I may have exaggerated slightly about my reaction to the end of the novel, however any description of how I outwardly acted was what I was bottling up inside.