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The Hidden Motifs in The Notebook
I originally thought that The Notebook was going to be the typical sappy romantic story, but it turned out to be a social commentary on marriage and love, centering around an elderly woman who suffers from dementia. Similar to the story of the Titanic, the plot revolves around a rich girl, trapped in the rigidity of the life of the wealthy, who meets a poor boy who shows her there are other ways to live life. Noah’s free spirit is characterized in one of their first scenes together in which he invites her to lie down in the middle of a street, narrowly escaping death. Allie, attracted to the allure of freedom and spontaneity, grows closer to Noah until her disapproving parents end their relationship due to Noah’s poor status. The Notebook illustrates themes of marriage for love rather than financial security through the recurring motifs of color, birds, and water.
Color was utilized in the film to artfully contrast freedom with imprisonment. When Allie is with Noah, she often wears red colors to represent independence, boldness, and spontaneity. When she is with Noah, she does what she loves without a care for what others might think of her. Even at the senior home, the older Allie is shown wearing red to foreshadow…
