A Walk to Remember-Nicholas Sparks

Symbolism is a great way to describe something or someone in a novel, especially when the author does not want to give away what they're trying to say directly. I think symbolism is like a curtain, readers must unveil it to reveal what the author meant.

In the Nicholas Sparks' novel, A Walk to Remember one symbol I found was the music box mentioned in the first few chapters of the book. Before I continue further, I want to let everyone know that the book is very different than the movie.

Continuing to the music box, I think that's a symbol that Nicholas Sparks used because it shows that that even though you lose something in life, it doesn't mean all of the music in your life has met its end. Mr. Sullivan, who is Jamie's [the main character's] father lost his wife when Jamie was born. She died at childbirth. Since then, he felt as if he lost everything his life stood for. But one Christmas, his daughter asks for a music box. So one evening before Christmas, Mr. Sullivan searches for that music box. There he came across a woman, who he never ever saw in the small town that everyone knew each other. The lady asks him what he was looking for, and he tells her. They chat for a while and experiences how it feels to help others who are unfortunate during the holidays.

At the end of the night, the woman tells him to look in the well, he'll see what he wants for Christmas. In the water, where he expected to see his reflection, he saw his daughter's. He realized his wife might be gone but there's still a part of his wife in Jamie. The music box appears under the tree on Christmas morning, and engraved on the tops of the box was a picture of that lady she saw a few night before. He didn't see her back after then.

Mr. Sullivan writes a story of that night, when he realized that having a small music box shows that he still has his daughter even if he doesn't have a stereo...his wife.
Although in the movie, it wasn't Mr. Sullivan that wrote the play performed in the video below, Jaime did have the lead part of both plays. In the movie, the "other woman" and in the novel, "the angel" also known as the lady Mr. Sullivan meets while shopping for the music box.