There is such a thing as perfect love

 Lucas Gonzalez

Professor Brady

ENG 102

11 March 2025

There is such a thing as perfect love

To most, being perfect means to be without fault; except for love. Perfect love is not love without any faults, but rather, it is love that can continue on by enduring and adapting to changes. That is why it is misunderstood by many. This idea of “perfect love” is further stated in The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks. The novel shows that even with hardships, perfect love still endures.

One way this is shown is in chapter 1, “Miracles”. Noah is content with his life and is happy even though his wife is not the same due to her Alzheimer's. This reinforces the idea that perfect love is possible due to him enduring the problem and adapting to it. “I am a common man with common thoughts, and I've led a common life. There are no monuments dedicated to me and my name will soon be forgotten, but I've loved another with all my heart and soul, and to me, this has always been enough.”(Noah, 2). This quote shows that perfect love outshines any imperfections. People with a false sense of love could leave their wives in this situation or even cheat on them, however, people with a sense of perfect love can endure this problem and adapt to change, just like Noah. The reason Noah is still content with his life is because he has the patience and endurance to adapt to these changes in his wife.

Although Noah was able to endure this problem when he was old, Allie also endured problems due to her parents. In chapter 2, “Ghosts” Allie says, “Most of the summer, she had to make excuses to her parents whenever they wanted to see each other. It wasn't that they didn't like him-it was that he was from a different class, too poor, and they would never approve if their daughter became serious with someone like him. "I don't care what my parents think, I love you and always will," she would say. "We'll find a way to be together" (Allie/Sparks 24). Since Allie is being fully committed at such a young age further proves that perfect love exists as long as people are willing to endure and adapt to changes. In this situation, it would be socially acceptable to lose the relationship and move on, but with perfect love, there is no need to move on, just adapt and endure.

Lastly, this idea relates to the popular boxing movie Rocky Balboa. The main character, Rocky, says, “It's not about how hard you can hit, it's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward” (Rocky Balboa). This quote is important because it applies to everything, not only boxing. For anything to be “perfect,” it requires full endurance and the ability to adapt to changes. It also requires patience to be able to understand that things may not always seem perfect, but in the end, it's about moving forward and going through problems efficiently that makes things perfect. Ever since the start, Noah and Allie both lived by this code in their relationship, and due to this, they were able to enjoy perfect love and spend each other's lives together. 

In conclusion, there is such a thing as perfect love, it is just misinterpreted by many. To have perfect love, it is required to be able to adapt and endure problems and changes. From the beginning, when Allie's parents caused problems in their relationship, and to the end when Noah had to watch his wife get diagnosed with Alzheimers and lose her memory; despite all these challenges, both Noah and Allie were patient and stuck by this code to be able to maintain their love even in the darkest times, and overall they truly were able to experience perfect love for each other.

Works Cited

Sparks, Nicholas. The Notebook. New York, Warner Books, 1996.

“Rocky Balboa.” 2006.