In Nicholas Sparks' 1996 novel The Notebook, the author depicts the fundamental American mindset: to fight for your dreams, and never succumb to obstacles which may be placed before you. In the story, a summer romance is formed between blue collar Noah Calhoun, and heiress Allie Hamilton. Both teenagers become deeply infatuated, and felt: "I-know-I've-spent-each-life-before-this-one-searching-for-you." But, Allie's parents remain against the couple's relationship. Even while the odds were against them they were able to fulfill their dream to be with each other "forever".


In terms of class, the male protagonist; Noah describes himself as, "I am just a common man with common thoughts...There are no monuments dedicated to me and my name will soon be forgotten." As the son of a man of no significant fortune or social standing, Noah was a dreamer; his dream being Allie. Of course, while she may have lived in the lap of luxury, “She wanted something else.” They both dreamed of a future together but, the Hamilton's decided to tear Noah and Allie apart. Noah responded by writing to Allie since,“The scariest thing about distance is that you don’t know whether they’ll miss you or forget you.” So he wrote, every day for a year waiting for his dream to become a reality, waiting for her to say that she wanted to fight for him too. But the odds were against them, as Allie's mother would make sure that none of the letters ever reached her. Upon their reconnection, Allie asked with exasperation, "Why didn't you write me?... I waited for you for seven years. But now it's too late." But Noah knew that within his dream, “Sometimes we need to be apart to understand just how much we truly love each other.” and his dream was stronger than her doubts and worth fighting for.

Years of waiting for Allie to be his, left Noah with the time to focus on how he was going to keep her with him. This passion came in the form of the Windsor Plantation. The abandoned home they found one summer, became a symbol of their future together. Even while she wasn't present in his life, he poured his energy into making the house everything they ever wanted, "a white house, with blue shutters... And a room so I can paint." Years later, Allie returns to him, she finds the house, "exactly as we dreamed it." But their home, wasn't to be their home forever. Allie begins to lose her memory to Alzheimer's. Noah places her into a home where she can be taken care of, but chooses to stay with her even while he is healthy, knowing: "Wherever she is, that's where my home is.” Because he believes, “That's my sweetheart in there." Even though she does not know who he is, he thinks "I read to her, and she remembers." But it is not the end of their story.


In the end, did they both attain their dream of being together forever? It would seem so since, "Nothing is ever lost nor can be lost; the body aged, sluggish,cold.... the embers left from earlier fires shall dully flame again.” So while they reached their American Dream, their passing was both a beginning and an end, since the obstacles they overcame, and the dreams pushed them forward, towards their American Dream.