A Walk To Remember Plot Summary

By Nicholas Sparks

Landon Carter and Jamie Sullivan, two teenagers from North Carolina, are placed together when
Landon gets into trouble and is ordered to complete community service.
A practical joke on a person in North Carolina, specifically in Beaufort, goes bad and lands the
student in the clinic. Carter, a well-known kid with no future ambitions, is held accountable and
made to participate in after-school community service activities, which includes playing the lead
in the play. Jamie Sullivan, the reverend's daughter, who has high aspirations and nothing in
common with Landon, is also taking part in these activities. Landon approaches Jamie for
assistance and starts to spend most of his time with her when he decides he wants to take his
activities seriously. He didn't expect to like her, but he soon finds himself like her. They dated,
much to the dismay of Jamie's strict preacher father and Landon's old, popular pals. But Landon
and Jamie only understand the true meaning of love and fate when a heartbreaking truth that
puts their relationship to the test is revealed. As Jamie's cancer progresses, she passes out in
her father's arms. In the hospital, where he encounters Landon, he rushes her. Landon nearly
needs to be coaxed away from Jamie's side before he leaves her side. When Jamie tells her
father that she loves him, her father begins to cry and says, "If I've kept you too close, it's
because I wanted to keep you longer."
The following day, when Landon visits the hospital, he observes Jamie being taken away. He
queries the situation. For her, Jamie requests that he acknowledge his father. Landon queries
Jamie's father over her meaning. He informs him that Jamie's private homecare would be paid
for by his father. Landon seems shocked. Landon knocks on his father's home door late that
evening. His dad responds. Landon's father hugs him and he murmurs "thank you." Landon sobs
in his father's arms as all the weariness and fear finally subside.
Landon keeps granting Jamie's requests, including making her a telescope so she can observe a
comet. Landon and Jamie have deeper understanding of what love is as a result of this
experience. The pair is married at the same church where Jamie's mother was wedded in the
final scene of the film, which was Jamie's #1 wish. Through Jamie's recollection, Landon
improves as a person and accomplishes the objectives he set out to complete, just like she did.
Landon sees Jamie's father four years later. It is clear that Jamie assisted him in gaining clarity
and improving his character. For instance, he discloses that, before meeting her, he had no
aspirations for life after high school and that he has completed college and been admitted to
medical school. He apologizes to Jamie's father for being unable to fulfill Jamie's wish to see "a
miracle" before she passed away. She did, and it was you, her father tells her.