47 pages • 1 hour read
The Best of Me
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Chapter 21-EpilogueChapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 21 Summary
Jared’s situation worsens and the doctor informs Amanda that he needs a heart transplant. Amanda is devastated and blames Frank for acting carelessly and inadvertently giving rise to the circumstances that injured Jared. Frank remains quiet and resigned. Jared’s doctor convinces the transplant committee to accord Jared’s case the highest priority. Amanda’s mother arrives and takes charge of caring for the family.
Early Tuesday morning, the doctor informs Amanda that a heart donor has been found for Jared, and Amanda sheds tears of relief.
Chapter 22 Summary
Before Amanda leaves for the hospital the next morning, Evelyn makes her drink some coffee, as she barely ate or drank anything the previous day. At the hospital, Amanda distances herself from Frank. The heart transplant is a success, and Amanda enters the hospital room to see Jared, who is upset that the quality of his life is now compromised. Amanda consoles him, saying that he will live a full life of love and excitement despite his health condition. She says that he will feel whole when he finds the right person to share his life with. For the first time in a few days, she thinks about Dawson. Amanda assures Jared that she means every word she told him.
Chapter 23 Summary
Tanner, Tuck’s attorney, is in Tuck’s garage. He remembers that he agreed to take up Tuck’s case only after he had verified Dawson’s background. He is convinced that Dawson was handed an unfairly harsh sentence due to prejudice against his lower socioeconomic background. In the garage, Tanner finds Tuck’s letter to Dawson. He immediately calls Amanda and realizes that she is unaware of the happenings in Tidewater. He tells her that Abee and Ted have been arrested, and Alan is recovering in the hospital. In the end, he breaks the news of Dawson’s death to Amanda. Amanda is shocked and starts weeping.
Epilogue Summary
Two years later, in her home in Durham, Amanda is preparing dinner to celebrate the second anniversary of Jared’s heart transplant. She looks back at her life following her son’s surgery; Jared has gone back to his normal life, and Frank has quit drinking. After extensive marital counseling, she and Frank have a functional marriage. Her memories of her weekend with Dawson are still fresh in her mind.
Jared asks Amanda about his heart donor. Amanda thinks it is best not to search for the identity of the donor, but she knows that it is Dawson. Dawson was a registered organ donor at the time of his death, and Amanda’s own inquiries confirmed her suspicion that Jared was given Dawson’s heart. Amanda hugs Jared, listening to his heartbeat, and says she loves him.
Chapter 21-Epilogue Analysis
This section focuses mainly on Jared’s critical condition and treatment, the revelation of Dawson’s death, and the plot’s denouement. Dawson’s heart in Jared’s body becomes a symbol of Dawson’s enduring love for Amanda, and the memories of their weekend together become a source of strength for Amanda as she makes her new life with her family as fulfilling as possible.
The theme of The Power of True Love is further developed here; Amanda’s conversation with Jared after his operation sums up the essence of true love. As she gives her son hope, sharing with him the joy that being in love with the right person can bring, she reflects on her journey of love and how lucky she has been to experience true love. Amanda’s love for Dawson deepens over the next two years, and she lives with his memory and draws strength from his love for her. This also has the effect of merging the past and present timelines; after Dawson’s death, Amanda leads a hybrid existence, her past love extending to her present, animating her family and strengthening her soul.
In the final section, Amanda and Evelyn resolve their issues. Evelyn reveals her nurturing side when she takes care of Amanda and her family after Jared’s accident. The scene in Chapter 22 in which Evelyn persuades Amanda to have coffee and eat before going back to the hospital is significant as it is markedly different from their breakfast scenes in the previous chapters. Earlier, for Amanda, coffee was a means of fortifying herself against her mother’s verbal and emotional onslaught, however, in this chapter, the coffee that her mother makes for her becomes a source of strength and comfort.
The fast-paced action of the previous chapters continues in these sections. Chapters 21 and 23 give an hour-by-hour account of Jared’s progress at the hospital. The development of Jared’s condition—his injury, surgery, heart attack, transplant, and recuperation—are expressed through the emotionally distraught perspective of Amanda. The unexpectedness of each development and the detailed description of Amanda’s emotions that accompanies it make these sections emotionally charged and dramatic. For example, whenever the doctor uses unclear medical terms to describe Jared’s condition, Amanda interjects and forces the doctor to translate the jargon into simple language. This heightens the dramatic effect of the revelation. The scene in Chapter 23 between Tuck’s attorney and Amanda, during which she learns of Dawson’s death, is also a source of drama. Since the scene occurs soon after Amanda achieves a level of peace after her traumatic days in the hospital, the sense of shock and disbelief on hearing that Dawson is dead is heightened. The truth about Jared’s heart donor is saved till the very end of the novel, giving an unexpected closure to Amanda and Dawson’s relationship.
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