The Notebook Characters: Full List & Analysis

Who drives the story

Main characters

Noah Calhoun

A poor New Bern lumberyard worker turned war veteran who restores a plantation house and never stops writing letters. As an old man he reads their story aloud daily, hoping to reach his wife through the fog of Alzheimer's.

Appears in:: Part 1: The Notebook in a Nursing Home; Part 2: A Summer That Ends Too Soon; Part 3: The Return and the Choice; Part 4: Reading Her Back
Themes:: Love that outlasts memory; Passion versus security; Class and family power; Storytelling as rescue; Duty and devotion in old age

Allie Nelson

A wealthy Raleigh girl who falls for Noah one perfect summer, then is swept away by her parents and becomes a noted painter engaged to a lawyer. Her heart pulls her back, and in old age she slips in and out of recognizing the man beside her.

Appears in:: Part 1: The Notebook in a Nursing Home; Part 2: A Summer That Ends Too Soon; Part 3: The Return and the Choice; Part 4: Reading Her Back
Themes:: Love that outlasts memory; Passion versus security; Class and family power; Storytelling as rescue

Allie's mother

The hidden hand who intercepted a year of Noah's letters because she wanted a different life for her daughter. She later returns them and confesses to loving a laborer once herself.

Appears in:: Part 2: A Summer That Ends Too Soon; Part 3: The Return and the Choice; Part 4: Reading Her Back
Themes:: Passion versus security; Class and family power; Storytelling as rescue

Lon Hammond Jr.

Allie's wealthy lawyer fiancé, the safe and impressive choice. He arrives in New Bern to fight for her and leaves hurt when she chooses Noah.

Appears in:: Part 3: The Return and the Choice
Themes:: Passion versus security

How they are connected

Key relationships

Allie Nelson Noah Calhoun
A wealthy Raleigh girl who falls for Noah one perfect summer, then is swept away by her parents and becomes a noted painter engaged to a lawyer.
Allie's mother Noah Calhoun
The hidden hand who intercepted a year of Noah's letters because she wanted a different life for her daughter.
Lon Hammond Jr.Allie Nelson
Allie's wealthy lawyer fiancé, the safe and impressive choice.
Lon Hammond Jr.Allie's mother
Allie's wealthy lawyer fiancé, the safe and impressive choice.
Lon Hammond Jr.Noah Calhoun
He arrives in New Bern to fight for her and leaves hurt when she chooses Noah.

Go deeper

The Notebook themes & symbols

Love that outlasts memory · Passion versus security · Class and family power · Storytelling as rescue

Themes explained

Read the full The Notebook summary

The full story act by act, the ending explained and a quick quiz.

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