What Defines Fear?

Author's Note: This essay's purpose was to include text evidence from a novel in a piece, so I wrote a theme essay with supporting quotes from the novel Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks.

When a mysterious twig of a woman that goes by the name of Katie suddenly shows up in the close knit town Southport, North Carolina, the small town begins to question her past. Praying to not make any personal connections with anyone, Katie finds a home that's tucked away in the area. With the fear of her past continuing to haunt her, prayers were answered with a man named Alex who teaches her the real truths of love. Katie slowly lets down her guard, but she can't escape the fact that her abusive relationship will always be a threat. Throughout this novel, Safe Haven, by Nicholas Sparks, Katie, who previously went by the name of Erin, presents the theme of self-reliance in her earlier life which transitions into overcoming fear once her escape from her past is accomplished. This universal theme can follow the novel A Winter Dream, by Richard Paul Evans and Woods Runner, by Gary Paulsen.

Primarily, with the first theme of self-reliance, which focuses on Katie’s past, has her entwined in a relationship with a severe alcoholic and abusive husband, Kevin, who works as a police officer. While the hits from Kevin progressively increase, Katie, who is known as Erin at this time, develops her plan to escape, "In the bedroom, he was snoring within minutes, oblivious to her hatred of him, her hatred of herself. Oblivious to the money she'd been stashing away for almost a year or the hair dye she'd snuck into the grocery cart a month ago and hidden in the cupboard beneath the kitchen sink. Oblivious to the fact that in just a few days, if all went the way she hoped, he would never see or hit her ever again." (Page 147) Though this process is several times more difficult given her husband is a detective who prevents her from leaving the house in general alongside her meeting new people. Kevin refused to let Katie learn how to drive; he was her only means of transportation. Not only that but if Katie bought something herself, Kevin demanded the receipt and exact change. Discussing her past with her neighbor Jo, Katie talks about a "friend" who is constantly frightened due to the involvement of an abusive relationship, "'He used to drive by the house when he was supposed to be working, just to make sure she was there. He monitored the phone records and called all the time, and he wouldn't let her get a driver’s license.'" (Page 65) Lastly, Katie impressively poses that she still loves Kevin to drive her through the day with the least amount of hits possible, "She inhaled before offering a contented sigh, because she knew he wanted her to make those kinds of sounds." (Page 145) Overall, the clear point from this paragraph is how she showed her self-reliance skills by gathering enough resources, even with the challenges she was put against, to separate herself permanently from the relationship.

From one theme to another, the universal theme of self-reliance is transferred over to another universal theme of overcoming fear. When Katie arrived to Southport she was a toothpick, skinnier than imaginable. At night, nightmares arouse and day by day she lived hoping Kevin wouldn't show up at her door. Further example of her fears are in this quote, "The act was so familiar- putting two cups away after coffee in the morning- and for an instant, she felt engulfed by the life she'd left behind. Her hands began to tremble, and pressing them together she took a few deep breaths until they finally stilled." (Page 12) Katie had to overcome the fear of Kevin and his reappearance. This quote shows that she's went through these flashbacks many times before, and there will be times in the future that she will as well. At the time when she was at Southport, Katie met a man named Alex who helped her conquer her understandable fear. Alex was one of the contributors that allowed Katie to accept her past and overcome the fear to look forward to her future. Coming to simplistic terms on how Alex provided help, he loved her with all his heart. When she needed someone to cry her emotions to, he was there. Alex says to Katie, "'If you want to tell me about your past, I'm willing to listen and help in any way I can, but I'm not going to ask you about it. And if you don't want to tell me, that's okay, too, because, again- I never knew that person. You must have a good reason for keeping it a secret, and that means I'm not going to tell anyone, either. No matter what happens, or doesn't happen, between us.'" (Page 122) For other times when she wanted to enjoy a gratifying day with Alex, he was also there to love and support her. Katie is thinking to herself the how she loves Alex while they're out on a date, "This is what it feels like to love someone, she thought, and to be loved in return..." (Page 129) Alex's desire to be with Katie and have her defeat her fears are essential points in supporting the theme of overcoming fear.

Strengthening the theme of overcoming fear, another person was very important to the triumph of Katie's fears. After a few months of Katie's arrival to Southport, she met a new neighbor named Jo who was also there to talk with Katie, showing up miraculously at the times when she most needed someone to talk with and listening better than anyone she's ever known. Shown in this quote is her remembering her time with Jo, "The steady rhythm of her footfalls set her mind adrift and she found herself reflecting on her conversation with Jo." (Page 41) Additionally in this next quote where Katie invited Jo over for a bottle of wine, Katie needed to get her story off of her chest to someone she trusts and she considered Jo trustworthy enough to hear it, "Katie could feel something twisting and tightening in her chest. 'Maybe they want to talk about it but they know there's nothing you can do to help,' she whispered." (Page 63) Almost as if Jo were the other half of Alex, she spent time with Katie through the tears and the laughter. Being a true friend to Katie, Jo also consulted Katie's relationship with Alex and encouraged her be with him. Jo and Katie carry a conversation about Alex where Jo is reassuring Katie that she's interested in him; the text begins with Katie speaking, "'What's his story, by the way? I take it he's divorced, right?' 'You should ask him.' 'Me? Why would I want to ask him?' 'Because you asked me,' Jo said, arching an eyebrow. 'Which means, of course, that you're interested in him.'" (Page 39) Through friendship, Katie is supported and learns to outshine the darkness of Kevin in her shadows.

Following the supporting evidence on how Katie's friends helped her overcome her fears, is knowing that she actually overcame that fear; this is vital to recognize as well. Near the ending pages of the novel, Kevin returns for Katie and attempts to kill her and Alex as well. Although when Kevin appeared, he was intoxicated and could barely walk a straight line; this didn't help when he was trying to fire his gun at Katie, "Kevin's eyes were feral, his movements jerky. He took a step toward them, almost losing his balance. The gun swung back and forth. Unsteady." (Page 312) Through the struggle that Katie and Alex went through to get rid of Kevin, it came to an end when Katie shot Kevin and once again the alcohol in his system only fought against him. The powerful act of Katie defending herself and killing Kevin raged with emotion. She felt relief and sadness all at once and Katie's brain went into a perplexed mental state. Even though her emotions were confused, it was clear that she has overcome her fear of Kevin. Through the point of view of Kevin, he describes the pain of the bullet Katie shot him with, which would symbolically represent how Katie overcame the fear of him, “He felt something then, burning in his stomach, fire. His left leg gave way and he tried to stay upright, but his body was no longer his own. He collapsed on the porch reaching for his stomach.” (Page 321) Continuing to support the new confidence of Katie, she thinks to herself, “No, she thought. I’ll never go with you. I never wanted to go back.” (Page 322) Moreover, she rose above all of the other fears of everything else she might’ve been fearful of. Though the quote is brief, it gives a strong message, “She knew what she saw. She knew what she believed.” (Page 341)

While comprehending the themes in the novel Safe Haven, identifying the comparisons between these universal themes in other novels is crucial as well. Other novels I read, A Winter Dream, by Richard Paul Evans and Woods Runner, Gary Paulsen, have the theme self-reliance that's moved to overcoming fear. Within the covers of A Winter Dream, the main character, Joseph, was kicked out of a large family business to hope he would struggle in the large city, Chicago. This required self-reliance because of the abandonment and unfamiliar surroundings Joseph had to deal with, all over the more challenging job that he was transposed to. The overcoming fear comes in when Joseph has to constantly hop places where he works and then finally return to family business to come face to face with his brothers to consult purchasing their business. In the next novel, Woods Runner, the main character, Samuel, finds himself all alone in the Revolutionary War when his parents are captured by the British. He relies on himself to find his parents and reunite with them. Simply explained, Samuel overcomes his fears by diving into the British's territory to steal back his parents.

After showing the relation of these universal themes in other novels, we realize that maybe the life we have isn’t too awful after all. Imagine being beaten by one you once loved, then finally escaping, yet, still having to live with the possibility of its reoccurrence hangs in the air you breathe. Thankfully, in this piece, the once self-reliant woman conquers the terrors of her past. Though it is a fictional story, the messages sent through the universal themes of the novel provide wonderful examples to people around the world.