Summary and Analysis
Chapter 10 - Ronnie
Summary
At Bower's Point that evening, Ronnie is unimpressed when the gang begins to drink alcohol. She begins to think about her day with Blaze, exploring the town, and then going back to Blaze's house to watch The Breakfast Club. Ronnie noticed that Blaze's mom left her a note and some money. Marcus interrupts Ronnie's thoughts, taunting her for not drinking, and then asks her to take a walk on the beach with him. She refuses and walks away.
Ronnie heads to her father's, and when she gets there, Steve is playing the piano. Although it is 2:00 AM, he offers her food instead of yelling at her or lecturing her.
The next morning, Steve is playing the piano again, and Ronnie is convinced that he has an ulterior motive — perhaps to forge a bond with her or convince her to start playing again. She yells at him that she can't even stand the sight of the piano. Steve is confused by her outburst and tells her that playing the piano makes him feel better, but Ronnie storms out.
Two hours later she finds Blaze at the record store. Blaze accuses her of asking Marcus to take a walk and attempting to kiss him and refuses to listen to Ronnie's denials. As Ronnie follows Blaze out the store, the alarm sounds. Her bag is searched, and the merchandise that Blaze had been looking at appears in Ronnie's tote bag: Blaze set Ronnie up.
Analysis
The Breakfast Club is an excellent example of how effective allusions can be. On the surface, this detail of how Ronnie and Blaze spent their afternoon is unimportant. The plot of the film, however, foreshadows the development of Ronnie's relationship with Blaze and Ronnie's own growth throughout the novel: It is about five teenagers who seemingly don't have anything in common, but who, after spending a day in detention together, gain an understanding of one another and themselves and learn that they do not have to conform to the labels they have been given by others.
Steve's response to his daughter's 2:00 AM arrival is not what Ronnie expects — Ronnie doesn't know her father as well as she thinks she does. The next morning, when Steve tries to talk to Ronnie about how she spent the previous day, Ronnie refuses to listen to him. Her anger and self-centeredness prevent her from realizing that Steve is being honest when he tells Ronnie his reason for playing.
In this chapter, look out for a few important thematic topics — strained relationships, the sharing of information, insecurity, jealousy, attacking out of frustration, and revenge.
Blaze's character is also developed in this chapter. Blaze is jealous of the attention Marcus is showing Ronnie and readily believes his lies.
This latest shoplifting incident demonstrates that Ronnie might have been telling the truth about her most recent arrest for shoplifting — she was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Glossary
Bob Marley Jamaican reggae singer
Ritchie Valens Mexican-American singer, songwriter, and guitarist of the 1950s
From Nicholas
Students, especially if they reread The Last Song, should notice all the foreshadowing, particularly Steve's illness and Marcus' involvement with the church fire. Can there ever be too much foreshadowing? Why or why not?
Foreshadowing is an art. It's important to be fair to the reader all along, without the reader being necessarily aware of it. Sometimes, authors do too much foreshadowing (giving the ending away) and sometimes doing too little (making a story that's unfair to the reader with an ending that doesn't seem real). It's a balancing act.