Message In A Bottle

For the novel’s point of view, Sparks employs a third-person omniscient narrator who can report the unspoken thoughts and feelings of all characters and does so throughout the narrative. Typically, whichever character’s private thoughts are shared with the reader is the character with whom readers are most encouraged to identify and relate. Certainly, readers have received much more information about Theresa up to this point, but, in this section, Garrett’s private thoughts are also revealed. When the two meet on the docks, the narrator reveals his jumbled thoughts about her, as he notes how pretty she is, how she doesn’t wear a wedding ring, and how he must do “his best to clear his mind” (99) so that he can carry on a coherent conversation. Moreover, “Garrett realized he was enjoying the conversation” (99) with Theresa, a revelation that seems notable only because he is so surprised by it. Further, the invitation to go sailing with him “com[es] out of his mouth before he could stop” it (100), reinforcing his artlessness—something Theresa picks up on—as well as echoing the idea of fate or destiny, which has surfaced in his letters to Catherine and in the Prologue. He is drawn to do and say things he doesn’t expect, though he is less surprised by his guilt after saying them. Garrett’s mixed emotions are communicated by this omniscient narrator, his combination of excitement and guilt, as well as his desire to release the guilt, “wish[ing] there was something he could do about it” though “there never was” (102). Thus, the reader is quickly introduced to Garrett’s complex emotional state and encouraged to empathize with him as much as with Theresa, the novel’s protagonist.

Another effect of the novel’s point of view is the dramatic irony created by the reader’s knowledge that Theresa knows more about Garrett than he realizes or knows about her. She has read three of his incredibly vulnerable and heartfelt letters to his dead wife, something he does not suspect. She has also read several articles about him, as they are hanging on the walls of his scuba shop, and she has traveled to North Carolina just to find and meet him. Meanwhile, he believes she is just a pretty stranger he met on the dock. He does not know that she has carefully orchestrated this meeting or thinks of him as the type of man she could potentially love. Dramatic irony is created when the audience knows something that one or more characters do not, and this produces tension around the secret information via foreshadowing that the character who is out of the loop will, at some point, learn what they do not yet know. Theresa knows it “would sound crazy” (88) if she confessed her knowledge of Garrett to him: how she found one letter, published it in her column, happened upon another letter, actively pursued a third (even paying $300 for it), enlisted her boss to make calls to ascertain his identity, and then boarded a plane out of state to find him. This creates tension because Garrett will likely be upset that she doesn’t tell him immediately about finding his letter and her interest in him and perhaps more upset when he learns that at least two of his letters have been published without his permission.

While finding the message in the bottle is something Theresa did not expect, she does engineer their meeting and creates an opportunity to see him again when she intentionally leaves her jacket onboard the Happenstance. The initial unpredictability, Garrett’s unexpected attraction to her, Catherine’s accident, and even the name of his boat all point to Life’s Unpredictability. Catherine was hit by an elderly man who lost control of his vehicle, and “happenstance” is just another word for accident, chance, or even fluke. Further, Garrett’s ability to touch so many people with his poignant messages of love and grief suggests The Healing Power of Love, especially in that these letters give Theresa hope that she could love again and find a man who will return those feelings. Reading about Garrett’s love for Catherine and how it remains so strong even after three years seems to have a healing effect on Theresa. A creature of routine, not disposed to be spontaneous, she behaves incredibly impulsively after reading his words, as though she cannot help herself. Later, when Garrett and Theresa are on the boat, his tendency to get lost in recollections of Catherine signals The Power of Memory. His memories transport him completely out of the present, though he is often mid-conversation with Theresa and mid-sail. Though Garrett is with another woman to whom he is attracted, his memories of Catherine are so powerful that they prevent him from really pursuing this opportunity with Theresa.