Through the friendship of the four there was developed love for one another, some on an intimate basis and others on a friendship basis. Jeff developed, through an uncanny mishap, a love for Courtney. Jeff didn’t know Courtney too well and as the story progressed they grew closer together. When they are on holiday in Lake Tamawara they first get to know each other a bit, then towards the end just before Jeff dies he tells Courtney “I love you, Courtie. I’ll be…your angel.” Courtney replies by saying “I love you too, Jeff”. Then she kisses him. Throughout the novel there is evidence of the two in love when they say things in their mind. Things such as: Courtney thinks “its so perfect here. Why can’t it always be like this” and “Spare him, Lord spare my Jeff. Please!” Eddie and Toni have a more open/friendly relationship, they call each other pet names and say that they love each other, but they both know they aren’t serious. They ‘love’ each other as just friends and not much else. Love is present at different stages in this novel; this shows the reader that there are many ways in which people love one another. This tells us that people should love one another and not to take things/people for granted.
Trust was a major stepping-stone for the characters in the novel to love each other. Jeff trusted Eddie a lot because he told him a secret that didn’t leak out until just before Jeff died. Eddie promised Jeff never to tell any of his friends or relatives about his leukemia. The whole point of the holiday was so that Jeff could have friends near him when he died. Jeff obviously trusted each of them for him to invite them on a holiday with him. Courtney had only known Jeff and the others for a few weeks and accepted to go on a holiday with them. She trusted them and knew that she could get away and have a good time. Trust is a big issue in society nowadays because of what’s been going on with terrorism etc. This instructs us that the world isn’t all full of hatred and nasty people but there are a majority of people who society can trust and should be trusted. People also have to take a bit of a risk to get to know people before they can trust them 100%. This is what Courtney did.
Jeff took a lot of courage upon himself to fight off the leukemia for such a long time. He gave up after about 12 years because it was too strong to fight off. He wanted to die peacefully in a lovely country town near where his parents died. His uncle Pete showed a lot of courage to take his nephew and his friends down to his place to be there to watch his nephew die. Jeff’s Aunty couldn’t face having to sit there and watch him die, which is why she didn’t go. His uncle had to put on a brave face and make his nephews last couple of days as fun as possible. Courage is an import part of society in that if no-one had it then the world as a whole would be quite boring. Many famous and great people have lots of courage in them and they use it to make the society a better place to live in.
There are many lonely characters in this novel. The loneliest of all is Toni-Marie Lupton. Her twin brother was her best friend and half of her soul. Once he died in a fatal car accident she lost her best friend and her soul felt empty. Toni blames herself for his death because she didn’t make sure he wasn’t drunk at the party and she left him ‘for dead’. Toni only has Eddie that is a close friend. Jeff and Courtney don’t like her so much. Eddie is another lonely character. Even though his parents are still alive, they always leave him by himself while they go on holiday or work. Courtney is a very quiet and lonely character that hardly speaks to her mum and absolutely hates her mum’s boyfriend. Before she met the other three she had no friends. In society there are many lonely people that are very much like these characters. This novel instructs us to feel repentant and sorry for lonely people. It hints that there are many people just like Toni, Eddie and Courtney in our very own society.
One of the worst things that happen in this novel is the Domestic Violence that happens to Courtney. Her stepfather is a drunk and whenever Courtney gets back from school he waits for her and starts picking on her. He finds any excuse to start hitting her. He bashes her across walls, punches her in the face and nearly all other regions of the body. He throws and hits her with anything in reach. If she tries to defend herself he hits her even more. Courtney went on holiday with Jeff to get away from all of this. She doesn’t tell anyone until Eddie asks about the scars and bruises on her back and upper arms. Then she finally tells Eddie about her stepfather and tells him that he rapes her as well. When her mum finds out she kicks him out and Courtney is relieved. Courtney is the only one who has domestic violence at home. In society today Domestic Violence is quite serious with the law taking more time and effort with this when reported. Unfortunately the majority of cases aren’t recorded because victims are too scared. Courtney tells her mother and the violence is stopped. This gives us an insight into what could possibly be happening in a neighbor’s house.
The final point that will be discussed is Death. This happens twice in the story, once at the beginning with Toni’s brother being killed in a car crash; and at the end when Jeff loses his fight against Cancer. The story climaxes leading up to the death of Jeff. Death is what the story is based upon with Jeff taking his friends to Lake Tarawara so they can see him die. Toni is always using her brother’s death as a problem until she witnesses Jeff’s death and realizes she isn’t the only one going through a hard time. The reader is meant to feel sorrow, pain and remorse for the remaining characters in the end. Most people’s worst fear is death. This reflects back on society in that most people would do the same things Eddie, Toni and Courtney did whilst Jeff was losing his battle with cancer.
This analysis has shown that Fiction texts not only entertain but instruct. They tell us more about the society we live in. An in depth discussion on things presented in the novel such as Friendship, Love, Trust, Courage, Loneliness, Domestic Violence, Rape and Death helped shape a better understanding of this. This showed that friendship is a valuable asset in society and along with a few other things you can live a happy life.