The Relationship Between Ira And Ruth In The Longest Ride

“As your father used to say, we shared the longest ride together, this thing called life, and mine has been filled with joy because of you” (Sparks 78). This quote compiles the long, complicated, and marvelous love story of Ira and Ruth. Fighting to stay alive, Ira reminisces on all the milestones in his love with Ruth as she sits by his side. Meanwhile, a new love between Luke and Sophia arises and flourishes. As they overcome hardships in their relationship, their love story soon becomes intertwined with that of Ruth and Ira’s. I will be comparing the two relationships, predicting what occurred after the story concluded, and evaluating the significance behind the title of the story. The relationship between Ira and Ruth is contrasting to

This title can be seen taking on a literal meaning in the story. We see most of these references through Luke’s bull riding career. Luke is an incredible bull rider and he has many “longest rides.” One of these that stands out the most is when Luke rides Big Ugly Critter, the same bull that almost killed him. No one has ever been able to ride this bull, but when Luke tries for the second time he succeeds. He considers this the longest ride of his life: “The world seemed to move in slow motion, making it feel like the longest ride of his life, but he stayed low and balanced his free arm moving across his body to maintain control. When the horn finally sounded, the crowd surged to its feet, roaring its approval” (Sparks 396). We can also infer that Ira had his own “longest ride” as he was trapped in his car after his accident. It took a long time before Ira was finally rescued, but this gave him time to reminisce on his other “longest ride.” There is also another metaphorical meaning to the title that is also seen throughout the novel. “The longest ride” is used as an analogy to life throughout the book. This is one of the lessons that Ira learned from his father: “His voice, even now, follows me everywhere on this longest of rides, this thing called life” (Sparks 2). The meaning behind it is that all rides have bumpy parts and smooth parts, but they all eventually come to an end. Ira and Ruth shared their “longest ride” together and Luke and Sophia will soon do the same. Neither of their stories was simple or easy, but as one was beginning the other came to a pleasant end. Overall, the title of this novel can be perceived in two different