"I'de usually kind of daydream during the sermon but that morning he preached on the meaning of Love and I perked up and took notice when he used that magic word. While the six-foot-six minister flipped through his notes like a deck of cards and said things like Love wasn't having a warm feeling but it was a decision you make, and Love is not something we wait to have happen to us, but something we do, I remembered the first time I saw Lola"(Gordon West, pg.39). This passage is extremely important to the novel because it proves that Cal loves Gretchen, and what he has with Lola is not love. Cal loves Gretchen and not in a romantic way, but a real way. Love isn't a nice feeling you have, thats more like infatuation. Although love and infatuation can sometimes go hand in hand, infatuation shouldn't be confused as love. Cal confuses his infatuation with Lola with love. Also Cal makes the decision to help Gretchen in any way possible, he doesn't wait around, he actually does something for her. Thats love. With Lola, he would have continued to sit back and do nothing had her and Tom not been forced to break up. I don't think he would have done anything,he would have waited for her to come to him.
His love with Gretchen was something that happened over time,but only because he did something.
I think this quote is important because it describes perfectly his relationships with others.If this quote is held as truth, you can easily see whom he actually-truly loves.
His love with Gretchen was something that happened over time,but only because he did something.
I think this quote is important because it describes perfectly his relationships with others.If this quote is held as truth, you can easily see whom he actually-truly loves.