Like the title suggests, the main focus of the story is about love and really how love works; how it can be strong, and how it can faltter and eventualy die. A reoccurring line that keeps popping up is "This is love." The premise of this story shows us the relationship between two young and hopeful teens, China and Jeremy. We watch them go from perfect love and then some of the most unbearable struggles that tries to break that love.
In the begging of the story, it shows us our two characters,seniors in high school and helplessly in love with each other. They don't fight, they kiss each other every time they see each other, and they are content to be this happy forever. Boyle sets up this "perfect" couple ultimately having there relationship fail. So the whole time you are reading this, you are waiting for them to start to argue or even when they go to different colleges, they stay true to there love. It tumbles a little but it always picks back up. Boyle is showing this that a perfect relationship can exist.
However, everything hits the fan. China ends up pregnant and they hide it until the baby is born and it is born in a motel. Once born, they get ride of it. Boyle sets up the grotesque manner of the world. Boyle purposely sets up the absurd events to show us that the idea of true isn't true, or at least not at that age. Jeremy and China end up in jail and Jeremy loses everything about his character. The point behind this is to show the reader that there are two sides to love: true, unflawed love and love that isn't actually there just simply going throughout the motions.
A good response to the opening especially. Don't forget to use your response to reflect on your own writing--what the reading made you realize, how you'll apply that to your own work, what you struggle with and how he handled that issue, etc.
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