Essay Questions

What could Jenny's refusal to go to Paris symbolize?

Soon after learning about Jenny's illness, Oliver buys two tickets to Paris, hoping to offer Jenny a last wonderful experience before she dies. When Oliver shows Jenny the tickets, she reveals she knows about her illness and also expresses her desire to remain home, with Oliver, refusing thus to travel to Paris. This may appear to be unexpected especially since Jenny planed to break up with Oliver in shortly after finishing collage so she could visit Paris and follow her dreams of becoming a world-renowned piano player. Jenny's refusal could be seen in this context as Jenny admiring she had found happiness with Oliver and a way to reassure Oliver she did not regret giving up her dream in order to start a life with him.

What were the last words Oliver told his father in the movie and what did they meant?

Soon after Oliver's father found out about Jenny's illness, she passed away. When Oliver met with his father on the streets of New York, Oliver Senior was unaware Jenny passed away and told his son he will do everything he can to find the best doctor to treat his daughter in law. When Oliver Senior found about Jenny's passing, he apologized to Oliver who then told him "Love means never having to say you're sorry", something which Jenny told him in the beginning of their relationship. Through this sentence, Oliver wants to transmit to his father that even though he had wronged him, he was now forgiven and that everything was now in the past.

Where did Oliver go after Jenny died and why?

The film ends with Oliver, alone, returning to the ice ring where he once took Jenny. The ice ring is in fact the last place he and Jenny visited together, since in the same day Jenny had to be taken to the hospital and died soon after. At the ice ring, Oliver thinks about the years he had spent with Jenny and the happy moments they shared together. For Oliver, the ice ring represents both happiness and sadness since it reminded him he had lost his wife and also of the beautiful moments they spent together. Because of this, the ice ring is used here to embody the short time Jenny and Oliver had spent together.