Gus Character Analysis in The Notebook

Gus is an elderly black man who lives down the road from Noah. The two are friends as well as neighbors—the two men spend several nights a week together playing music, drinking, and talking on Noah’s porch. Gus is old and wise, and he rightly assesses Noah’s longing for the “ghost” of his first love, Allie. Gus urges Noah to see that he’ll never be able to forget such a great love, and to embrace rather than resent the fact that his love for Allie will stay with him forever.

Gus Quotes in The Notebook

The The Notebook quotes below are all either spoken by Gus or refer to Gus. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:

"So that's the ghost you been running from." When asked what he meant, Gus said, "You know, the ghost, the memory. I been watchin' you, workin' day and night, slavin' so hard you barely have time to catch your breath. People do that for three reasons. Either they crazy, or stupid, or tryin' to forget. And with you, I knew you was tryin' to forget. I just didn't know what. […] This girl you been tellin' me about was your first love. And no matter what you do, she'll stay with you forever."

Related Characters: Gus (speaker), Noah Calhoun, Allie Nelson

Related Symbols: Noah’s House

Page Number and Citation: 14-16

Explanation and Analysis:

Gus Character Timeline in The Notebook

The timeline below shows where the character Gus appears in The Notebook. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.

...his father passed away, and now Noah’s only friend is an elderly black man named Gus who lives down the road. Gus comes over several times a week to play music,... (full context)

Noah shakes himself from his reverie. He remembers talking to Gus about this girl recently. Gus pointed out that the girl is “the ghost [Noah has]... (full context)

...helps out with repairs, has brought him some bread and biscuits. After a visit to Gus’s, Noah does some shopping at the general store and returns home, where he sits on... (full context)