Megan+M

Megan McHugh March 18th, 2010 Dear John Analysis Dear John is a romantic novel written by Nicholas Sparks. This story reveals the truth about the ups and downs of falling in love. John, the main character, is a coin in the United States army. He spends his summer leave with his autistic father in his hometown in Charleston, North Carolina and unexpectedly meets a lovely young lady named Savannah. Savannah spends her summers in North Carolina while she has off from college. The story begins when Savannah is hanging out on the dock with some friends. One of her guy friends knocks Savannah’s bag off of the ledge into the ocean. Her friend runs down the dock and into the water to get her bag for her but John, spectating, jumps off of the dock and right into the water before her friend can reach the water to retrieve her bag. Savannah thanks John and exclaims that her whole life is in that bag. They talk for a few minutes and casually, she invites him to a bonfire at her house that night. He hesitates but agrees and they begin to develop deeper feelings for each other with each time that they meet. At the end of the night, they look up at the sky and John says, “You wanna know something?” “No matter where you are in the world, the moon is never bigger than your thumb.” And he took her hand and put her thumb up to the moon with his. With only two weeks to spend with each other and get to know each other, they fall in love. Spending every last second with each other until Savannah had to go back to college for her fall semester, they said their last goodbyes and agreed to write and keep in touch. Savannah had gone back to school and John’s summer leave had come to an end. He went back to the army and the couple missed each other so much that it hurt. For months they wrote each other and everything was perfect until one day John hadn’t received a response letter. He waited, and weeks later Savannah broke up with him. She didn’t go into the amount of detail that John deserved and simply said that she had found someone else. John was extremely heartbroken and in spite, signed to stay in the army for longer. John soon after gets word that his father is in the hospital and doesn’t have much longer to live. He takes special pass and goes home to be with his father. He writes him a letter expressing his love for him and reads it to him right before he passes away. John then visits Savannah and their feelings for each other slowly crept back but they couldn’t act on it because Savannah was married. The man she married, Tim, happened to be someone John had connections with during Savannah and John’s two weeks together over the summer. Tim was a close family friend and neighbor to Savannah. Savannah had interest in working with special needs children and Tim had an autistic son named Allen. Later, Savannah admitted that she felt obligated to marry Tim because he needed help with Allen. When John was at Savannah’s house visiting after his father’s death, Savannah expressed her sympathy about the loss of John’s father. She was also close with John’s father and worked a lot with John in understanding his father’s Autism. During their visit, Savannah also expressed that Tim was in the hospital and recently diagnosed with Melanoma. Right after she tells him this, Tim calls the house and Savannah told him John was there. Tim asked that Savannah to bring John to the hospital to see him. They went and Tim told John he was sorry he took Savannah and said that Savannah never looked at him the way she looked at John. Tim also hinted that he wanted John to marry Savannah when he dies. Later, John leaves and sells his father’s coin collection for money to put towards Tim’s treatment. Tim dies about two months later and John finds out. He goes to see Savannah but doesn’t have enough courage to go inside. She sees him and comes outside and puts her thumb up to the moon and says, No matter where you are in the world, the moon is never bigger than your thumb.” John: Main Character who is a coin in the United States Army and falls in love with Savannah Savannah: Main Character who falls in love with John but marries Tim because she has a heart for special needs children John’s Father: Single dad with autism who raised John all by himself. He had a coin collection that he and John developed and that is how they spent time together through John’s childhood. Tim: Savannah’s neighbor in North Carolina and is her husband who dies of Melanoma Allen: Tim’s son who has autism “No matter where you are in the world, the moon is never bigger than your thumb.” He said this at the bonfire at Savannah’s house the first night they met. This is important because they would be apart and he wanted Savannah to know that no matter how far away they are, the moon would be the same. He hoped that she would do that and think of him. “See you soon then?” “See you soon then”. Savannah and John said this to each other at the end of every time they saw each other. At the end of the story when John and Savannah are no longer together and they are fighting, John goes to leave Savannah’s house and says, “See you soon then?” and begs him to say it back and instead he opens the door and leaves. “I love you, not just for now but for always, and I dream of the day that you’ll take me in your arms again.” John says this in his response letter to Savannah’s break up letter when he is heartbroken and longing to have Savannah back. ** Q:** What were Savannah’s motivations behind breaking up with John, the man she was completely in love with days before she ended things, and why was this a key part of the story? **A:** She had a heart for helping disabled kids and a close family friend needed her. Autism is a major theme throughout the story and Savannah always tried to put others before herself. She married Tim so she could be there for his autistic son, Allen. **Q:** What was the significance behind John’s Father’s coin collection and how was it relevant throughout the entire story? **A:** One characteristic of Autism is being obsessed with something. One of John’s father’s obsessions was his coins. This is ironic because John’s title was coin in the United States Army. John and his father collected coins as John was a child. John then became ‘too cool’ for coins and his father continued collecting. They had a special coin that was very unique and worth a whole lot of money. When John’s father died, he sold every coin but that one, just because it was special to him and his father’s relationship. **Q:** How did John and Savannah meet? **A:** Savannah was on the dock with some friends and her bag was knocked off of the dock by one of her guy friends and fell into the water. Her friend ran down the dock and into the water. Before he got there, however, John who was spectating jumped into the water after Savannah’s bag. Savannah ran and thanked John and exclaimed that her who le life was in that bag. They had a brief conversation about why one another was there at that time and she casually invited him back to her house for a bonfire that night.
 * Plot Overview **
 * Character List **
 * Important Quotations Explained **
 * Study Questions & Essay Topics **