Dear John (Nicholas Sparks)

Download the Math of Storytelling Infographic

1. What is the genre?

Global—Love Story > Courtship

Secondary—Worldview > Maturation

2. What are the conventions and obligatory scenes for the genre?

Conventions

Triangle:

1. Army/Savannah/John – causes Savannah and John’s final separation
   
2. Tim/Savannah/John – causes John to invoke his sacrifice

Helpers and Harmers.

1. Susan: Harmer – college friend who thinks Savannah can do better than John
   
2. Randy: Harmer – College frat boy that Susan wants to set Savannah up with
   
3. Tim: Helper and Harmer (shapeshifter) Tim is John’s foil – he is giving, religious, educated where John is prone to anger and violence, unreligious and uneducated.  In the beginning, Tim is Savannah’s road untraveled, and ultimately when she marries him, he is the impediment to John’s happy ever after. Helper: Tim is good guy, ‘everyone loves him’ (Savannah page 30), founded Habitat for Humanity group in Chapel Hill, he is friendly; encouraging and protective of John and Savannah’s beginning relationship. Harmer: when John re-enlists after 9/11, Savannah and John grow distant and Tim begins to spend more time with her in school; after his parents are killed, Savannah and Tim fall in love
   
4. Army and 9/11: Harmer – makes John choose between re-enlisting for honor and love for Savannah.

Gender Divide. Chivalry – John dives in the ocean to retrieve her bag; Savannah becomes the caretaker for Tim (role reversal)

External Need: Savannah: helping people – at Wrightsville beach to work for Habitat for Humanity for a month as volunteer; this is reflected later when she falls in love with Tim because she is spending so much time with him after his parents die and he is left alone with his autistic brother and needs help

Opposing Forces:

1. Class: college educated Savannah vs Army trained John with no college (friends disapprove of Savannah’s choice in John, think she can do better)
   
2. Separated by distance and the Army: John is stationed in Germany and Savannah lives in NC
   
3. 9/11: forces John to Re-enlist for honor

Secrets:

1. From one another:  Savannah keeps the fact that she married Tim a secret from John until he visits her after his father’s death
   
2. From themselves: That Savannah and John never stop loving each other; they don’t talk for many years after Savannah sends her Dear John letter – but they both love each other throughout all that time
   
3. Other: Tim’s feelings for Savannah, John suspects something other than ‘she’s like my little sister’ but Tim doesn’t confirm this until he is dying

Rituals: watching the full moon and remembering their relationship every time while they are apart.  John witnesses her do this at the end, even though Tim has recovered, and she is happily married; also, during the beginning, they are very playful and teasing with each other

Moral Weight:

1. John feels tension when he sees someone flirt with Savannah after they first meet, then reasons with himself that he barely knows her (though he feels something he won’t admit it) and doesn’t want to start something he can’t finish. Page 34
   
2. John feels the weight of 9/11 and re-enlistment
   
3. Savannah feels bad about her Dear John letter and not doing it in person

Obligatory Scenes

Lovers Meet: John is drinking a beer on the pier at Wrightsville Beach while home on military leave and says “hey” and she replies, “hiya stranger”, page 23.  First conversation after he retrieves her bag from the ocean, page 27.

First Kiss or Intimate Connection: First touch, talking on the beach when he offers to teach her to surf – ‘She reached for my arm, leaving me speechless’ (page 33); First kiss on the cheek after first date (page 75, 28% of novel);

Confession of Love: In intro, page 1, John “I suppose that was part of the reason I fell for her” and page 4 “I fell in love with her when we were together, then fell deeper in love with her in the years we were apart”.  Both confess to love at the end of beginning hook (part 1), in a half-built house that Savannah is building with Habitat for Humanity

Lovers Break Up: After John re-enlists, the tone of Savannah’s love letters change and finally, Savannah writes him a ‘Dear John’ letter to tell him that she has met someone else and wants to break up

Proof of Love: John sells coin collection and donates money to save Tim

Lovers Reunite: though they never physically reunite, John watches Savannah look at the full moon which was a ritual they always promised each would do when they were apart

Learn more about obligatory scenes and conventions.

3. What is the point of view?

First Person from John’s perspective.

Learn more about point of view.

4. What are the objects of desire?

External/Conscious—John wants someone to love him

Internal/Sub-Conscious— John needs to make sure the one he loves is happy

Learn more about objects of desire.

5. What is the controlling idea / theme?

A young soldier falls in love, but selflessly sacrifices this love in order to do the right thing and help the one he loves (John gives his inheritance to help Tim find a cure and make Savannah happy).

Learn more about controlling ideas.

6. What is the beginning hook, middle build and ending payoff?

Beginning Hook: When Savannah goes to Wilmington to help with Habitat for Humanity, her bag is knocked into the ocean and a handsome stranger (John) jumps in to retrieve it, causing her to decide either to just thank him and part ways or invite him to a BBQ.  Savannah invites John to the BBQ despite misgivings of her college friends and then John and Savannah fall in love.

Middle Build: When John returns to Germany, he and Savannah fuel their new love with letters and telephone calls, but long distance is difficult and when John chooses to re-enlists after 9/11, Savannah can’t stand to be alone any longer and writes him a ‘Dear John’ letter explaining she has found someone else.

Ending Payoff: After many years of John and Savannah not communicating, John visits her ranch after his father’s funeral and discovers that she still has feelings for him, but John chooses the honorable way of not reigniting their relationship when he leaves and donates his inheritance to help cure her husband Tim, ensuring Tim and Savannah live happily together, all the while knowing that Savannah still loves and thinks about him.

Download the Math of Storytelling Infographic

Share this Article:

🟢 Twitter — 🔵 Facebook — 🔴 Pinterest