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Dear John by Nicholas Sparks Summary Study Guide

Detailed plot synopsis reviews of Dear John


Plot Summary Part 4


Now you, the person reading this--does this strike you as at all realistic?  We are supposed to think that John loves Savannah sooooo much that he will give up all his money to make her happy--with some other guy. What kind of person acts like this? This is the action of a saint, or a super perfect person of pure goodness--in other words, not a real human being. At this point in the story John becomes St. John and the entire story falls apart due to lack of realism.


A normal man would not have killed Tim, of course, but neither would he have given up his life savings to help Tim have good sex with his girlfriend.


By the way, when John visits Tim in the hospital, before he gives the money, Tim is practically throwing Savannah in John's arms, saying that if he dies he wants John to bone her. Everyone is so selfless and perfect in this book! It's totally unbelievable.

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The book ends with John stalking Savannah from a distance, watching her being happy at the retarded horse ranch, with Tim making love to her in place of him. So everyone's happy!


Can you believe any of this?


The end.


Literary Criticism:


This book was completely ridiculous. John's character was totally unrealistic, from the moment he met Savannah. He dives into the water to save her purse, when she was a total stranger to him? No man would do that. In fact, no boyfriend would do that for his girlfriend!


John becomes odder and odder when he dates Savannah for months and months and never tries to bone her. It's as if he's developmentally arrested and doesn't know how to make the first move or is afraid to. It makes him an unlikeable and unbelievable character.


And finally when John gives up his inheritance to help Tim get better so he can bang Savannah in his place, the story falls apart.


But perhaps this is a fantasy for many women--the blindly obedient boyfriend who will do nearly anything for his girlfriend, almost anything at all, and will never ask for sex and always be the perfect gentlemen. That may sell books, but it doesn't portray real relationships between real people. When a character acts like a saint rather than a flesh and blood human being, the entire story becomes ridiculous.

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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s).
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