Hmm, good question. I don't remember there ever being an official answer to this according to canon. Because of that, you could probably do anything you want to.
For me, I think John would have started pulling away from Dean both emotionally and physically shortly after Sam left for Stanford. Prior to that time, there would have been no reason for John to go it alone. His family was intact and functioning like he thought it should and always would. When Sam left, it threw everything into chaos for both Dean and John. John had never learned how to comfort his kids once he took to being a hunter because he was too busy indulging his own pain and loss. It's that inability that drove the wedge between John and Dean. John couldn't handle Dean's devastation over Sam abandoning him/them, so withdrew both physically and emotionally.
I see him giving Dean the Impala at that point as a way to try and compensate for that emotional vacuum. He knows Dean loves the car and will see it as a special rite of passage, but it will also allow John to function more and more on his own because Dean has his own wheels.
John hoped the car would function as the comfort blanket he couldn't provide. And Dean accepted it for what it was, knowing it was the only thing his Dad could do for him.
Gorram, I'm a Drama Queen in the high court of Angst, aren't I?
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branchandroot
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Date: 2008-07-09 03:45 pm (UTC)For me, I think John would have started pulling away from Dean both emotionally and physically shortly after Sam left for Stanford. Prior to that time, there would have been no reason for John to go it alone. His family was intact and functioning like he thought it should and always would. When Sam left, it threw everything into chaos for both Dean and John. John had never learned how to comfort his kids once he took to being a hunter because he was too busy indulging his own pain and loss. It's that inability that drove the wedge between John and Dean. John couldn't handle Dean's devastation over Sam abandoning him/them, so withdrew both physically and emotionally.
I see him giving Dean the Impala at that point as a way to try and compensate for that emotional vacuum. He knows Dean loves the car and will see it as a special rite of passage, but it will also allow John to function more and more on his own because Dean has his own wheels.
John hoped the car would function as the comfort blanket he couldn't provide. And Dean accepted it for what it was, knowing it was the only thing his Dad could do for him.
Gorram, I'm a Drama Queen in the high court of Angst, aren't I?