and Hickey would reform. This was her pipe dream. She chose to deny the fact that Hickey would never change. According to Hickey, the only way he could give Evelyn the peace she always wanted and to free her from her pipe dream of reformation was to kill her (Gagey 332). "He insists he committed the murder with love, not hate, in his heart. But suddenly, in the course of his recital, Hickey comes to the unexpected realization that he too has been deluding himself, that he really killed Evelyn because he hated her" (332). When Hickey realizes this, it becomes too much for him. Instead of facing the issue, Lessard 6Hickey denies he would have really killed his wife out of hate. He therefore excuses himself as being insane. Hickey says, "'I was out of my mind. Evelyn was the only thing on God's Earth I ever loved! I'd have killed myself before I'd ever have hurt her'" (O'Neill 640). Hickey denies he killed his wife out of hate. In conclusion, in the bar setting, characters in Eugene O'Neill's The Iceman Cometh portray the theme of denial by embracing pipe dreams. Each of the characters in the play had a pipe dream to face. "The pipe dreams of O'Neill's characters have the same function: they make life tolerable while the dreamers wait for Hickey or Death" (Bogard 55). The characters use pipe dreams in order to be able to become blind to their weaknesses and downfalls. They deny and refuse to acknowledge the grim reality that surrounds them. They are more content by drinking their sorrows away in Harry Hope's bar....
