The Need for Pipe Dreams
Each character in Iceman maintains a pipe dream or delusion - they will walk around their old neighborhood, they will get their job back, they are not a whore/pimp. At first introduction the characters seem no less than losers, wallowing in self-pity and alcohol. They are bums and drunks, wasted radicals and nihilistic old men. However, when Hickey attempts to set them free from such dreams, the audience's understanding of the importance of such dreams shifts. It becomes clear that these dreams are a buffer between the characters and the harsh world. They need these dreams; they achieve a measure of contentment, happiness, and community with these dreams. The dreams are psychic defenses, coping mechanisms, and purveyors of meaning and value. Hickey's intervention demonstrates that being forced to face the truth isn't always the best option.
Self-Awareness
The characters in Iceman reveal just how difficult it is to achieve self-awareness. All maintain their pipe dreams and think that they have the ability to set them aside when they want to. They recognize the crazy pipe dreams of others and laugh good-naturedly about them, but their own are obfuscated. Larry and Hickey are the most conspicuous examples of characters who see the world around them but are blind to their own inner world. Larry claims to have no pipe dreams; he's done with the Movement and meaning and wants to be left alone. What he cannot face until the very end of the play is that he is afraid of death as much as he hates living. Hickey is very perspicacious when it comes to other people, but he deludes himself into thinking that he killed his wife to help her, not because he hated her. O'Neill suggests truly knowing oneself isn't easy or even best outcome.
Alienation
O'Neill's characters are nothing if not outcasts. They are disgraced policemen, drunks, whores, pimps, anarchists, and murderers. Harry Hope's No-Chance Saloon is aptly named, for these figures have no hope in terms of resuming their place in society. They are alienated, unable to participate in the country's economic and political life. However, tellingly, they aren't alienated from one another. It is Hickey who represents pure alienation because he wants these barflies to be people they are not and to do things they don't want to, or can't, do. Hickey is supremely alienated from himself and eventually from society itself.
Community
The men and women who constitute the regulars of Hope's bar reap the benefits of community even as they distance themselves from the outside world. Just underneath the mocking, chiding, and occasional fighting of the characters is deep affection. Joe, a black man, finds a home with white men. Disgraced former anarchists rub elbows with whores and downtrodden ex-generals who used to be on opposing sides of a war. Anyone who wants to destroy the peace of the "ship", as Larry calls it, is a danger to the microcosm of the saloon, so everyone rallies to protect Hope from the grasp of Hickey.
Hope
Amazingly given their circumstances, the characters (except Larry and Parritt) retain a modicum of hope by the end of the play. They nourish their pipe dreams and think that some day things will be better. They will get their jobs back, return to their home country, and open a new gambling house. They find hope in the past and the future as well as in the generous amounts of alcohol they imbibe. They support each other's dreams as well, adding another dollop of hope. Ultimately, though, this hope exists independent of reality. If the characters were more honest with themselves, they'd see that there were very few reasons for hope, but O'Neill's point is that perhaps the truth isn't always the best thing. Hope regardless of its origins can provide meaning and sustenance.
Nostalgia
Nearly all of the characters in this play immerse themselves in nostalgia. They yearn for the good old days with their wives and fighting for the Movement, days of jobs and Harvard and war. This nostalgia can be helpful in that it keeps them sane, but it is also problematic since much of it is fallacious; characters pick and choose from their memories, creating a self-narrative that is often not true. Hope tells himself about how wonderful Bessie was but it seems she annoyed him a great deal. Hugo dreams of the Movement but conveniently forgets about prison and how deep down he envies the bourgeoisie. When Hickey pushes them all, their nostalgia for the good old days cracks and they are faced with the stark truth about the past.
Race and Gender
O'Neill doesn't explicitly deal with race or gender but they are there, sometimes in subtext, sometimes more apparent. Joe is a black man who says white people think he is white; those white people are happy to go along with this fiction when things are in equilibrium. However, when things are out of order (thanks to Hickey) Joe experiences the harsh racism of his peers and wonders if he oughtn't entrench himself in the black community. Gender is also not discussed overtly, but the depiction and treatment of the female characters suggests that O'Neill may view women primarily as virgins or whores. His female characters are also on the fringes of the play and only exist in order to flesh out the men's stories. Iceman, then, quite accurately reflects the historical context in which it was set and written, but it may leave contemporary readers unsettled.
