59 pages • 1 hour read
Gail HoneymanEleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2017A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
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BetaChapters 17-20Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 17 Summary
Eleanor and Raymond plan to meet for Sammy’s party, and Eleanor is peeved when Raymond arrives 25 minutes late. While they walk, Raymond explains that no one arrives on time to a party. They arrive at Laura’s house, a crowded and well-appointed home, and find Sammy lounging in an armchair. Laura pours Eleanor and Raymond Prosecco, which Eleanor is surprised to find delicious.
Eleanor and Laura chat; Laura laughs at Eleanor’s unintended joke. She also offers Eleanor a haircut at her salon for a discount. Eleanor acquiesces. She marvels at the attractive interiors of Laura’s home then walks outside to the patio, where she finds Raymond smoking.
Eleanor claims Raymond likes Laura, and Raymond protests. He talks about his ex-girlfriend and how she said he was “‘too nice’” (142). He wonders if she meant he should be cruel. Eleanor shares that Declan, her boyfriend at university, was physically abusive. She describes how a nurse at the hospital encouraged her to end their relationship after Declan broke her arm for a second time. Raymond places his hand atop Eleanor’s for comfort, and she decides to leave the party. Raymond calls her a cab. As it drives away, Eleanor sees Laura holding out a drink for Raymond in the doorway.
Chapter 18 Summary
The following Tuesday, Raymond emails Eleanor, inviting her to Sammy’s son Keith’s birthday party that weekend. Delighted for another social event, Eleanor accepts. She takes a half day off work for her hair appointment at Laura’s salon. Although she finds the light too bright and the music too loud, Eleanor enjoys the experience and allows Laura to give her a completely new style. At the end of her appointment, she looks up to discover not her former mousey-brown long hair but a shoulder-length bob with highlights and bangs. Eleanor is delighted by the result and fights tears as she thanks Laura for “‘making [her] shiny’” (150).
Chapter 19 Summary
Eleanor’s boss, Bob, offers her a promotion to office manager since the current manager is taking a leave of absence. Eleanor asks for time to consider whether she should take the position. Bob agrees and asks her to organize the office Christmas lunch.
Eleanor wonders whether it might help to ask someone for guidance about the decision. She asks Raymond to lunch, and the two eat at a cafe around the corner. Raymond encourages her to take the promotion then asks about her plans in her career and geographic location. Eleanor has never thought about her options before and confesses that she doesn’t have a plan.
Raymond responds with encouragement about her abilities and sympathy for her difficulties in life. Because she doesn’t have family or a boyfriend, Raymond says, “‘you have a lot to deal with on your own’” (158). He says Eleanor would do well in the office manager role and pays for lunch, two acts of generosity that make the lunch preferable to her typical midday crossword. Eleanor returns to work, ready to take on the Christmas lunch.
Chapter 20 Summary
Eleanor and Raymond meet at a train station and walk in comfortable silence to Keith’s fortieth birthday party, which is at a golf club. Raymond and Eleanor share a drink and briefly discuss parties and romantic relationships. Eleanor gives Keith a birthday present of a half bottle of vodka and a few cheese slices. Keith invites Eleanor to the dance floor, and she reluctantly accepts.
Eleanor finds herself enjoying dancing to “YMCA” with a group of women. She becomes less enamored with dancing when a leery man approaches her and offers to buy her a drink. She excuses herself to the ladies’ room and stands in a long queue behind an inebriated woman who calls Eleanor “‘mental’” (170). When Eleanor returns to the main hall, she buys drinks for herself and Raymond, who’s nowhere to be found. Then she sees him dancing with Laura, and Eleanor leaves without saying goodbye.
Chapters 17-20 Analysis
These chapters see considerable progress in Eleanor’s relationship with Raymond. Raymond makes a useful companion for Eleanor, as he remains open-minded and empathetic in the face of her more rigid worldview. He also opens up to Eleanor about his ex-girlfriend and his disillusionment after their breakup, another signifier of their deepening friendship. Eleanor has noted Raymond interacting with Laura and appears to leave Keith’s party out of jealousy after seeing them dance together, although Eleanor does not explain her reasoning for leaving abruptly.
Eleanor’s buried traumas surface again as she shares with Raymond that she dated an abusive man. Rather than responding with indifference or cruelty, as her mother would, Raymond shows sympathy, and Eleanor says she feels silly that a nurse had to tell her, “‘people who truly love you don’t hurt you, and that it wasn’t right to stay with someone who did’” (143). She indicates that no one had ever taught her this, a telling clue about her childhood.
When Raymond asks about her career plans and if she would like to live in another city, Eleanor says, “‘It occurs to me that there are many things in life that I’ve never considered doing, Raymond. I suppose I hadn’t realized that I had any control over them’” (158). Eleanor’s life has remained on autopilot for many years. She has lived in the same apartment since she was 17 and worked in the same job since she graduated from university. Her life is changing now, seemingly by accident, but Eleanor is realizing that she has a choice. She can choose to take the promotion, get a new haircut, attend parties, dance, and enjoy her life.
