Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
The Enduring Impact of Trauma
Shame and the Stigmatization of Pain
Projection and Denial
The Vicious Circle of Isolation and Social Awkwardness
Summary
Analysis
Eleanor reflects on yesterday’s therapy session: after she started crying as a result of the chair exercise, Dr. Temple had the nerve to tell her that their time was up and she’d see her next week. Eleanor couldn’t believe that someone could see another person in pain and throw them out on the street in the way Dr. Temple had done with her. After the appointment, she went to a pub, ordered a vodka, went home, and went to bed.
Eleanor is upset that Dr. Temple tells her she has to leave while she is still in a state of emotional vulnerability. When Dr. Temple orders Eleanor to leave, she reinforces Eleanor’s belief that people are uncomfortable seeing others’ pain, and that the cost of confiding in others is discomfort and disappointment.
Themes
Eleanor still isn’t going to work, but she continues to meet Raymond for lunch. Eleanor notes that the more regularly you see someone, the more “immediately pleasant and comfortable” your interactions with that person become. Raymond continues to ask Eleanor about Mummy. Eleanor is slightly more forthcoming with him, revealing that Mummy is in “a bad place, for bad people” but refuses to elaborate. Raymond grows frustrated with Eleanor’s coy attitude: they’re friends, and she should be able to talk to him about these things. He asks what Mummy did, but Eleanor won’t say.
It seems that a good deal of Eleanor’s former social awkwardness wasn’t the fault of her personality—it was simply a side effect of being under-socialized. When Eleanor tells Raymond that Mummy is in “a bad place,” it’s unclear if she is being coy or if she can’t actually wrap her head around where Mummy is—at this point in the novel, Eleanor still has yet to explicitly reveal Mummy’s specific whereabouts.
Themes
Eleanor reveals to Raymond that “Oliphant” isn’t her real name—it’s the name that was given to her to protect her identity after the incident. Raymond asks Eleanor if she wants him to find out what happened to her—he could do some research online—but she declines; she could do so on her own, if she wanted. She’s sure it’s for the best that she doesn’t remember, as it suggests that the incident must have been truly awful.
On a metaphorical level, one can construe Eleanor’s new name as a metaphor for the distance Eleanor keeps between her present and her past; it’s easy for Eleanor to separate herself from her past because she’s legally not the same person now as she was then.
Themes
After this conversation, they switch to talking about more normal topics, like travel. Eleanor tells Raymond about all the places Mummy has visited. Raymond is unimpressed and asks how old Mummy is. Eleanor knows her mother had her very young—at 19 or 20—so she estimates she must now be in her early 50s. Raymond wonders how easy it could’ve been for Mummy to cart around a toddler on her travels. It doesn’t seem possible to Raymond that Mummy could’ve done all the things she claimed she’d done. Eleanor starts to wonder the same thing.
Just as Eleanor idealized the musician, she idealizes Mummy’s cosmopolitan past. Her repression denies her the ability to see Mummy from a reliable perspective; to an outsider like Raymond, however, Mummy’s stories seem fishy.
Themes
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The next time Eleanor talks to Mummy, she asks her how old she was when she was born. Mummy eventually tells Eleanor that she was 20 and then goes on to say this is the biologically perfect age to have a child because it’s so easy to bounce back from the birth before going off about how she still has the perfect body. Eleanor is embarrassed, and Mummy mocks her, telling her how “hard to love” she is. Mummy suddenly coughs, and Eleanor thinks she can detect sadness in Mummy for the first time. Mummy assures Eleanor that she’s fine and that talking to Eleanor always “revitalizes” her.
Mummy’s sickness symbolizes her diminishing strength: as Eleanor begins to open up to Dr. Temple and Raymond, she has less need for Mummy, and Mummy has less power over Eleanor. When Mummy tells Eleanor that their talks “revitalize[]” her, she underscores the point that Eleanor’s loneliness and lack of confidence perpetuate her social ineptitude. The more Eleanor relies on Mummy for socialization, the greater the hold Mummy has on Eleanor. When Eleanor is feeling more insecure, she is less willing to socialize. Thus, Eleanor’s loneliness “revitalizes” her insecurities.
Themes
Eleanor tells Mummy about her clinical depression diagnosis and about seeing a counselor, and Mummy explodes, telling Eleanor that she must not talk about her childhood with anyone. She threatens Eleanor and then there is nothing but “dead air.” Mummy scares Eleanor, but for the first time, Eleanor thinks that she detects a hint of fear in Mummy’s voice.
Mummy sounds scared because Eleanor is challenging her for the first time. Therapy is teaching Eleanor to have a stronger sense of self and to own her past; eventually, Mummy will lose the power she holds over Eleanor.
Themes
