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
A few weeks pass, and Eleanor starts to accept therapy sessions as part of her schedule. She likes walking to Dr. Temple’s office and being a part of the world around her, taking pleasure in small gestures, like smiling at an ugly baby she passes on the street.
Eleanor’s schedule shifts from one that feeds her loneliness to one that encourages her to open up to others. Soon, other aspects of her life start to pick up, as well, and she feels like she’s more integrated with the world around her.
Themes
On her way to Dr. Temple’s office one day, Eleanor runs into Laura, whom she hasn’t seen since Sammy’s funeral. They catch up, and Laura tells Eleanor she’s seeing Raymond over the weekend, which upsets Eleanor. Eleanor lets Laura know that she recently had lunch with Raymond, and that they do so on a regular basis. Laura seems happy knowing that Eleanor and Raymond meet for lunch, though Eleanor doesn’t understand why. They part ways. Eleanor admires how Laura can move so well in heels, though she notes that her ankles are “on the chunky side.”
Laura is glad that Eleanor and Raymond have been meeting for lunch, presumably because lunch implies they are meeting as friends (as opposed to dinner, which might connote a date). Eleanor’s comment about Laura’s “chunky” ankles seems spiteful, as though she’s upset or jealous that Laura is seeing Raymond. Like so many other emotions, Eleanor conveys her jealousy indirectly.
Themes
Eleanor arrives at Dr. Temple’s office. Today, the therapist is dressed in bright yellow tights. Dr. Temple wants to talk about Mummy. Eleanor resists, so Dr. Temple asks about Eleanor’s father. Eleanor says she never knew him but that her mother frequently insinuated that the man had sexually assaulted her and that Eleanor was the result of this trauma. Dr. Temple tells Eleanor that a woman’s relationship with her father can influence her future relationships with men, though Eleanor doesn’t necessarily think this is the case with her. She thinks that her mother’s insistence that they only associate with “proper” people had a greater influence on her social skills.
Eleanor’s father might not have directly influenced her future relationships with men, but Eleanor’s relationship with Declan does mirror Mummy’s relationship with Eleanor’s father: just as Eleanor’s father abused her mother, Declan abused Eleanor. In Eleanor’s case, being abused by Mummy has had a far greater impact on her future relationships, but Dr. Temple doesn’t know this, as Eleanor still has yet to disclose the truth about Mummy in full.
Themes
Eleanor continues to talk, telling Dr. Temple that Mummy had always wanted her to be proper and perfect, but that she was never able to be good enough to satisfy Mummy’s demands, and that Mummy had “direct methods of correcting us when we said the wrong thing, did the wrong thing.”
Eleanor’s mention of “direct methods of correcting” vaguely refers to the physical abuse Mummy inflicted on her. It’s still too painful for Eleanor to discuss this abuse explicitly, so she relies on oblique phrasings.
Themes
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Dr. Temple asks Eleanor how things were once she and Mummy “parted company.” Eleanor says that foster care and residential care were both “fine” because they satisfied her most basic needs. Dr. Temple tells Eleanor that she has other needs—“emotional needs”—that foster care hadn’t satisfied. Eleanor insists that she doesn’t have these needs, but Dr. Temple pushes further, asking Eleanor if there was ever someone in Eleanor’s life who loved her “unconditionally.” With some difficulty, Eleanor says there was someone, with “pale brown eyes.” She remembers a dog, though she never had one.
Whenever Eleanor insists that she’s fine, she’s speaking in terms of her physical health: for instance, she can believe that she is fine if she’s physically healthy, waking up in the morning, and going to work. Dr. Temple teaches Eleanor that she should also be assessing her fineness in terms of her mental health: Eleanor has emotional needs, and if these needs aren’t being met, Eleanor isn’t fine—regardless of the state of her physical health. Meanwhile, “pale brown eyes” might refer to the other, mysterious person from Eleanor’s past.
Themes
Eleanor continues to search for the answer to something she can’t remember. Just as she’s on the verge of remembering, Dr. Temple tells Eleanor that time is up. Eleanor tells Dr. Temple to “go to hell.”
When Eleanor tells Dr. Temple to “go to hell,” she’s finally expressing a direct emotion: anger. This is progress, as Eleanor often takes great care to filter, project, and repress her raw emotions.
Themes
