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Johnnie Lomond / The Musician
An elderly man whom Eleanor and Raymond help when he collapses in the middle of a crosswalk. Eleanor talks to Sammy to comfort him while Raymond waits for the ambulance to arrive. Eleanor feels concern for Sammy’s wellbeing, which is a relatively new emotion for her—ever since the fire, Eleanor doesn’t let herself get close to anyone, as her past has taught her that the cost of love is deep and painful grief. When Sammy dies later in the novel, Eleanor is again presented with the question of whether love is worth the pain that inevitably comes with it. Sammy is so grateful to Eleanor and Raymond for saving his life that he embraces them as members of his family, and the two of them attend Sammy’s homecoming party and Sammy’s son Keith’s birthday party. Along with Raymond, Sammy serves as a sort of a catalyst for Eleanor’s social life, presenting her with new possibilities for human connection and showing her that comfort and intimacy with others isn’t instantaneous but develops over time. After Sammy dies, Keith brings Eleanor the red sweater that Sammy was wearing the day Eleanor and Raymond first met him.
Sammy Thom Quotes in Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine
The Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine quotes below are all either spoken by Sammy Thom or refer to Sammy Thom. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Good Days: Chapter 12 Quotes
“But you’re not smart, Eleanor. You’re someone who lets people down. Someone who can’t be trusted. Someone who failed. Oh yes, I know exactly what you are. And I know how you’ll end up. Listen, the past isn’t over. The past is a living thing. Those lovely scars of yours—they’re from the past, aren’t they? And yet they still live on your plain little face. Do they still hurt?”
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Good Days: Chapter 17 Quotes
Some people, weak people, fear solitude. What they fail to understand is that there’s something very liberating about it; once you realize you don’t need anyone, you can take care of yourself. That’s the thing: it’s best just to take care of yourself. You can’t protect other people, however hard you try.”
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Good Days: Chapter 20 Quotes
I realized that such small gestures—the way his mother had made me a cup of tea after our meal without asking, remembering that I didn’t take sugar, the way Laura had placed two biscuits on the saucer when she brought me coffee in the salon—such things could mean so much. I wondered how it would feel to perform such simple deeds for other people. I couldn’t remember. I had done such things in the past, tried to be kind, tried to take care, I knew that I had, but that was before. I tried, and I had failed, and all was lost to me afterward. I had no one to blame but myself.
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Good Days: Chapter 23 Quotes
Grief is the price we pay for love, so they say. The price is far too high.
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Sammy Thom Character Timeline in Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine
The timeline below shows where the character Sammy Thom appears in Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Good Days: Chapter 6
...phone rings: it’s Raymond. He’s at the hospital with the old man, whose name is Sammy Thom. Sammy is “stable, but serious,” and Eleanor wonders aloud whether Sammy will have any...
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Good Days: Chapter 7
The next day, Eleanor is on the bus, headed to the hospital to see Sammy. She threw out Sammy’s perishable grocery items, as he wouldn’t be able to use them...
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...stops daydreaming and settles on a Playboy magazine from the hospital store to bring to Sammy.
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Eleanor enters Sammy’s ward and finds him asleep in his bed. Raymond appears shortly after. He sits down...
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Good Days: Chapter 8
...calls at 10 a.m. to ask if she would like to accompany him to the hospital—Sammy is feeling better, and Raymond wants to visit with him. Eleanor agrees to meet Raymond...
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Good Days: Chapter 9
When they arrive at Ward 7, Sammy is sitting up in bed reading the Sunday Post. He glares at them before pausing...
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Raymond engages Sammy in small talk, and Eleanor struggles to offer anything but blunt, literal answers when she...
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Sammy tells them that his family has things covered: he’s a widower, but he has a...
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Eleanor and Raymond make plans to visit Sammy later in the week, and Sammy tells them that he considers them family after their...
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Good Days: Chapter 11
Eleanor thinks about Sammy and Mrs. Gibbons while she’s at work the next week. She considers visiting them but...
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Eleanor receives a call from Raymond asking if she’d like to visit Sammy with him tonight. It’s Wednesday, so accepting Raymond’s invitation would mean missing her weekly call...
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Eleanor and Raymond arrive at Sammy’s bed to find him surrounded by visitors. Sammy smiles when he sees them and introduces...
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...Laura, who has blond hair and a voluptuous figure. Eleanor and Raymond leave the ward. Sammy is confused as he pulls a bag of kale out of the package Eleanor brought...
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Good Days: Chapter 12
Eleanor returns home and looks through her closet for something to wear to Sammy’s homecoming party. She has white blouses and black pants for work, comfortable clothes for the...
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Good Days: Chapter 17
Sammy’s party is tonight at seven p.m., and Raymond has arranged to meet with up with...
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...but she appears not to care. She leads them to the crowded living room where Sammy greets them with a smile. His son cautions him not to drink any more, as...
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Good Days: Chapter 18
...as she expected, he is “semiliterate.” Raymond asks Eleanor if she’d like to go to Sammy’s son Keith’s 40th birthday party with him on Saturday. Excited to attend another party, Eleanor...
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...fashionably dressed staff. Laura arrives and situates Eleanor in a chair. Laura complains about having Sammy stay with her, and Eleanor sympathizes with having difficult parents. Eleanor tells Laura she can...
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Good Days: Chapter 20
...to get them both a second drink. On her way to the bar, Eleanor finds Sammy, who is happy to see her. Eleanor continues on to the bar and observes the...
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Good Days: Chapter 22
...has cancer, and their baby. Raymond arrives soon after and tells Eleanor more bad news: Sammy is dead—he had a heart attack at Laura’s over the weekend. Eleanor asks if he...
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...and Eleanor notes how much better Raymond’s touch makes her feel. Eleanor expresses sympathy toward Sammy’s family and she and Raymond remember what a funny, kind man Sammy was.
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Eleanor decides that she will attend Sammy’s funeral. She and Raymond leave the café and walk back to the office in silence....
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Good Days: Chapter 23
Eleanor returns to the department store and buys black clothing for Sammy’s funeral, as well as a handbag and a wool coat. She defends these purchases because...
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...“wearing someone else’s skin.” Raymond picks her up in a taxi and they depart for Sammy’s funeral in the suburbs.
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There are many attendants at Sammy’s funeral. It’s sunny outside, but the atmosphere is silent and serious. Eleanor and Raymond make...
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Laura enters the room. She looks glamorous, as always. A minister follows Sammy’s family into the room, the keyboardist begins to play hymns, and everyone sings along. Eleanor...
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...to stay and watch with him. Eleanor continues to drink to dull the pain of Sammy’s death. The bartender begs Eleanor to stay and tries to proposition her for sex.
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Bad Days: Chapter 31
...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...
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Bad Days: Chapter 35
...show with Glen and thinks about how stupid people are. The doorbell rings: it’s Keith, Sammy’s son. Eleanor invites Keith in for tea, and he reveals the reason for his visit....
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