Normal People: 16. Four Months Later (July 2014) Summary & Analysis

Marianne and Connell are lounging in his bedroom in Carricklea. It’s hot, and Connell is watching a soccer game on television. They went out to a bar the night before, and Connell ended up dancing with another young woman and then going outside with her to smoke. Meanwhile, Marianne talked to Eric, who drunkenly told her that Rob would have wanted to apologize to her for how he treated her in school. Marianne now suggests to Connell that the woman he hung out with has a thing for him, but he brushes off her comment. She also tells him about what Eric said, and he agrees that Rob probably would want to apologize, but she doesn’t feel like that would be necessary—the bullying probably hurt Rob more than it hurt Marianne.

Marianne has been living at home for the summer. Alan has a job working for the county council, so he’s not home much. When he is there, he follows her around and tries to get into arguments. Sometimes, Marianne spends her time doing housework because Lorraine no longer works for her family. She also spends time with Connell. They were driving together not long ago when he suddenly said, “You know I love you.” She said she loved him back, and then they just kept driving like nothing had happened. 

Marianne tells Connell that she thought he was annoyed with her the previous night. They had been dancing together, but then he left her to go have a smoke with another young woman. He disputes Marianne’s version of the story, saying that he asked her if she wanted to step outside. She disagrees. They go back and forth a few times about what really happened, eventually deciding that they must have misheard each other over the loud music.

After a moment, Connell says he thinks things would be easier if their relationship were different. If there wasn’t “this other element to the relationship,” it would be easier for them to be friends. Marianne asks if he wishes they had never been together. He says he couldn’t even imagine that, and then they both agree that when they were together during the first year of college, it was a very happy time. Marianne then admits that she wanted Connell to kiss her while they were dancing the night before. He wanted that, too. He’s not sure how to navigate their relationship, though—it's nice hearing Marianne say affectionate things about him, but he knows their romantic relationship has never worked out in the past.

Marianne is crying. Connell says he has to think about their relationship. She has really helped him through his depression, so he deeply appreciates her and values their friendship. She stands up to leave, but he takes her hand and kisses it. He admits that he’s nervous, saying it must be obvious that he doesn’t want her to go. “I don’t find it obvious what you want,” she says. They start kissing.

Marianne and Connell start having sex, both of them relieved to finally embrace each other again. It’s passionate and nice at first, and Connell expresses his desire to keep doing it in the future. But then Marianne asks him to tell her that she belongs to him, and he pauses. After a moment, she asks him to hit her, but he can’t. The entire conversation ruins the moment. As they roll away from each other, Connell can tell Marianne is upset. He tries to apologize, saying that he thinks it’d be weird if he hit her. She hears this as him calling her weird, which upsets her even more. 

Marianne says she’s going to leave and starts getting dressed. Connell wants to drive her home, but he can’t get dressed fast enough—she runs downstairs and out the door. On her way home, she thinks about how she dislikes the person she’s become. Connell clearly finds her repulsive, she thinks, but she can’t figure out how to change herself. When they were in school together, they were both struggling in their own ways. Now, though, Connell has become well-adjusted, whereas she has just become more and more messed up.

When Marianne gets home, Alan confronts her. He doesn’t want her hanging out with Connell anymore since, according to him, Connell is “fucked in the head.” Marianne tries to say that Connell is doing well, but Alan won’t listen. She slips away and locks herself in her room, feeling all the while like she’s a bad person who has led a sad life and can never change for the better. She’s holding the door shut so Alan can’t burst into the room, but suddenly the door slams open and hits her in the face. Her nose gushes blood, which completely covers her hands when she takes them away from her face.