Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine

A social worker named June Mullen comes to Eleanor’s apartment for one of two biannual visits prescribed by Social Services. Social Services placed Eleanor in her current apartment as a 17-year-old. Her home is filled with used, mismatched furniture and gives off “a general air of neglect” (46).

Mullen reads Eleanor’s file as she sits down and looks horrified at Eleanor’s backstory, a reaction with which Eleanor is familiar. Eleanor is terse and cordial in response to Mullen’s questions, and she says she doesn’t want to know anything more about “‘the incident’” (48) that resulted in Eleanor’s scars and her placement in this apartment.

A paper flies out of Mullen’s file as she leaves. The two share an awkward exchange about Eleanor’s visit to the old man in the hospital. Eleanor laments that Mullen didn’t notice the parrot plant, Polly, who has been with Eleanor since childhood and to whom she sometimes speaks when alone in her apartment.

Raymond calls and informs Eleanor that the man they helped is named Sammy Thom and his condition is serious. Eleanor declines to visit Sammy in the hospital that evening and says she’ll go tomorrow. 

Eleanor reads the paper that fell from her Social Services file. It is a note on a case meeting between Eleanor’s foster parents and Social Services when Eleanor was 12 years old. These foster parents, Mr. and Mrs. Reed, report that Eleanor has not cooperated with other members of the family, disobeys, exhibits dramatic mood swings, and has been physically violent on occasion. Eleanor’s teachers, however, report that she is bright, articulate, and well-behaved, if antisocial. The note reports that Social Services chose to place Eleanor in a residential care home after meeting with the Reeds.

In response, Eleanor says, “Liars. Liars, liars, liars, liars” (56).

Eleanor takes a bus to visit Sammy in the hospital and return his shopping bags. She remembers her history with food, and how her mother only fed her the finest cuisine, whereas Eleanor’s schoolmates fed on fish fingers, beans, and chips.

Upon arriving at the hospital, Eleanor wanders the gift shop and buys Sammy a Playboy magazine. At his bedside, she discovers Sammy sleeping, and Raymond arrives to tell her Sammy awoke from his coma earlier that day. Eleanor and Raymond leave the hospital. Raymond invites her for a drink. Eleanor accepts, thinking she should practice visiting a public house in anticipation of dating Johnnie.

Eleanor insists on buying drinks for Raymond and herself. She asks the bartender for a recommendation and balks when he does not pour the cider in a glass for her. Eleanor asks Raymond which smart phone to buy, and he expounds on his opinion then dashes out to meet a friend. Eleanor decides to engage in “a spot of reconnaissance” on the way home (66). 

Eleanor reflects on her hatred of Broadway show tunes but is, nevertheless, reminded of songs from Oliver! and My Fair Lady as she walks on Johnnie Lomond’s street. She has determined where the singer lives thanks to a picture he posted on Twitter. She buzzes his apartment, impersonating a pizza delivery person. Inside, Eleanor stands outside his door and hears him playing the guitar and singing. After listening for a few rapt minutes, she leaves feeling more besotted with Johnnie than ever.

That evening, Eleanor can’t sleep. She remembers how her mother trained her to pursue sophisticated foods from far-flung places in order to develop a refined palate. Eleanor pulls out a well-worn, much-read copy of Jane Eyre. Fighting back troubling memories, she falls asleep but wakes very early and cleans her whole apartment.

Raymond calls and invites her to the hospital to visit Sammy again. Eleanor looks at herself in the mirror and deems herself unfit as a comely muse for the singer. She regards the scars on one side of her face as proof that she is brave and strong. “I walked through the fire and I lived” (74), she says.