67 pages • 2 hours read
It Ends with Us
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Chapters 21-24Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 21 Summary
Lily continues seeing differences between Ryle and her father. Unlike her father, Ryle is compassionate, but Lily is still torn and mentions a fight they had only a week ago where Ryle wanted them to move to Minnesota for a job opportunity. When Lily refuses, due to having her shop, he knocks a vase over. Afterwards, Ryle calms himself enough to leave and returns an hour later, agreeing to stay in Boston. As she narrates this, Lily receives a message from Allysa, but it turns out that it was from Ryle. He has bought an apartment for them in the same building as Allysa and Marshall. Lily is taken aback that he hasn’t consulted her beforehand, but is happy with the apartment.
Chapter 22 Summary
Lily is still in high spirits and waiting for Allysa to give birth. Contributing to her good mood is that her shop has been selected as one of the ten best new businesses in Boston. Ryle was also accepted for a prestigious training at Cambridge. To add to the good news, Allysa goes into labor. Lily and Ryle go see her to meet the baby, a girl Allysa and Marshall name Rylee, after Ryle. Lily loves seeing Ryle with the baby, as well as the baby herself. Ryle tells Lily he’s interested in having children.
Chapter 23 Summary
Happy about Ryle wanting children, Lily comes home one night to find him sitting in the dark. He has been drinking and she thinks he’s interested in having sex, but he asks about the Boston magnet Atlas got Lily years ago, which Lily has on the refrigerator. Ryle acts aggressive with Lily and asks her to read a newspaper blurb about her shop. The article quotes Atlas mentioning that he named his restaurant “Better in Boston” as a tribute to someone special. Ryle’s jealousy drew him to infer that this person is Further, Ryle has read Lily’s journals, and in a rage that Atlas is “in everything” (265), tries to rape Lily. When Lily defends himself he head-butts her hard enough that she passes out. When she regains consciousness, Ryle acts apologetic. In fear of more retaliation, Lily “utilize[s] his panic to [her] advantage” (267) and feigns forgiveness. Once Ryle falls asleep, Lily calls Atlas, who takes her to the hospital.
Chapter 24 Summary
At the hospital, Lily learns that she is pregnant and thinks, “I did this to myself. I allowed this to happen to me. I have become my mother” (273). She is upset enough at the news that she asks Atlas to take her from the hospital to his house. He tells her that he lives alone.
Chapters 21-24 Analysis
The next incident of violence contradicts Lily’s assertions that Ryle and her situation is not like her father and her mother’s. It appears at first that Ryle is controlling his rages. During an argument over the position he wants in Minnesota, he chooses to leave after knocking over a vase, and returns much calmer. The relationship has improved enough that Lily and Ryle are considering parenthood, finding themselves charmed by Marshall and Allysa’s newborn daughter, Rylee.
Nevertheless, Ryle’s insecurities over Atlas’s place in Lily’s life provide the catalyst for his outburst. Lily comes home one night to aggressive questioning about a gift Atlas gave her years before and finds out that Ryle violated her privacy by reading her diaries. Ryle acts threateningly towards Lily, bites her, and tries to rape her, in a scene reminiscent to the one that Lily witnessed between her mother and her jealous father. When Lily tries to defend herself, Ryle head-butts her to unconsciousness. When Lily comes to, Ryle again apologizes, but this time, Lily can’t justify his behavior. Nevertheless, while Lily leaves with Atlas, the discovery of her pregnancy makes her situation more complicated. She is ashamed, which the narrative depicts as part of the pattern of domestic violence. Her child now creates a link to a man that abused her, and she feels that this will make people pity her and wonder why she didn’t leave earlier, as if it were a simple choice.
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By Colleen Hoover
