A Man Called Ove

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2012

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Chapters 31-33Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 31 Summary: “A Man Called Ove Reverses with a Trailer. Again.”

Chapter 31 opens with Ove planning to try yet another suicide tactic, as he intends to use Sonja’s father’s old rifle: “He’s decided that his dislike of weapons could never be greater than his dislike of all the empty places she has left behind in their silent little house” (231). As usual, something stands in the way of his plans.

Parvaneh comes knocking on Ove’s door “as if it was the last functioning toilet in the civilized world” (232). She has the journalist, Lena, on the phone, the same one who wanted to interview Ove for being a “hero” after he saved a man’s life. Lena previously sent him a letter and a copy of the newspaper she writes for, hoping to convince him to take part in an interview. She now resorts to calling Parvaneh, who tracks down Ove.

As they are on the phone, however, Ove sees the white Škoda driving by. Ove runs out in the street and gets into an altercation with the bureaucrat. The councilman tells him, “I know who you are, Ove. I know everything about all the letters you’ve written about your wife’s accident and your wife’s illness. You’re something of a legend in our offices” (234). Ove steps towards the man, who puts a hand on Ove’s chest to ward him off and says, “Go and watch some TV instead. Before you have more problems with that heart of yours” (234).

The councilman and his colleague go into Anita and Rune’s house. Meanwhile, Ove borrows Parvaneh and Patrick’s trailer. When the bureaucrats emerge, they find their white Škoda blocked in by the trailer. Ove denies having anything to do with it. He tells the councilman that “there was nothing good on TV” (236).

It’s a tiny victory, but in the big scheme of things, it doesn’t matter: “A boxed-in Škoda makes no difference […] Men in white shirts always win. And men like Ove always lose people like Sonja” (237). Ove finally resigns and “can’t fight anymore” (237). He shuts his door and shuts out Parvaneh, who is still protesting that they must do something to help Rune and Anita—and he cries.

Chapter 32 Summary: “A Man Called Ove Isn’t Running a Damned Hotel”

Chapter 32 opens with a backward-looking reflection on Ove and his “nameless anger” (239):

When men in white shirts at the council […] tried to do everything Sonja did not want—make her stop working, move her out of her house, imply that she was worth less than a healthy person who was able to walk, and assert that she was dying, Ove fought them. […] He fought so doggedly against men in white shirts that in the end he began to hold them personally responsible for all that happened to her—and the child (240).

In the present, Ove seems utterly defeated and prepares to kill himself with the rifle. However, another neighbor derails his plans. This time the knock on the door comes from Adrian. He’s there with his friend Mirsad, from the café. Mirsad came out to his father, and his father kicked him out. Adrian thought that since Ove has space, Mirsad could stay there.

Ove’s initial response is to tell them that “this is not a damned hotel” (244). He then catches sight of one of the photographs of Sonja. Today was supposed to be the day that Ove finally died. Instead, he agrees to allow Mirsad to stay with him: “Sonja would have liked it, most likely. She liked hotels” (245).

Chapter 33 Summary: “A Man Called Ove and an Inspection Tour That Is Not the Usual”

The next day when Ove awakens, Mirsad is making toast in the kitchen: “It hasn’t smelled like that in the house since Sonja died” (246). When Ove says he’s going on his morning walk, the inspection tour, Mirsad asks if he can join. Jimmy, the overweight neighbor, joins them outside—he’s trying to lose weight and wants the exercise.

As they are walking, Jimmy fills them in on the situation with Anita and Rune. She requested more government assistance for home care for Rune, so they sent an investigator who then determined that Rune should move to a home. When Anita tried to renege on the request for assistance to keep Rune at home, the whole battle started.

Ove is shocked to learn that Anita has been in disputes with the government about this for almost two years. He assumed there would be years of back and forth or appeals, before anything really happened. Now he learns that the officials may relocate Rune soon. Infuriated, Ove goes to Anita and asks her for the relevant government papers.

Chapters 31-33 Analysis

In Chapter 31, Ove seems to give up. His long fight against the “white shirts” may be over. He sees that his act of blocking in the Škoda is meaningless and fruitless, and he allows himself to acknowledge this defeat, resulting in tears. It’s a heartbreaking moment to watch a fighter like Ove give up.

It takes an outside distraction to shake him up and get him fighting yet again. First, there is Mirsad. Mirsad explains to Jimmy that his dad kicked him out and when Jimmy asks why, Ove breaks in to say it’s none of his business. Although Ove is simply following his “right is right” philosophy, he’s also protecting Mirsad’s privacy regarding his homosexuality. It’s again a moment where Ove’s principles help someone, whether he intends it that way or not. He is the unwitting hero.

Second, the situation with Anita and Rune remains a thorn in Ove’s side. When Ove goes to get the government papers at the end of Chapter 33, “Anita will tell the other neighbors that she had not seen Ove so angry since 1977, when there was talk of a merger between Saab and Volvo” (251). Ove must further delay his plans of suicide because his work is not yet done.

Ove, despite his grumpy and ornery demeanor, is an empathetic person. He’s also someone who likes to feel functional and useful. When the cat needs him, he steps in. When Mirsad needs him, he steps in. When Rune and Anita and Parvaneh need him, he steps in. He always pushes his own agenda of suicide to the side in the process. Looking at the narrative in this bigger picture, the “hero” Ove that Sonja always saw is now becoming more evident. Ove’s inclination to change his method of suicide suggests that he is not fully committed to ending his life. His willingness to postpone his death is evident when he quickly accepts the distractions his neighbors offer.