44 pages • 1 hour read
Graeme SimsionThe Rosie Project
Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2013A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapters 21–24Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 21 Summary
Don rents a car and drives for over 14 hours to Moree, New South Wales, to obtain a DNA sample for the Father Project. Because the candidate himself has dies, Don has to collect the sample from the man’s mother. Margaret Case is in a nursing home and has lost her memory. Don sits by her bedside watching her sleep and decides not to collect a sample from her; it just seems wrong. She wakes up, and begins to cry. Don wipes away her tears and gets her DNA sample. He drives back home.
Only the two New York doctors remain to be tested: Isaac Esler and Max Freyberg.
Don meets Rosie at the airport. They fly to New York. On the plane, they arrange to split the responsibility for planning the days in between their Saturday evening dinner with the Eslers and their meeting with Freyberg on Wednesday.
Rosie takes over the schedule, telling Don that she will plan their activities for two days and he will plan the other two. She insists that they are going to get to know each other on this trip; they are going to share their life stories. Don goes along with her plans.
Chapter 22 Summary
On the plane to New York, Don tells Rosie his life story. His father owns a hardware store; his brother lives at home and will take over the store when his father retires. His mother is kind, but Don finds her smothering. He is not close to anyone in his family since his sister died. His mother was devastated by Michelle’s death. Don was a computer nerd until his uncle, roasting him at his twenty-first birthday party, humiliated him by detailing how much pain and embarrassment he caused his family. As a result, Don changed his major from computer science to genetics, determined not to fulfill the role of the stereotypical “computer geek.”
When Don attempts to ask her questions about her life, Rosie deflects and then asks for some space. She spends the rest of the trip to Los Angeles sleeping or watching movies.
Chapter 23 Summary
They arrive in New York after the flight from Los Angeles. Their first stop is the Hermes shop, where Don buys Claudia an expensive scarf for her upcoming birthday.
They arrive 45 minutes late for dinner with the Eslers. Rosie and Don have agreed to pretend that Don is a hardware store owner named Austin. After dinner, Isaac asks “Austin” to help him repair a faucet. As they go downstairs, the lights go out, and Isaac asks Don if he’s OK. When Don answers to his real name, Isaac reveals that he knew who Don was the entire time. He also tells Don that he knows the answer to Rosie’s question but that he promised never reveal to the answer to anyone. He allowed Don and Rosie’s deception to continue because he wanted to see Rosie.
Chapter 24 Summary
Rosie takes over their schedule, refusing to give in to Don’s “old man” (198) behaviors. First, she insists that he put on the shirt and jeans that Claudia gave him for the trip, because she won’t be seen with him dressed like a “bum” (199).
Don forces himself to go along with whatever Rosie has planned for the next two days, after telling himself that the best times of his life, with the exception of his visits to the Museum of Natural History, have all been with Rosie.
Don has a wonderful day with Rosie, eating breakfast, shopping, and eating ice cream. Rosie manages to disprove Don’s theory that all ice cream tastes alike. He lets go of his need for certainty and is rewarded with fun.
That evening they see Spider-Man and eat dinner at Mamafuko Ko. It’s the best meal of Don’s life. He tells Rosie this is the best day of his adult life.
Chapter 21-24 Analysis
Don goes to great lengths to provide Rosie with the answer that she needs. He makes a 28-hour round-trip to get one DNA sample and spends his legacy from Daphne on his “irrational” trip to New York City.
Rosie’s and Don’s first day in New York is one of the best days of Don’s life. Once freed from the restrictions he has imposed on his life, he finds he can enjoy and be interested in things that he never realized would interest him. Once again, Rosie presents Don with wonderful, spontaneous experiences, including a theater show and dining in a top restaurant.
