A Man Called Ove

Fiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2012

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Chapters 28-30Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 28 Summary: “A Man Who Was Ove and a Man Who Was Rune”

Chapter 28 explores Rune and Ove’s past relationship and what led to its deterioration. Ove can’t remember how it all started but he knows that Rune buying a BMW was the last straw. Before this, the men had a series of disagreements on various neighborhood issues like snow clearing.

Rune and Anita had a son who, according to Sonja, “was born angry” (212). He moved to the United States when he turned 20 and barely visits. At some point, Rune and Anita discuss having another child, so Rune buys a Volvo 265 (Volvo being his brand of choice before BMW) to accommodate this extra expected person: “But no more children came. One evening Sonja came home and told Ove Anita had been to the doctor” (214)—implying no more children are possible.

Soon after, Rune gets a Volvo 740, which seats only two people. Ove, in a sympathetic gesture, leaves a half bottle of whiskey on Rune’s doorstep—a gesture of condolence: “Maybe their sorrow over children that never came should have brought the two men closer. But sorrow is unreliable in that way. When people don’t share it there’s a good chance that it will drive them apart instead” (215).

Chapter 29 Summary: “A Man Called Ove and a Bender”

Back in the present, Parvaneh drives Ove and the cat to café where Adrian works. Ove has brought the bicycle here so that they can work on it. Parvaneh is pleasantly surprised by Adrian and Ove’s acquaintance. Adrian introduces Ove to Mirsad, his coworker.

Mirsad is wearing eye makeup and mentions that he’s not interested in girls. When Ove asks if he’s “bent,” Parvaneh protests that he shouldn’t use this word, and Ove doesn’t understand: “Can’t one say bent? What are you supposed to say nowadays?” (223).

Ove helps Adrian with his bike. When they reenter the café, Amel, Mirsad’s father and the café owner, is trying to fix a fan heater. Amel says that café prohibits the cat from entering. Ove strikes a deal: If he fixes the fan heater for Amel, the cat can stay: “[H]e offers this as more of a statement than question” (223). Amel agrees and is so happy when Ove manages the repair that he offers him a whiskey, which Ove declines.

As they leave the café, Adrian pulls Ove aside. He discretely asks him not to say anything to Amel about his son Mirsad being gay. Ove shrugs; he doesn’t seem to care one way or another and asks, “Why the hell would I say anything?” (224).

Chapter 30 Summary: “A Man Called Ove and a Society Without Him”

As they drive home from the café, Parvaneh, Ove, and the cat stop at the graveyard. Ove tells Parvaneh that “[i]t’s just been bloody mayhem” (225) and leaves her in the car while he goes to visit Sonja. In the last few weeks, Ove engages in more social contact than he has since she died: “Before Parvaneh and Patrick reversed into his post box he could barely remember saying a word to another human being since Sonja died” (225).

Standing at the gravesite, Ove reflects on his old life with Sonja and the routines they shared. This regularity is now lacking: “That’s what Ove misses most of all. Having things as usual” (227). Four years ago, Sonja received a cancer diagnosis, and the disease eventually killed her. Regarding the diagnosis, “she found it easier to forgive than Ove did. Forgive God and the universe and everything. Ove got angry instead” (228). Before he leaves the gravestone, Ove tells Sonja that he will really commit suicide. Then he returns to the car. On the ride home, Parvaneh asks if she might help him clear away some of Sonja’s things; his reaction is explosive and angry.

Chapters 28-30 Analysis

Chapter 28 reveals how Ove’s stubbornness can hurt the people around him. “Sonja used to say that Ove was ‘unforgiving’ […] Ove called it ‘having firm principles.’ They were never quite in agreement when it came to words and their meanings” (209). Ove’s failure to mend fences with Rune causes Sonja pain, as she could have been very close to Anita.

These chapters offer greater insight into why Ove is such a fighter. When Ove learns of Sonja’s cancer diagnosis, he feels helpless and reacts with misplaced anger: “He fought with the hospital personnel and he fought with specialists and chief physicians. He fought with men in white shirts” (229). However, Ove already knows that his disruptive behavior is futile: “[I]t was impossible to fight men in white shirts. And one could not fight a diagnosis” (229). This helplessness only serves to make him even angrier, resulting in a vicious cycle of emotion.

Ove is still intent on killing himself, but for the first time, he shows some sort of remorse about the act. At the gravesite, he tells Sonja, “I’m really going to do it this time. I know you don’t like it. I don’t like it either” (229). Sonja remains his moral compass. From her character description, it’s clear she would never want Ove to kill himself; she would want him to try and enjoy life. Ove’s stubbornness is threatening to hurt her yet again.