42 pages • 1 hour read
Elizabeth BergThe Story of Arthur Truluv
Elizabeth BergFiction | Novel | Adult | Published in 2017A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Pages 49-102Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Pages 49-64 Summary
Arthur attempts to make up with Lucille by taking her out to dinner at Olive Garden. He realizes that she’s been out a lot in the evenings and sees her get picked up in a red Cadillac one night. She doesn’t mention anything about it at their dinner, and he reassures himself with a reminder that “[h]e’s her regular” and she would soon be back on her porch calling to him (51). Arthur visits the cemetery and thinks about the times when Arthur and Nola cared for one another when they were sick. Maddy arrives, and Arthur shares his lunch with her; when Arthur tells Maddy that he imagines the lives of the other people in the cemetery because he wants to know Nola’s neighbors, she remarks how much he must have really loved Nola and then gives him the nickname Truluv. He tells her he will call her Sunshine. Maddy shares that she’s not going to college. He tells her she’s welcome at his house anytime and doesn’t have to call.
Lucille has seen Frank almost every night for two weeks while he is in town visiting his daughter. He tells Lucille that he regrets not marrying her and explains that he found his late wife, Sue, to be high-maintenance and impossible to please. He reveals that he had affairs during their marriage and only stayed together for the children, whom he wants Lucille to meet. Lucille plans to ask Frank to stay with her.
Pages 65-84 Summary
Maddy goes to the cemetery but wants to be alone. She thinks about an incident that happened during English class that day, which Mr. Lyons wanted her to report to the counselor as she’s been instructed to do. A boy who was new to school passed her a note telling her that her blouse was unbuttoned, but when she wrote back asking where he had moved from, he replied that he wasn’t interested. It makes her think about how “there is a scent the hounds get excited by, and the fox can’t separate that scent from itself” (67). Maddy feels like a fox, prey to the attacking hounds. She has been bullied by her classmates relentlessly since Junior year, but she felt like an outsider even before the more recent abuse began.
In his mailbox, Arthur finds a note from Maddy and a gift of fancy cat food. She tells him it’s her birthday and that she hopes to see him tomorrow. Arthur wraps a gift for her, the Mr. and Mrs. Hamburger figurine. Arthur starts coughing and feels weak. He dreams of Nola as a young woman, and in the dream, the two sit on the porch together. When he wakes up, he cries. He doesn’t feel up to going to the cemetery today. Maddy waits her whole lunch break for him, but Arthur doesn’t show up. At home, her dad gives her money in a card for her birthday. Her period is late, and she realizes that she’s pregnant. When she calls Anderson to tell him, he tells her she’s “crazy” and to take the birthday money from her dad and get an abortion. Later that night, she tells her dad that she doesn’t want to go to graduation because the kids are mean to her. She goes to the drugstore to get a pregnancy test and decides she will be keeping the baby: “It is hers. And in it, and through it, she will remake the world. She too, will get born, into another kind of life” (84).
Pages 85-102 Summary
Lucille invites Frank over, and he shares with her that he had prostate cancer and has some lingering health concerns. He tells her that he never stopped loving her, and the two discuss life and death. Frank tells her, “My way of looking at it is, who cares what happens before we’re born and after we die? The question that has become increasingly important to me is, what do we do in the meantime?” (89).
Maddy tells her dad about the pregnancy and anticipates that she’s about three months along. He wants to take her to urgent care right away, but she refuses, telling him that she wants to keep the baby. When she resists going to an exam appointment that he made for her, he tells her, “She died for this? For this life you’re living? You’re killing her twice” (94). Stunned, Maddy contemplates if she should die by suicide. Then, she feels “as though a hand has come to rest on her shoulder. Look for the helpers” (94), and she feels her mother’s presence and comfort settle around her.
When Arthur visits Nola, he realizes he hasn’t seen Maddy for more than a week. He places Mr. and Mrs. Hamburger on Nola’s headstone. He still has a bad cough and resolves to see the doctor. On his way home, he sees Lucille going inside her house and stops at her porch, where she shares that she is in love with Frank and the two are engaged. Arthur is happy for her, reassuring her that love is never foolish, even at their age. Frank is over at his daughter’s house, telling her the news. Lucille invites Arthur over to dinner that night to meet Frank, and Arthur accepts. Back at home, Arthur has a note from Maddy’s father, Steven, requesting he call him.
Pages 49-102 Analysis
This section of rising action in the novel explores new conflicts and includes important life events for Maddy and Lucille, furthering their storylines and character development. Maddy learns she’s pregnant, and Lucille gets engaged to Frank; these moments are central to their character arcs in the novel and usher in significant change. Both women take on new identities through these events. Lucille, who has never been married, is now engaged at the age of 83, an event that makes her feel young again and like she is getting an opportunity with Frank that she was previously deprived of. They have been given a second chance at love, and Lucille readily accepts Frank despite his admission of infidelity, complaints about his late wife, and health problems. Lucille’s idealistic and open-hearted response to Frank shows that for all her opinions about other people, she has rose-colored glasses when it comes to Frank and is ready to move quickly with him. He even comments on her daftness and simplicity, which she scoffs at but ultimately accepts. Lucille, despite her age, is swept up in the idea of love and is blind to the red flags made apparent to the reader. Arthur reassures her that “love is never foolish. Or unnecessary” (101). Lucille is undergoing The Experiences and Emotions of Aging, trying to find herself in her last phase of life. This relationship is something new and exciting, uprooting her calm world and giving her a chance at a life that she had always wanted.
Maddy’s pregnancy news marks a crucial moment in her development because it initiates conflict with both Anderson and Steven, driving her further away from both of them and giving her a new identity as an expectant mother. Anderson reacts poorly, though Maddy at first naively believes he will rise to the occasion. After he rejects her and the baby, Maddy continues moving forward in confirming her pregnancy and buying baby supplies immediately, demonstrating her resilience and trust in her own decision-making. She also displays this when she pushes back against her father’s initial demand that she has an abortion. To cope, she imagines how her mother would have reacted instead, offering to talk about options and nodding and listening, then comforting her in the night. When Maddy creates these vivid pictures in her mind, she is not only connecting to her mother but parenting herself to fill the void left by her mother and father. The important feature is that Maddy responds with self-assuredness and courage, which signals maturity and evolution in her despite challenging circumstances; she is determined to provide a life for her child that she didn’t have. Maddy’s pregnancy opens the door to new possibilities and helps guide her to connections outside of her previous relationships. It also strengthens her bond with her late mother, who now shares the experience of pregnancy with Maddy. While Maddy didn’t know her mother, she does know that they have this emotional, life-changing experience in common.
When Maddy gives Arthur the special name Truluv, it becomes an important symbol in the novel that represents who Arthur is. Inspired by his love of Nola and the bond they shared, Truluv encompasses Arthur’s loving nature and loyalty to others. This name suggests that Maddy understands the significance of Arthur and Nola’s love, which is something she hasn’t seen displayed in her life or home as a result of her mother’s death. Therefore, Arthur and Nola represent true love to her. Giving Arthur this nickname also establishes the closeness and uniqueness of his bond with Maddy; no one else calls him Truluv, and the special moniker is like a secret understanding between them. The nickname also represents the intergenerational component of Maddy and Arthur’s relationship; Maddy spells it out for him: “T-R-U-L-U-V” (55), to make it clear that she’s using slang and abbreviations. The name, attributed to an 85-year-old man, highlights the differences in their experiences and age. This distinction is deepened when they discuss using swear words, with Arthur telling her, “This is the land of you and me, where such language is not accepted” (57). Despite their different takes on the subject, Maddy concludes that Truluv is “kind of a cool dude” (58), highlighting how friendship can transcend age or stage of life and feeding into the theme of The Transformative Power of Companionship and Chosen Families.
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