50 pages • 1-hour read
Olivetti
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Themes
Content Warning: This section of the guide includes discussion of illness.
The Healing Power of Memory
Early in the novel, Olivetti asserts, “Memories are like heartbeats. They keep things alive. They make us who we are” (4). The power of memory echoes throughout the story, and Olivetti’s influence on the plot ultimately shows that when memories are properly stored and used, they can bring needed change, guide reflection, and even bring hope and healing to the Brindle family’s more desperate moments. As Olivetti’s own flawed perspective suggests, some memories show that change is needed for healing. As Olivetti reflects on the Brindle children when they were young and on Beatrice before she got a computer, his wistful and frustrated tone advertises his grief over life’s changes. In his mind, everything has changed: his role, Beatrice’s habits, and the children’s desire to share stories with him. However, when he ends up in the pawn shop, sharing memories with Remi, Olivetti develops more empathy for the family and realizes that he wants to be with them throughout all the stressful ages and stages of life. His memories help him gain clarity, refine his priorities, and accept and even appreciate his humans’ flaws.
While some memories galvanize the characters into action, others soothe and renew. The memories accumulated in Beatrice’s Tapestries are cases in point; when worries and fears from her recent diagnosis send her seeking solace and comfort, Beatrice focuses on her memories of the family’s trip to Cannon Beach. Recalling the majesty of Haystack Rock and seeking the perspective of something bigger than herself and her health, Beatrice uses this memory as inspiration to make a personal pilgrimage to Oregon and relive the worth and significance of that moment. Renewed and more certain of her path after visiting Haystack Rock, she can set a course that includes writing and treatment.
While both Olivetti and Beatrice find clarity in their memories of the past, Ernest is the one who undergoes the most intense struggle to come to grips with the unpleasant memories that haunt him. Still traumatized after Beatrice’s last bout with cancer, he has become determinedly withdrawn from his family’s love and affection, and his recent, week-long silence toward Beatrice now transmutes into guilt in the aftermath of her disappearance. As Ernest desperately tries to find his mother and ameliorate his present, he must face the unresolved issues of his past memories before he can truly move forward. In the midst of this difficult process, he discovers that although some memories are uncomfortable, they have the power to heal. For example, Ernest tries to suppress his memories of his family’s loving times before Beatrice’s cancer, as his thoughts of “Narnia” and the family’s library outings are painful to him. However, as he learns to open up to old memories, he turns back toward his siblings and parents, and his memories of the Cannon Beach vacation give him the insight he needs to find his mother and help the entire family reunite.
The Journey From Grief to Acceptance
While each member of the family—Olivetti included—must walk their own journey of disbelief, anger, and grief toward acceptance when Beatrice’s cancer returns, the person with the longest journey is Ernest. This is because, whereas the other family members celebrated Beatrice’s first cancer-free proclamation and moved immediately back into the family’s usual daily routines, Ernest has remained “stuck” in concern and anxiety. With Beatrice’s disappearance and new diagnosis, Ernest must now navigate a complex tangle of emotions before he can reach a healthier stage of acceptance and hope.
Ernest’s age and relative inexperience with life both contribute to his tendency to remain “stuck” emotionally during the year in which Beatrice is cancer-free. He lacks the maturity of Adalynn and Ezra, who are both in high school and have a more highly developed sense of appreciation for their mother’s recovery. However, Ernest sees the world with enough nuance and cynicism that he distrusts the tentative return of hope to the family’s mindset. Because his preteen perspective renders him mature enough to understand the world’s dangers but not mature enough to find joy and hope where he can, he isolates himself from the rest of the family, effectively wasting the potential to make new memories and spend quality time with his mother while he can. Once Ernest gets a taste of this isolation, he prefers it to the prospect of processing the family’s difficulties, and he hides in his self-imposed solitude in order to avoid thinking about the risk of losing the people he loves. He demonstrates this attitude by escaping to the roof and refusing to engage in family conversations at the outset of the novel.
Although Beatrice seeks out a therapist’s help for Ernest, his grief has not allowed him to progress on his emotional journey, and he rejects the therapist’s attempts by refusing to speak. When he tells Beatrice that he does not want to interact with her either, this declaration is his way of escaping from the support of his family. Likewise, when his mother disappears, Ernest believes that he has taken his stance too far and feels guilty for pushing her away. As he works to find her, he finally begins to accept outside help, ending his isolation when he gets to know Olivetti, allows Quinn to help, and tracks down vital clues from Mrs. Vivian, Thiago, and Dr. Branson. In the midst of these struggles, Ernest realizes that the key to acceptance, hope, and survival requires immersing himself in the love and support of his family and friends. This realization allows him to move quickly along the last steps of his path, and when he reunites with Beatrice at Cannon Beach, this moment reflects the culmination of his emotional journey. Having laid many of his conflicts to rest, he can now invest in helping his family and partaking of the buoying effects of hope.
The Importance of Communicating With Family Members
The characters in Olivetti demonstrate that honest communication is a key component in any relationship, and Ernest’s silent emotional plight plays a central role in the evolution of this theme. Given Ernest’s penchant for immersing himself in dictionaries and wordsmithing, his choice to stay quiet around his family at the start of the narrative is ironic. The contrast between Ernest’s interests and his behavior grows evident when he eavesdrops on Adalynn and Ezra’s argument over who will take Ernest to the appointment that Beatrice has set. Out of sight behind a bookcase, Ernest generates a list of dictionary words in his head instead of joining in or helping his siblings solve the problem. As he admits, “This is my escape technique. It’s good to have one with a lot of options, if you’re the kind of person who wants to escape as often as I do” (19). Part of Ernest’s character arc involves gaining the skills and courage to communicate openly with his family and friends, and to do this, he must learn to properly interpret and accept the messages they give him. For example, later in the narrative, Ernest realizes that giving Quinn a simple apology is not enough to make amends; instead, he must communicate his regret for his actions and commit to their friendship in tangible ways. He therefore tells Quinn that she is like Beatrice, as this is the highest compliment he can think to offer her.
While Ernest’s communication issues are central to the novel, Beatrice is also guilty of similar behavior patterns when she makes the drastic choice to leave her family without saying a word. When they finally track her down, she apologizes for prompting stress and worry, but this apology remains somewhat inadequate, given that she left town to delay the necessity of telling them the truth about her new diagnosis. Her decision ironically reignites their fears and anxieties prematurely. Even so, after the time they have spent guessing and theorizing about Beatrice’s whereabouts and motives, her honesty calms and completes the search, especially when she explains the reasons for her departure. As she states, “I thought if I came here, even for a little while, I could pretend the diagnosis wasn’t real […] I could be protected. We could be protected” (236). Because her need to escape was just as strong as Ernest’s, he develops a new sense of empathy for his mother, and the family’s emotional reunion demonstrates that honesty can bolster hope more powerfully than denial or secrets ever could.
In many ways, Olivetti exhibits a form of isolation that mirrors Ernest’s, as he has long adhered to the number-one typewriter rule of never communicating directly with humans. When he decides to break this rule, his choice pays off in important ways, and as he joins the search with Ernest and Quinn, he proves to be the crucial link to both Dr. Branson (where Ernest learns the truth about Beatrice’s health) and Cannon Beach (where Ernest ultimately finds her). Without Olivetti’s willingness to take risks in communicating Beatrice’s Tapestries, Ernest would never have been able to make such a rapid discovery of his mother’s whereabouts, nor would he have completed his own emotional journey back to his family. Olivetti’s courage therefore blends with Ernest’s new understanding and Beatrice’s reconciliation to demonstrate the importance of communication in familial relationships.
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