62 pages • 2 hours read
Endless Love
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Part 2, Chapters 11-14Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Part 2, Chapter 11 Summary
David wakes up early, careful not to disturb Ann. Though he briefly considers leaving, he stays to secretly search for Jade’s contact information in Ann’s address book. Finding it, he feels a surge of excitement and copies her new address and several phone numbers. Despite his fatigue, he straightens up the apartment, torn between the thrill of having Jade’s contact information, the despair of his financial struggles, and the thought of leaving New York.
When Ann eventually wakes, she apologizes for her behavior the previous night and reveals that Jade still thinks about him. This brings David a small measure of comfort, and he awkwardly tries to express his gratitude. Ann tells him he should leave so she can get to work but agrees to let him call her later.
After leaving Ann’s place, David returns to his hotel and immediately tries to contact Jade. He calls three different numbers but is unable to speak to her directly. One call, answered by a young man at what seems to be a communal house, leaves David suspicious. Although disappointed, David remains determined and elated by his proximity to Jade’s world. He calls Ann, who tells him Hugh and Ingrid are in New York. She is edgy and irritable, and David agrees to call again later.
Feeling restless, David leaves his hotel and wanders the streets of New York, reflecting on his situation and his complicated feelings for both Jade and Ann. As he walks, he suddenly spots Hugh across the street. Panicking, David decides to avoid him and heads toward Central Park, nearly running to avoid a confrontation. However, Hugh notices him and crosses the busy street in a reckless attempt to catch up. A taxi and a florist’s van hit Hugh, and he dies instantly.
David watches in horror as Ingrid Olchester, Hugh’s new wife, arrives at the scene. David stays for a moment, frozen in shock at the sight of Hugh’s death. However, as the police arrive, guilt and fear overwhelm him, and he decides to leave to avoid making a statement. He resolves to call Ann in half an hour, hoping she will have heard the news by then.
Part 2, Chapter 12 Summary
David calls Ann, who is glad to hear from him but quickly senses something off., Trying to cover up his anxiety, David lies, claiming he just woke up. In truth, he is on edge, worrying about how to handle the situation with Hugh. He plans to meet Ann at her place, hoping she will have already heard about Hugh’s death before he arrives.
When David reaches Ann’s, she is still unaware of what has happened to Hugh, and they talk about her writing. Their conversation is abruptly interrupted when Ingrid calls and asks to come over. Ann becomes nervous but is determined to maintain appearances. She asks David to stay and pretend to be her boyfriend despite his growing anxiety over his deception.
Ann introduces David as “Tony” to Ingrid, hoping to keep up the charade. As Ingrid arrives, Ann’s initial confidence gives way to confusion, sensing that something is not quite right. Meanwhile, David feels like his life is unraveling, terrified that Ingrid might recognize him and expose his role in Hugh’s death.
David leaves to give Ann and Ingrid some privacy. When he returns, Ingrid is gone, and Ann is devastated, having just learned of Hugh’s death. David tries to comfort her, sharing in her grief while battling his guilt and the weight of his deception. Ann’s raw sorrow deepens David’s sympathy for her, even as it pulls him further into the darkness of his lies. Ann tells David to leave her apartment and New York City, but David resolves to stay in New York, excited about seeing Jade again.
Part 2, Chapter 13 Summary
As the Butterfield family gathers at Ann’s place following Hugh’s death, David retreats to a hotel room, feeling disconnected from reality. Although he vividly remembers the room, he struggles to recall his actions or emotions from that time. When Ann eventually calls, she urges him to join the gathering, reassuring him that everyone, including Ingrid, has accepted his presence.
Despite his hesitation and overwhelming guilt, David agrees to go. Upon arrival, he is immediately overcome and breaks down in tears. Sammy greets him while Keith fixates on a quilt that he associates with the family’s history.
David maintains his composure as Ann draws him into a shared, ironic perspective, but he remains mostly silent. Keith then pulls David aside for a private conversation.
David follows Keith into Ann’s bedroom, where a tense confrontation ensues. Keith questions David about his interactions with Ann, mainly the letters David sent her. Suspicious and confrontational, Keith implies that David manipulated Ann to get closer to Jade, revealing his deep-seated resentment. Keith accuses David of intending to kill him in the fire and blames David for ruining everything.
As tensions rise, Keith attempts to physically attack David but fails. The scene returns to the living room, where the family mourns Hugh’s passing. Robert reads a letter from Hugh, but the atmosphere remains charged with tension. Overcome with emotion, Keith throws a glass at David, demanding he leave. Recognizing the family’s collective anger toward him, David starts to leave, and Keith hurls another glass at him.
Outside Ann’s apartment, David encounters Jade as she arrives in a taxi. They embrace briefly before parting ways.
Part 2, Chapter 14 Summary
David receives a phone call from the front desk, informing him that Jade has arrived. He instructs the receptionist to send her up and nervously waits for her at the elevator. When Jade appears, she looks tired and disheveled. They share a tense, emotionally charged interaction in his hotel room.
Their conversation reveals the deep connection they once shared, despite the physical and emotional distance that now separates them. Jade talks about her father’s funeral and her family’s reaction, including her strained relationship with her mother. As they drink wine together, their conversation becomes more intimate. They argue about sanity and the inner mind—David clings to the idea that their relationship is ongoing, while Jade believes it is over. David’s longing for Jade is palpable, and he invites her to stay longer, despite her need to catch a bus to Vermont.
Jade agrees to stay, later admitting that she anticipated missing the bus and hoped David would ask her to remain. David confesses his ongoing love for her, but Jade doubts his sincerity. She reveals she has been dating a woman, but they broke up before the funeral. She begs David to hold her, admitting she is emotionally fragile from her father’s death, the recent breakup, and the stimulant Dexedrine. David notices the differences between their past and present kisses as they kiss.
Jade shows David a small envelope containing some of her father Hugh’s ashes. She explains her emotional vulnerability, and David offers to sleep on the floor to let Jade take the bed. Jade falls asleep, and David wrestles with his thoughts, feeling a strange urge to confess something, though the details elude him.
When Jade wakes, she invites David to join her on the bed. She struggles with her feelings and eventually asks David to help her reach orgasm despite her menstruation complicating matters. David helps her, and she reciprocates before heading to the bathroom. David interrupts her in the bathroom, begging her to have sex with him. Jade insists on maintaining boundaries and expresses confusion about her feelings. She sends David back to bed, but he later returns to the bathroom to find Jade crying on the tub’s edge.
Jade grapples with her fears about their reunion, reflecting on her father’s loss and the difficulty of reconnecting with David after years apart. Eventually, she returns to bed, and they have sex. Afterward, David reveals he has not been intimate with anyone since Jade. They argue when David objects to Jade fingering herself during their lovemaking, and Jade is disturbed by the blood staining the sheets. David, insisting the blood is “glorious,” performs cunnilingus. During their kiss, Jade accidentally tears David’s lip, and their blood mixes.
They have intercourse again, with David trying to prolong their lovemaking, much to Jade’s frustration. Afterward, they talk, though David remembers none of it. In the morning, the hotel maid wakes them, and they find the sheets and themselves covered in blood.
Part 2, Chapters 11-14 Analysis
This section delves into the intense and tumultuous emotions that define David’s character, illuminating the themes of The Destructive Nature of Love and The Construct of Mental Health Conditions. Spencer captures the psychological turmoil and emotional instability stemming from David’s obsessive love for Jade, illustrating how this obsession propels him deeper into a state of psychological disarray and social alienation.
The destructive nature of love is a central theme throughout Endless Love, manifesting through David’s increasing desperation and irrational behavior. His love for Jade, which he perceives as all-consuming, drives him to engage in increasingly reckless actions without considering the consequences. For example, his decision to search for Jade’s contact information in Ann’s apartment demonstrates his inability to respect boundaries and his willingness to invade others’ privacy to reconnect with Jade. David acknowledges that his actions are wrong, even going so far as to try to conceal them, but he cannot control himself: “I gave myself a moment to consider the small social treachery I was about to commit and then, […] I opened the beige leather phone book and paged it open to B” (215). This behavior highlights the destructive nature of his love, as it compels David to disregard the autonomy of others and the potential consequences of his pursuit of Jade.
David’s encounter with Hugh further exemplifies the destructive power of his love. When he sees Hugh across the street, his immediate reaction is to flee. His panic indirectly contributes to Hugh’s death, as Hugh’s reckless attempt to catch up with David leads to a fatal accident. David’s presence in New York, driven by his desire to be close to Jade, sets off a chain of events culminating in tragedy. The death of Hugh is a direct consequence of David’s obsessive love, highlighting how this love has the power to cause actual harm to those around him.
The construct of mental health conditions is deeply intertwined with David’s experiences in these chapters. His obsessive love for Jade isolates him from the world around him, as his thoughts and actions become increasingly consumed by his desire to reconnect with her. This isolation is both physical and emotional, as David distances himself from others, including Ann, and becomes more entrenched in his fantasies about Jade. His actions reflect a growing detachment from reality, as he prioritizes his obsession over all other aspects of his life.
David’s deteriorating emotional state further emphasizes his instability, though its cause remains elusive. His inability to cope with the realities of his situation leads to intense feelings of guilt, anxiety, and paranoia. After witnessing Hugh’s death, David’s first instinct is not to help or report the incident but to avoid getting involved. This response indicates deep-seated fear and guilt, suggesting that David is aware, at some level, of the destructive impact of his actions. However, rather than confronting these feelings, he chooses to bury them, further exacerbating his isolation.
David’s interactions with Ann and her family following Hugh’s death reveal the extent of his psychological turmoil. His inability to be honest with Ann about his role in the events leading up to Hugh’s death reflects his internal conflict and deep-seated fear of being exposed. Specifically, David fears that knowing his role in Hugh’s death will cause Jade to refuse to see him. His decision to go along with Ann’s request to pose as her boyfriend during Ingrid’s visit further illustrates his descent into a web of lies, driven by his need to maintain his connection to Jade. This deception not only isolates him further from those around him but also deepens his guilt and self-loathing.
Keith’s accusations and violent outbursts reflect the intense emotional strain that David’s presence places on the family. Keith’s belief that David intended to kill him in the fire and his blame for the family’s suffering reveals the extent to which David’s actions—and the destructive power of love—have caused lasting psychological damage. The confrontation also illustrates David’s growing sense of isolation, as he is no longer seen as a family member but as a dangerous outsider who has brought chaos into their lives.
David’s subsequent encounter with Jade further illustrates the destructive power of his love and his deteriorating mental state. Their interaction is fraught with tension and emotional turmoil as David struggles to reconcile his intense longing with the reality of their situation. His insistence that their relationship is ongoing, despite Jade’s belief that it is over, reveals his inability to accept the reality and his refusal to move on. This refusal is a crucial aspect of David’s isolation, as it prevents him from engaging with the world in a healthy and constructive manner.
The scene in the hotel room, where David and Jade engage in a series of emotionally charged and physically intimate encounters, is a powerful illustration of the destructive nature of their relationship. Their interactions are marked by desperation and confusion, as both characters struggle with their emotions and the lingering impact of their past relationship. The physical intimacy they share is tainted by a sense of unease and discomfort, as evidenced by their arguments about Jade’s self-stimulation. This discomfort highlights the disconnect between their physical actions and their emotional states, suggesting that their relationship is no longer a source of comfort or fulfillment but rather a site of conflict and pain. Upon waking, the pair “looked like the victims of a savage crime” (324), the blood staining everything as a reminder of the destructive power of Jade and David’s love.
Despite David’s increasingly desperate confessions, his interactions with Jade do not feel like love. Jade admits to feeling confused and emotionally exhausted, as David pressures her into sex. Jade states, “One thing I’ve learned about myself is it’s easy for me to forget who I am. I let things happen. I go along. It’s wrong” (287). Despite this admission, David takes advantage of Jade, pushing her to go farther than she wants. Like David, Jade feels isolated and emotionally vulnerable, seeking a connection through physical intimacy. While David swears repeatedly that he still loves Jade, she responds astutely, “You don’t know me […] you just remember me” (279). Throughout their interaction, it becomes clear that David is not in love with Jade, the person, but with the idealized memory in his mind.
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