Summary
Don confirms with Claudia that he seems to be progressing with his social skills, and ability to manage different types of interactions. He also starts to educate himself by watching well-known romantic films. As Don studies romantic relationships, he becomes more concerned about the prospects for Gene and Claudia's marriage, and he tells Gene that he should stop sleeping with other women. Don also contemplates what he can do to try to save his job. The Dean had mentioned Kevin Yu, a student Don had reported for plagiarism. Don meets with Kevin and learns that Kevin is working very hard and is actually knowledgeable on the subject of the assignment. Kevin plagiarized because he did not think he could write well in English. Don is surprised to find himself feeling compassion, and he agrees to let Kevin submit a supplementary assignment. Don also calls Gene out, telling him that Gene is not actually charming and should stop living like a playboy.
Don is also surprised when he is called to meet with the Dean. Instead of being fired (as he expects), Don and the Dean are joined by Simon Lefebvre, who confirms that he wants to provide funding for Don's genetics research project. Even though Don made it up, the project is so interesting that Lefebvre is eager to provide funding, and the Dean cannot very well fire Don when he is about to bring prestigious funding to the university. From this meeting, Don goes on to meet Phil Jarman, the man who has raised Rosie. Don bluntly tells Phil that Rosie is unhappy with him, but Phil challenges Rosie's narrative. He insists that he has always been a good father and that he didn't think the Disneyland trip was actually important to Rosie.
Don now moves to the next step of his plan: taking Rosie out for a romantic date. He takes her back to La Gavroche, pleased that he can now conduct himself in a socially acceptable manner. However, Rosie remains very pragmatic and merely wants to know who her father is (Don has still not been able to complete the tests). When Don makes a romantic speech about being in love with her, she seems overwhelmed. Don explains that he is happy to have changed and will change whatever he needs to in order to win her heart. However, Rosie says that she can't be with him if he doesn't truly feel love. As Rosie is leaving, Gene and Claudia arrive to surprise Don for his birthday, and they are disappointed that things have gone badly between Don and Rosie. Don goes home alone and reflects on his life. He realizes that he has many gifts and talents and that he can build lasting friendships and even potential romantic relationships. He doesn't have to live a limited life. He also realizes that while he has a hard time feeling empathy for other people, he is capable of love—and he loves Rosie deeply.
Back at the university, Don finds a note from Rosie and learns that she has figured out that Gene might be her father. The note also reveals that she has shared this information with Phil. Don rushes off to find Gene and locates Rosie having breakfast with Claudia. Don declares his love for Rosie, explaining that he loves her even though doing so is irrational. This time, Rosie is receptive and lets Don put a ring on her finger. Then, Phil arrives at the restaurant and punches Gene. Don and Rosie are briefly distracted by this interaction, but they are no longer preoccupied with the Father Project; they rush off to consummate their new romantic relationship.
Don, Rosie, and Phil finally fulfill Rosie's childhood dream: they all go to Disneyland together. Don and Rosie subsequently move to New York City, where Don gets a job at Columbia and Rosie starts medical school. They work together part-time at a cocktail bar, are married, and are thinking about having children. The Father Project has also been resolved. At the wedding, Dr. Eamonn Hughes had pulled Don aside and told him that in the car accident, when Rosie's mother died, Phil pulled Rosie to safety first. For Don, this information confirms that Phil is actually Rosie's biological father, since it indicates a strong biological instinct to protect one's offspring.
Intrigued, Don requests permission to use the equipment at Columbia, and he tests the samples. He confirms that neither Max nor Isaac are genetic matches, and he also finally rules out Gene as a possibility. Joined by Rosie, Don tests a sample from Phil and confirms that Phil has been Rosie's biological father all along. Whoever Rosie's mother slept with, she did not become pregnant as a result. Instead, due to Gene's poor teaching of genetics, Rosie's mother had mistakenly believed that eye color was always an indication of paternity, and she had made a rushed assumption about her daughter's paternity. While the whole Father Project was ultimately unnecessary, it achieved one incredible result: bringing Rosie and Don together.
Analysis
The final section shows Don's ability to fully throw himself into any endeavor he commits to and to get a great deal accomplished, even if he does so in a clumsy way. Don takes the prospect of building his emotional and romantic intelligence a bit too literally, but he does learn a lot. In fact, Don's tendency to keenly observe and then imitate is almost too acute. Because Don is not good at reading social cues or normative expectations around behavior, he often has to rely on mimicking what others are doing. This pattern is very useful for simple social interactions like ordering in a restaurant, but Don fails to realize that in more complex interactions (such as declaring his love for Rosie), this strategy is going to fail. Falling in love requires vulnerability and authenticity, and these represent an extreme of emotional engagement that is very hard for Don to access.
However, as Don plunges into his project of studying emotions and interpersonal interactions, there are clear signs that he is gaining new capacities for empathy and understanding emotions. Don has always been a bit skeptical about Gene's behavior, but when he contrasts Gene's actions with the romantic relationships he has been observing in movies, Don is convinced that Gene is acting in a selfish and harmful way. Don's literal interpretation of right and wrong leads him to immediately confront Gene, showing that Don's direct and transparent communication style can be an asset. He doesn't dance around the topic, and he calls his friend out directly. On the other hand, Don also becomes aware that not all situations are ethically clear-cut. Don had previously been disgusted by Kevin Yu's plagiarism because he assumed that cheating is always wrong, but his newfound capacity for empathy leads him to see that the context is more nuanced.
Rosie's relationship with Phil is also shown to be more complex than expected. Up until this point, Don had only had one side of the story and had given complete credence to Rosie's version of events, as well as to her claim that Phil was a bad father. When Don actually speaks with Phil, readers realize that while Phil might be imperfect, he loves Rosie dearly. Phil has also had his own traumas to deal with, including losing his wife and having to be a single parent. While Rosie is critical of Don for being rigid and having overly high standards, she displays the same tendency in her attitude towards Phil. Part of what both Rosie and Don need to learn is how to accept both other people and themselves as complicated, flawed, and still worthy of love and compassion. This is important for the successful conclusion of their love story, but also as an important intervention in the representation of characters (like Don) who might qualify as disabled or neurologically atypical in some way. Writing specifically about representations of characters with Autism, Mark Osteen notes that these representations "too often misleadingly impl[y]that most autistic people are savants while also suggesting that autistic people are worthy only if they overcome their disorder" (pgs. 8-9).
Rosie's fearfulness is manifested when Don first declares his love for her at La Gavroche (creating a parallel to their failed attempt at a first date, and hinting that conventional approaches to romantic stereotypes are never going to work for Don). Because he doesn't realize that he should just be himself, Don literally recites dialogue from famous films and expects Rosie to be impressed. However, she just finds this phony and insincere, and it actually makes her doubt whether Don can ever actually feel anything. Don's love is authentic, but he doesn't yet have the self-awareness and self-esteem to offer her who he truly is, all of the good and the bad. The attempt ends in spectacular failure and makes it seem that Rosie and Don will never be together. However, this seeming rejection serves an important purpose: it prompts Don to engage in self-reflection and soul-searching. Especially since the dinner coincides with Don's 40th birthday, it is an apt moment for him to think about who he truly is.
Once Don has the time and motivation to reflect on himself, he shows a very astute awareness. He is able to see both his strengths and limitations, and he understands that he is capable of giving and receiving love. The ways in which he shows love and empathy might always look different from mainstream expectations, but that does not make his feelings any less real. Once he knows this about himself, Don can make a more sincere declaration of his feelings. Don's second declaration (at the faculty cafeteria) contrasts with the first because it is spontaneous, unscripted, quirky, and authentic. Don comes upon Rosie by chance, and leaps at the chance. This moment is also different because Rosie has now had the chance to reflect for herself. She has realized that she is also a bit scared of what it means to commit to Don: she will have a life that is anything but ordinary, and filled with sometimes awkward misadventures. But Rosie also values all the adventures and joy that will fill her life, and she ultimately chooses to take that risk. Rosie and Don are ultimately able to come together when they both choose to take chances, be vulnerable, and reject ideas of what relationships "should" look like in favor of the unique love they share.
The novel's denouement rapidly sets up a new life for Rosie and Don. Their choice to move to New York shows that they want a clean slate on which to build a life together and to reinvent themselves. The change of setting is important, but also somewhat incidental: as Marta Lysick observes, "The Rosie Project suggests that happiness derives from two people making an effort to work, live together, and share responsibilities, rather than from career or setting. The happiness is in them, not outside" (pg. 116).
Once they are together, both Don and Rosie feel empowered to try new things and let go of old narratives that were unfulfilling to them. Deep down, Rosie has always wanted to pursue medicine so that she can practice psychiatry, and Don has been feeling stifled and unfulfilled in his Australian university. While Don doesn't reject academia altogether, it is important for him to diversify his career and work in other settings so that he can build his confidence and social skills. As Janice Rossen argues, "many of the best university novels are about someone leaving academe at the end of the book” (188). Moving to New York allows them to pursue their relationship, but also branch out and try things they would have otherwise have been afraid to try. At the same time, Rosie and Don also incorporate some traditional relationship milestones such as getting married and discussing the possibility of children. They end up with the best of both worlds: a life where they can build a relationship that suits them and meets their unique needs.
Finally, the novel also resolves the Father Project plotline in an unexpected and ironic way. After all the various tests and escapades, Phil is Rosie's father in every sense of the word: he has provided both the genes and the nurture in her life. This resolution adds a surprising touch to the conclusion and also has a thematic connection to the lessons Rosie and Don learn over the course of the novel: rather than setting unrealistic standards and looking for someone somewhere out there to meet them, the best outcomes often come from people right under our noses, and who may be the opposite of what we think that we want. Even before Phil is confirmed as Rosie's biological father, their relationship begins to mend as Rosie becomes more compassionate and Phil begins to make more of an effort. The presence of Don also makes it possible for the two of them to build a better relationship: because Rosie now has a loving and supportive partner in her life, she can have more measured expectations of Phil. The resolution also confirms Gene as the unwitting catalyst for much of the plot: he is the one to introduce Rosie and Don, and he is ultimately the reason Rosie was confused about her genetic identity. It might seem like the whole Father Project was a waste of time and effort, but the conclusion shows that it served a far more important purpose: bringing Rosie and Don together, and showing them that they were made for one another.
