A Man Called Ove

Ove takes great pride in driving a Saab, the car of his home country Sweden. The Saab is a representation of Ove: It’s Swedish, reliable, and trustworthy. It also represents his bond with his father, who taught him everything he knew about the car. At 18, Ove sees his elderly neighbor playing with his grandson, and this scene reminds Ove of how much he misses his father: “That night he had supper in the Saab” (79). Ove receives his father’s Saab after his death, and in turn, Ove leaves his Saab to Adrian.

In general, cars are a means of reading people in Ove’s world: “So there were certainly people who thought that feelings could not be judged by looking at cars. But they were wrong” (215). Rune’s downgrade from a family Volvo to a two-seater when they learn that Anita can’t have more children is the most concrete example of this. Then it’s also Rune’s buying a BMW that definitively ends his and Ove’s friendship.

Ove always comments on other people’s cars. He snidely remarks about Anders’s Audi, gets into an altercation with a Mercedes driver, and views Patrick and Parvaneh’s Japanese Toyota with disdain. When Adrian suggests he might get a French car, a Renault, Ove is furious.