T.S. Garp Timeline & Summary

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• Garp is the son of Jenny Fields—he's never known his father.
• He grows up at the Steerling School, a high-class prep academy where his mom works as a nurse.
• When Garp's old enough to attend the school, he joins Ernie Holm's wrestling team and falls in love with the sport. He meets Ernie's daughter, Helen, and falls in love with her, too.
• Garp decides to become a writer, mostly to please Helen. He's encouraged by Mr. Tinch, who suggests that Garp go to Vienna to start writing after graduation.
• Garp loses his virginity to Cushie Percy, daughter of Fat Stew and sister of Pooh. Garp doesn't get along with the Percy family except for Cushie.
• After graduation, Garp moves to Vienna—Jenny tags along, too, because she's decided to start writing as well.
• Although Garp enjoys Vienna, he has difficulty writing; he spends his time with a prostitute named Charlotte.
• Garp gets started on his first story, "The Pension Grillparzer," but can't figure out how to end it.
• Charlotte gets sick and dies, and this experience helps Garp complete his story. He sends Helen a letter telling her that he wants to marry her.
• Meanwhile, Jenny has completed her autobiography, titled A Sexual Suspect. She and Garp return to the U.S.
• Garp and Helen marry and have a son named Duncan. Helen becomes a college professor and Garp completes his first novel, Procrastination. Meanwhile, Jenny has become famous because of her book.
• Garp isn't very faithful during the early years of their marriage. He has affairs with two babysitters, and he and Helen even get into a bizarre wife-swapping scenario, which inspires his next novel, The Second Wind of the Cuckold.
• They have their second son, whom they name Walt. Garp is struggling to write anything and even considers getting a real job.
• Then Helen starts acting a little strange. Garp doesn't notice at first, but the truth is revealed to him by a nervous college girl: Helen is having an affair with a student named Michael.
• Furious, Garp confronts Helen and demands that she break up with her boy-toy over the phone; Garp will take Walt and Duncan to the movies while it happens.
• But Garp is too impatient and decides to come home before the movie is done. He isn't paying attention when they pull into the driveway and accidentally collides into the back of Michael's car, where Michael and Helen are seated.
• Garp and Helen sustain minor injuries, but Duncan loses an eye. Sadly, Walt is killed by the impact, and the surviving members of the family shack up at Dog's Head Harbor, Jenny's commune for women in need.
• It takes a while, but Garp and Helen manage to reconnect. They decide to have a daughter, who they name Jenny.
• Garp wants to start writing again, but his traumatic memories are too painful. Finally, he manages to release the tension through a harrowing novel called The World According to Bensenhaver.
• Bensenhaver goes on to become a massive success. The Garp family goes to Vienna for the book's release to lay low.
• During the trip, Garp receives a devastating phone call—Jenny Fields has been assassinated. They return immediately.
• Garp attends the funeral service, although he's forced to wear drag. His cover is blown by Pooh Percy, of all people, and Garp is forced to escape to Steerling.
• On the plane, he meets Ellen James, a young girl who became famous after she was raped and her tongue was cut out. A movement of women, dubbed the Ellen Jamesians, formed and cut of their own tongues in her tribute.
• Garp has a tense relationship with the Ellen Jamesians, but he relates to the orphaned Ellen James immediately, and invites her to join his family.
• There's more bad news at Steerling: Ernie, Helen's dad, has passed away. So has Fat Stew, for that matter.
• With his mother gone, Garp takes over Dog's Head Harbor and the Fields Foundation. He also becomes the wrestling coach at Steerling, having pretty much given up writing at this point.
• Finally, Garp's tension with the Ellen Jamesians explodes after a failed assassination attempt.
• This event gives Garp more energy, however, prompting him to republish The Pension Grillparzer using illustrations made by Duncan, and getting started on his next novel, My Father's Illusions.
• But this is short-lived. Garp is at wrestling practice one day when Pooh Percy comes into the room, shoots, and kills him.
• Although Garp has always been terrified of death, he manages to find peace in his final moment.