Set in August 1986, Eleanor and Park, by Rainbow Rowell, is not your typical high-
school love story. Eleanor is the new girl with the crazy, big, and red hair, the strange clothes,
and the problematic, monstrous, and alcoholic stepfather. While on the other hand, Park is the
quiet, half- Korean “Stupid, perfect Asian kid”(41) who tries his best to direct attention away
from himself in school, yet tries his hardest to please his father. Although they are like the
opposite sides of a magnet, the two finds a common interest in good music and entertaining
comic books and eventually finds “attraction” and love in each other, despite many problems and
oppositions against them. Through this truthful and captivating double-perspective
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book, you will surely know how it is to feel young and in love (again).
“He’d stopped trying to bring her back.” (1) Right from page one, the readers discover
that “he”, as we can assume is Park, loses Eleanor. The August of 1986 consequently begins and
starts with Park’s bus ride to school where he first sees Eleanor and instinctively offers her to sit
next to him, knowing that the popular kids on the bus will bully her. As the days went on and the
two still silently and awkwardly sat on the bus (with six inches between them), Rowell reveals
the truths and struggles about each character’s lives and how their lives are so different from
each other. Eleanor just came back from being kicked out by his violent stepfather, Richie, and
although finally coming back would seem like a good thing, to Eleanor, it is just as hard as her
life before. Living in poverty, she does not have money to buy batteries for her Walkman or even
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a toothbrush. Moreover, she sleeps in a cramped room, along with her four younger siblings and
lives in fear of her stepfather who frequently abuses her mother. On the other hand, Park comes
from a happy and stable family. However, he constantly seeks acceptance from his father.
And although he is pretty popular at school, he is separated from most of his schoolmates because of his race and his great love for music and comic books. As days went on, Eleanor starts to read Park’s comic books over his shoulder on the bus and eventually, comic books are shared, mix tapes are swapped, and each other’s hands are held. And the way Rowell describes the first time the two held hands is absolutely beautiful and memorable. Park describes, “Holding Eleanor’s hand was like holding a butterfly. Or a heartbeat. Like holding something complete, and completely alive” (71), while Eleanor describes “The first time he’d held her hand, it felt so good that it crowded out all the bad things. It felt better than anything had ever hurt” (302). Moreover, with Rowell’s honest and witty dialogue and perfect descriptions of mid-‘80s teen life, this book is certainly relatable to many people. This includes the way Eleanor describes Park as “that stupid, effing Asian kid,” (55) and the way the two listens to bands like Joy Division, the Smiths, and other bands some readers have certainly listened to back then. But of course, in every love story, there are obstacles, and through obstacles such as a stepfather that wants to ruin everything for you, and bullies that throw your favorite and only clothes and shoes in the toilet, Eleanor and Park still find first love in each other. From thinking that she looked like a scarecrow, Park now believes that “Eleanor was right: She never looked nice. She looked like art, and art wasn’t supposed to look nice; it was supposed to make you feel something” (165). Delos Reyes 3 Through her use of conversational and relatable dialogue and unforgettable and heartwarming images, Rowell tells the story of two misfit lovers and their journey to overcoming numerous struggles and finding true, first love. This book is not only about star-crossed love, but also about family, suffering, courage, and acceptance. And so if you are looking for a modern (yet ‘80s based), less-tragic, yet as beautiful and heartbreaking version of Romeo and Juliet, or if not, just wanting to feel young and in love (again), this book is certainly for you.
...e on her part. Throughout the story, the Mother is portrayed as the dominant figure, which resembled the amount of say that the father and children had on matters. Together, the Father, James, and David strived to maintain equality by helping with the chickens and taking care of Scott; however, despite the effort that they had put in, the Mother refused to be persuaded that Scott was of any value and therefore she felt that selling him would be most beneficial. The Mother’s persona is unsympathetic as she lacks respect and a heart towards her family members. Since the Mother never showed equality, her character had unraveled into the creation of a negative atmosphere in which her family is now cemented in. For the Father, David and James, it is only now the memories of Scott that will hold their bond together.
the food her family has and her clothes. This, however, all changes when she goes on
The conflict that the individual faces will force them to reinforce and strengthen their identity in order to survive. In “The Cellist of Sarajevo” all the characters experience a brutal war that makes each of them struggle albeit in different ways. Each of them have their own anxieties and rage that eventually makes them grow as characters at the end of the book. When looking at what makes a person who they are it becomes obvious that the struggles they have faced has influenced them dramatically. The individual will find that this development is the pure essence of what it truly means to be
Antwone’s foster mother that abuses and belittles Antwone while a lad along with his two other foster brothers.
In the first section of the book it starts off with a little girl named Tasha. Tasha is in the Fifth grade, and doesn’t really have many friends. It describes her dilemma with trying to fit in with all the other girls, and being “popular”, and trying to deal with a “Kid Snatcher”. The summer before school started she practiced at all the games the kid’s play, so she could be good, and be able to get them to like her. The girls at school are not very nice to her at all. Her struggle with being popular meets her up with Jashante, a held back Fifth ...
There is a lot of tension in Eleanor’s household because of her stepfather Richie. There are multiple time throughout the novel when Eleanor notices bruising on her mother's face. Richie abuses Eleanor, mother both physically even though we don’t see it and emotionally. Richie yells at Eleanor’s mother Sabrina throughout most of the novel, however, Eleanor says at one point she’s so used to the screaming she can sleep through it. Sabrina is always careful around Richie, she always tries not to spike his anger and tries to keep everything in order so that Richie doesn’t hurt one of the kids. Richie does, however abuse the other children in the household other than Eleanor,
Discuss the importance of the themes to the story, especially dualism and reputation, but also some others.
We never get to "meet" Eleanor, who died in a car accident the year before the events described in the book. We know that she and her sister Violet were super close—so close they ran a popular web magazine together.
different layers of reality, the dreams become more complex and the characters have a hard time
In this novel, I think that the main themes are the struggle for independence, lies and deceits, and isolation.
show Diff’rent Strokes.Which also shows a strong example of an unlikely alliance because they are a different gender and race. They were also brought up in different sides of the world. Willis comes from Harlem, where as Kimberly comes from Park Avenue in New York. Two of the circumstances that makes this an unlikely alliance is that for one, Willis’s mom was the Drummonds housekeeper and that these kids come from two different places, but this wouldn’t have happened if Willis’s mom never requested for Willis and his little brother Arnold to stay with the
of attending the Julliard School in the fall, but her dreams are put on hold when a
The story begins when two twins, Hallie and Annie, are separated at birth and coincidentally attend the very same summer camp eleven and a
Janice receives multiple phone calls from staff at Alex’s school to come pick him up and take him home. He isn’t purposely being disruptive, he’s excited and eager to learn and sometimes the teachers don’t understand that, says Janice to herself. For Janice to always be “on-call” to collect her son definitely makes it difficult for her to hold down a steady job.
the end of the novel as both the women in his life have other men at