Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Eleanor and Park, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Adolescence and Shame
Love and Intimacy
Poverty and Class
Family and Abuse
Summary
Analysis
Park gets on the bus and sets a stack of comics—and the Smiths mixtape—on Eleanor’s seat. When she gets on the bus, though, Park can tell that something is wrong. Eleanor is dressed in yesterday’s clothes, her hair is mussed, and she has a “lost” look about her—she doesn’t even have her schoolbooks. Eleanor picks up the comic books and the tape as she sits down and holds them in her lap, but soon tells Park that she can’t accept the mixtape—she doesn’t have a way of listening to music. The embarrassed Eleanor covers her face with her hands.
Park can notice that something is off about Eleanor. Even though it seems like they might not know one another very well, months of sitting together and silently getting to know one another has cued them to each other’s moods and habits.
Themes
Park takes out his Walkman, puts the tape in, and places his headphones over Eleanor’s ears. He presses play and the music starts. Eleanor doesn’t take her hands off of her face the whole way to school. When the bus pulls up, Eleanor and Park get off together and walk inside together—something they’ve never done before, as they usually part ways as soon as they step off the bus. Park follows Eleanor to her locker, then smiles and tells her that “now [she’s] heard the Smiths.” Eleanor laughs happily.
Music presents a way for Eleanor and Park to connect on a deeper, more intimate level. Sharing and reading comic books that take place on other worlds and in other universes is one thing—but bonding over the shared experience of art that grounds them in the present moment is another.
Themes
Eleanor regrets not having just taken the tape from Park without a word. She feels stupid for telling Park her business, and worries that on the way home she might accidentally spill the beans about not having “a phone or a washing machine or a toothbrush.” Eleanor has considered asking the school guidance counselor, Mrs. Dunne, for a toothbrush, but is afraid of anyone—especially an adult—finding out the truth about Richie, her mom, and “everything.”
Eleanor feels slightly emboldened by the experience of listening to Park’s music. She knows that she is trapped in a prison of silence and secrecy when it comes to the truth about her home life—but for the first time, sees that there might be a way of connecting with someone in spite of all her walls and defenses.
Themes
Eleanor is surprised when, in gym class, Tina and the other girls are relatively “un-horrible” to her—but after the session is over, in the locker room, Eleanor understands why. She sees that her locker is covered in menstrual pads smeared with red Magic Marker. Eleanor is shocked by the display, but walks towards her locker “with her chin […] high” and begins peeling the pads off the front, trying to keep from crying.
It's bad enough that Eleanor is subjected to witnessing horrible abuse at home—to top things off, she has to contend with additional bullies at school. Through it all—both at home and at school—Eleanor remains stoic, determined not to let those who harm her see how much pain they’re putting her through.
Themes
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After all the other girls walk away, only two girls stay behind—DeNice and Beebi, two of the black girls in Eleanor’s class. They help Eleanor clean her locker up, and tell her not to worry about the “trifling” and “insignificant” Tina and her crew. As Eleanor finishes cleaning up with the help of Beebi and DeNice and heads to lunch, she finds that for some reason, the locker incident hasn’t even affected her that much—all she can think about, she realizes, is Park.
Rowell’s introduction of DeNice and Beebi shows that there are good, kind people at Eleanor’s school—but also shows how stratified an environment it is, one in which popularity is in large part based on race.
Themes
The narrative switches to Park’s point of view. That afternoon, on the school bus, Eleanor listens to music on his Walkman again. As Eleanor’s stop approaches, she hands the Walkman back to Park, but he insists she borrow it. Eleanor refuses to take it, claiming she doesn’t want to “use up the batteries”—but when Park tells her he doesn’t care about them, Eleanor pops the batteries out of his Walkman and gets off the bus. That night, Eleanor listens to Park’s music on her Walkman until his batteries run all the way down.
Eleanor is becoming more confident in her relationship with Park, even as things at school remain a nightmare for her socially. She also can’t get enough of Park’s music—or the escape that closeness with Park represents.
Themes
