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
Eleanor tells her mother about her father’s offer in front of all the other kids—but Sabrina tells Eleanor she can’t go. Eleanor’s siblings all start crying because they miss their father. Sabrina asks Eleanor why she cares about spending time with her father, since he’s “never cared” about her. Eleanor insists she needs to get out of the house for a while. Sabrina says she’ll talk to Richie about it. Eleanor begs her not to, stating that Richie can’t start telling her whether or not she can see her own father. Sabrina retorts that Richie is the one who puts food on the table—Eleanor laughs, as there’s hardly any food and not even a dining table in the house. Eleanor begs her mother one last time to go, and Sabrina relents. Eleanor is desperate for the chance to talk to Park on the phone at her father’s house.
Eleanor knows that if Richie starts to encroach on the little freedom she has left, she’ll never get even a shred of it back—and is determined not to let that happen. Even though it is perhaps unfair that Eleanor’s dad has reached out to her and not any of his other children, Eleanor doesn’t really care. This thread introduces a pattern that will recur throughout the novel as Eleanor is forced to choose between securing whatever rare bursts of freedom she can for herself—and helping her siblings do the same.
Themes
The next morning on the bus, Eleanor asks Park for his phone number. He says that he assumed she wouldn’t be allowed to talk on the phone—Eleanor says she probably wouldn’t be, if her family even had a phone. Nevertheless, Park starts to write his number on her textbook—Eleanor stops him, telling him she doesn’t want her mom to see it. Park notices a “gross” note on her textbook—“suck me off.” Eleanor begins scribbling it out, but Park asks her why she’d write something like that. Eleanor insists she didn’t write it—but doesn’t know who did. Park comforts her, but Eleanor is embarrassed for him to see her looking so vulnerable.
Eleanor and Park’s relationship is a constant dance in which Eleanor tries not to let see Park just how vulnerable she is—and just how fractured her life outside of their relationship is. In this passage, she reveals several vulnerabilities, no doubt making herself nervous that she is going to be too much for Park or drive him away.
Themes
Park asks Eleanor if she still wants his number. She says she does, and explains that she’s babysitting at her father’s house on Friday. She tells Park to tell her his number, and promises to memorize it. Park sings his number to the tune of “867-5309,” and Eleanor laughs, cheered by his silliness.
Park doesn’t shy away from Eleanor in her moment of vulnerability—instead, he tries to cheer her up.
Themes
The narrative switches to Park’s point of view. He remembers the first time he saw Eleanor—and how he thought she looked like a train wreck. Now, though, when he pictures Eleanor, all he can think about his how “adorable” she is. The idea of anyone making fun of Eleanor—or leaving lewd notes on her schoolbooks—makes him feel violently angry. Still, he is ashamed to admit there is a part of him that feels “self-conscious” about being seen with Eleanor. Every time he sees her, though, he can’t think about doing anything but “whatever he could […] to make her happy.”
While Eleanor wrestles with vulnerability and defensiveness, Park wrestles with vanity and insecurity. He worries that others can’t see how wonderful Eleanor really is—and will judge him, her, and their relationship without understanding it. This worry doesn’t diminish the intensity of Park’s feelings, though it does linger at the back of his mind.
Themes
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At lunch, Eleanor is so nervous she can barely eat. On the way home from school, on the bus, Park makes Eleanor repeat his number over and over again to make sure she’s got it. Park asks Eleanor if it’s “stupid” for him to feel like they have a date at last—even though they’re together every day, he points out, they have “fifty chaperones” around them at all time in the form of peers, teachers, and parents. Eleanor, too, expresses excitement about their upcoming “date.”
A common thread throughout Eleanor and Park’s emerging relationship is their desire for freedom, independence, and time alone together. Both of them feel like the best versions of themselves when they’re with each other, but the pressures they face from their respective families and their judgmental peer group often leave them feeling nervous, ashamed, or uncertain.
Themes
