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 goes off into a cornfield to relieve himself, and Eleanor sits on the hood of the truck to get some air. When Park comes back and sees her sitting there, he is taken aback by how beautiful and fierce she looks, and he nearly weeps. Eleanor asks Park if he really believes they’ll have another chance to be together—he replies that no matter what happens, he will continue loving her. Eleanor laments that life would bring them together only to pull them apart, but Park insists they’ll just have to work hard not to “lose” what they’ve found.
At another rest stop, Park calls his parents to check in, and then asks Eleanor if she wants to call her uncle, but she doesn’t. She notices how rough she looks—her shirt is stained with beer, blood, and snot. Back in the car, Park removes his sweatshirt and then his T-shirt. He hands her the shirt and puts the sweatshirt back on. Eleanor quickly changes into Park’s shirt, and though it’s tight, she’s grateful for the fact that it smells like him.
Throughout the novel, Park has learned to let go of his fears of losing his limited popularity by being with Eleanor. Here, he literally gives her the shirt off his back, symbolizing the depth of his compassion for and commitment to her.
Themes
