Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell- Plot Summary
Eleanor Douglas has started 10th grade. She is the oldest of two girls and three boys who reside in a two-bedroom house with their mother and stepfather, Richie. The kids share a bedroom. Richie has removed the door to the bathroom and will not allow a curtain for privacy. Richie is frequently intoxicated and physically and emotionally hostile to their mother.
The youngsters are terrified of him. Eleanor does not have toothbrush or clothes that fit properly. She patches her clothes in bright colors, wears ribbons in her hair, and wears unusual clothing combinations, which her classmates mock. Eleanor has just returned after staying on her biological father’s couch after Richie kicked her out a year ago.
Park Sheridan has spent his entire life in Omaha. His family is not wealthy, and his parents come from quite different backgrounds, but his home is full of love. While his father is towering and masculine, Park looks more like his mother and is shorter than his younger brother.
Park considers himself a failure and is uninterested in taekwondo, which his father appreciates. Park, on the other hand, is into alternative music and comic books. Despite getting along with the popular people at school, he is self-conscious about his size and Asian origin.
Eleanor’s new schoolmates think she’s strange on her first day. They alter their seats on the school bus to get her screamed at by the driver. Park offers Eleanor a seat as she is about to cry. They take a few classes together, and Park notices Eleanor is one of the brightest kids in the class. They begin to bond.
Eleanor gets bullied at school on a regular basis. Girls cover her gym locker with sanitary pads, and someone writes terrible and inappropriate comments on her school books. Richie frequently screams at Eleanor’s mother and abuses her while drunk at home. Eleanor contacts the police after hearing gunshots one night, but they believe Richie’s falsehoods over her story.
Eleanor tries to keep her living circumstances hidden from Park, but she becomes angry when he takes some things for granted, such as a phone, batteries, or safety. She tries to turn down Park’s presents, believing she is worthless.
Since Richie won’t let Eleanor have a boyfriend and her mother and siblings’ allegiances have moved to Richie, the two spend more time together in secret. Park expresses his feelings for Eleanor, which makes her uneasy. Her first meeting with his parents, particularly his mother, is a disaster.
Park fights Steve, who was tormenting Eleanor and lands a taekwondo kick to the mouth. In exchange, Park’s nose gets broken. His mother has grounded him “forever,” believing Eleanor is a “strange white girl” who is causing Park problems. Park’s father, on the other hand, is proud of his son and recognizes Richie as an abusive drinker.
Park’s mother invites Eleanor to stay at their home after meeting Eleanor’s family. Eleanor accepts and lies about it to her family. Eleanor’s uncle offers to take her to Minnesota for the summer so she may join a brilliant teen program, but Richie declines.
Park’s mother asks the kids to go on a date one night. Eleanor goes home to find a battle between Richie and her mother, as well as her personal belongings ruined. She compares the handwriting of the highly twisted remarks in her school books to a cruel letter written by Richie.
Eleanor flees and ends up in Steve’s garage with him, Tina, Mikey, and another female, who turns out to be not as horrible as she had imagined. She travels to Park’s residence to figure out how to get to her uncle in St. Paul, Minnesota. Park is adamant about driving her.
When his father notices him slipping out of the house, he surprises Park by giving him money and telling him to take the truck. Eleanor is dropped off at her uncle’s house by Park. Eleanor’s aunt and uncle welcome her and intend to take her siblings with them.
Eleanor does not answer to Park’s letters. In reality, she never reads them. Park tries but fails to forget her. Eleanor’s siblings and mother soon leave Richie’s house, leaving Richie alone once more. Park routinely visits Eleanor’s former home, wishing for her. Park runs into Richie one day as he returns from one of his drinking binges.
Park has recurring fantasies of killing Richie because he “can” and “should,” but ends up simply stomping the ground in front of Richie’s face, who had fallen in the snow. Six months later, Park receives a postcard from Eleanor that contains three sentences.
Themes of Eleanor and Park
Escape
Eleanor is desperate to escape her normal life and Richie, even though she knows it will mean leaving Park behind. She achieves what she wants when Park offers to transport her to Minnesota, away from Richie and her house, but in exchange, Eleanor’s mother and siblings accompany her, leaving Park with only the memories the two have formed together.
Domestic violence
Eleanor and her stepfather, Richie, are central to the plot. Eleanor has noticed bruises on her mother’s face numerous times. Richie physically and emotionally assaults Eleanor’s mother, yet Rowell never shows Richie assaulting Eleanor’s mother, Sabrina. Throughout the narrative, Richie yells at and commands Sabrina, and Eleanor is so used to it that she can “sleep through the screaming.” Sabrina walks lightly around Richie so as not to aggravate him, making sure everything is in order so Richie does not hurt her or the kids. Later in the novel, rude letters made by Richie to Eleanor are revealed.
Child exploitation
Richie physically and verbally abuses the children, striking them when they do something wrong and calling them insults. The kids go without new clothes or shoes, instead wearing what Eleanor’s mother can find at Goodwill. The kids don’t have toothbrushes, toothpaste, shampoo, or conditioner to wash their hair with; all they have is dishwashing soap. They, too, do not have much to eat. The boys sleep on the floor, Eleanor on the top bunk, and Eleanor’s younger sister on the bottom bunk in a small bedroom with a bunk bed.
Bullying
Eleanor is subjected to bullying both at school and at home. Her classmate Tina and other students bully her at school because of her height, hair, and clothes. Eleanor’s father, as well as Richie, make comments about her size. Richie’s comments are far nastier.
Body perception
Eleanor is regularly bullied because of her weight. She dresses in huge sizes because her Goodwill finds are rarely in her size. Eleanor recalls her father dropping “hints about her weight” in one brief encounter. Richie makes disparaging remarks regarding Eleanor’s attractiveness. Eleanor does not dislike being fat, but she does dislike how much of an outsider she becomes because she is different from everyone else. Park adores Eleanor in every way, even her body type.
Characters in “Eleanor and Park”
Rainbow Rowell’s “Eleanor and Park” is a young adult novel that follows the narrative of Eleanor and Park, two high school classmates who fall in love in 1986.
Eleanor Douglas is a sixteen-year-old girl who has recently returned home after being kicked out by her abusive stepfather. She is overweight, has bright red curly hair, and dresses in outfits that set her out from her peers. She is also quite intelligent and has a sharp sense of humor.
Park Sheridan is a half-Korean, half-white boy who lives in Omaha, Nebraska, with his parents and younger brother. He enjoys comic books and listening to punk and new-wave music. He is quiet and introverted, and he frequently feels like an outcast in his own school.
Eleanor and Park are afraid of each other when they first meet on the school bus. They realize they have a profound connection as they begin to bond over their shared love of comic books and music. They grow attached as they spend hours together listening to music and reading comic books.
As their connection grows stronger, they both endure hardships that threaten to tear them apart. Eleanor’s abusive stepfather becomes more violent, and she strives to keep her personal life hidden from Park. Meanwhile, Park is under pressure from his pals to adhere to their conceptions of masculinity, and he fights to accept his own identity.
Rowell examines themes of first love, family dynamics, and the fight to fit in throughout the narrative. Eleanor and Park’s characters are multifaceted and multi-dimensional, and their connection is both beautiful and painful.