English Final - Eleanor & Park

Question 1

summary

Answer 1

eleanor gets kicked out of her house and then comes back and starts school and meets Park. Slowly their friendship develops through comic books and mixtapes, and eventually they start to date. Eleanor’s step dad is abusive and she is very poor, but she is guarded and doesn’t let park know how bad it is. Eleanor also gets bullied at school. One day, after her and park go out, she comes home to find the box of her few possessions shattered, along with everything else inside it. Richie, her step dad, found out about her relationship with Park that she wasn’t supposed to be in, and she knows he will hurt her because of it. She decides to run away. Park says he’ll drive her to minnesota where her uncle lives, so that’s what he does.. It’s so hard for both of them to say goodbye bc Park can’t accept that they’ll probs never see each other again, and it’s hard for Eleanor to think about even though she’s basically accepted it. She never responds to his letters until almost a year later she sends him one postcard that just says “I love you” which is the first time she ever told him that.

Question 2

characters

Answer 2

eleanor, park, Richie, Park’s dad, park’s mom

Question 3

eleanor

Answer 3

odd, alienated, covering up, very poor, disillusioned bc of her pretty terrible life, likes being different, wants to be able to save herself, wants a better life in general, has abusive step father and a kind of bad mom, trying to be happy

Question 4

park

Answer 4

kind of odd & alienated, not disillusioned bc he has a great life - eleanor kind of makes him disillusioned, tries to preserve eleanor’s self-esteem, loves eleanor so much, in denial about the fact that she has to leave, kind of tries to assimilate into american culture bc he’s half korean, middle-class, has a good family dynamic, low key american dream, experiences a lot of familial pressure from his dad to be like him

Question 5

Richie

Answer 5

Eleanor’s abusive step father, very destructive, has no regard for other people, kicks her out

Question 6

Park’s mom

Answer 6

very concerned with image - only likes eleanor after she gets to give her a makeover, more accepting of park than his dad is

Question 7

park’s dad

Answer 7

very hard on park but very accepting of eleanor

Question 8

themes

Answer 8

destruction vs preservation
disillusionment
class struggle
new beginnings
communalizing pain/trauma
social/parental/friend pressure
emotional ownership - 'you are mine'; i have the most connection with you
assimilation
isolation/alienation
being saved/needing to be saved?
family dynamic
wanting what you can't have
going back to the past
denial
coming of age