Zoha Rashid
Mr. Marshall
Humanities
9/17/14
Eleanor and Park
Eleanor is a short, chubby girl with fire red hair in the book Eleanor and Park written by Rainbow Rowell. Eleanor stands out the most throughout the entire story. She has an extremely difficult life that, for the most part she has to get through herself. It feels very relatable for many audiences to see someone who has such a hard time not only at school but lives in such a negative environment and still somehow stands her ground and finds a way to save herself. With the help of her strong, caring, yet troubled personality, Eleanor finds a way to finally be happy and live the life she really deserves.
Richie is Eleanor’s stepfather, if you could even call him that. Well, parents are supposed to care and show love for their children but Richie has never been affectionate towards her. “Richie is the head of this household,' her mum said. 'Richie is the one who puts food on our table.' What food? Eleanor wanted to ask. And, for that matter, what table?” (Rowell, 87) Sure, Eleanor wasn’t really Richie’s kid, but she deserved some love right? Richie hated Eleanor’s guts the most out of all her siblings. She was the oldest, she was in high school, which meant she was the smartest and least afraid to stand up for her mother as well as for herself. At least the feeling was mutual. Eleanor had no intention of getting on Richie’s good side, and having any ‘stepfather daughter’ bonding time was the last thing she needed in her life. He never held back that’s for sure, he’d called Eleanor every harsh, degrading name in the book and never once considered what kind of damage it could be causing her. Being the oldest out of the whole bunch, Eleanor tried everything she could to protect her little siblings, because they too hated Richie, including his own son.
After all the pain she’s been through, Eleanor still wants to keep herself happy, she’s so strong. “For the rest of the day, whenever Eleanor got nervous or scared, she told herself to be happy instead (it didn't really make her feel better, but it kept her from feeling worse).” She doesn’t want to let them win and bring herself down which is hard. She has to ignore everything everyone says, and they do say very harsh things, but somehow she has enough strength to keep herself alive and not let negative people have a huge impact on her. While getting harassed and at school, Eleanor never lets herself slip. Throughout the entire story Eleanor never hurts herself, she never considers suicide and never tried to tell herself she didn’t deserve happiness. Well, let me rephrase that. Eleanor always wished the best for herself, except when it came to Park.
Park is in love with Eleanor, Eleanor is obviously in love with Park. So what’s the problem? Everyone else is the problem. Park’s friends hate Eleanor and to be quite honest, there wasn’t much for Eleanor to like about them either. However, Eleanor understood that Park wanted to please his friends and she wasn’t exactly what they would want. She constantly tries to explain to Park that she isn’t good enough for him and he absolutely shouldn’t want to be seen with someone who looks like her. Park probably doesn’t realize it but the only reason Eleanor acts and thinks like this is because she cares about Park and would never want to embarrass him. Eleanor hates being herself, she hates everything she sees in the mirror, her stomach and breasts are too big, her cheeks too round, too many freckles scattered across her body, her legs too short and chubby, her fingers definitely too fat, but what was most embarrassing for Eleanor? Her mother. Not in bad way of course, her mother was probably the most beautiful woman you would ever see in your whole life. But it was embarrassing for Eleanor, her mom was prettier than her and she hated it. She often wondered why she couldn’t have been blessed with her mother’s genes so that she could also be as breathtaking as her mom. All Eleanor knew was that she would never understand why Park would want to be seen with her in public. She didn’t want to embarrass Park, and to be honest, sometimes she herself was embarrassed because she didn’t want Park to have to be seen with her. She didn’t want to know all the things people thought and whispered to each other when they saw Eleanor and Park walking down the hall side by side.
By the end of the story, Eleanor had finally accepted the fact that she deserved Park and happiness in her life. She made her way out of the awful family she was living with and moved away with her relatives, tragically though, she left Park behind. But she came back, she came back when she felt like it, she came back in Park’s dreams and thoughts and he smiled. He smiled because he knew she was finally happy. “He’d stopped trying to bring her back. She only came back when she felt like it, in dreams and lies and broken-down deja vu.” (Rowell, 2) This book really made me realize something, and that was to never ever judge a book by it’s cover. Now I know that sounds very cliche and most probably, you’ve heard it over and over again. But this is different, because by the end of the book, it didn’t matter that Eleanor probably only took a bath once a week, or that her bra was held together by a safety pin, or the fact that she probably never really brushed her hair. All that mattered was that she was finally happy and was where she needed to be. Through heartbreak, love, hate and tears, Eleanor finally let herself believe that true love, happiness, and the perfect life did exist.
Mr. Marshall
Humanities
9/17/14
Eleanor and Park
Eleanor is a short, chubby girl with fire red hair in the book Eleanor and Park written by Rainbow Rowell. Eleanor stands out the most throughout the entire story. She has an extremely difficult life that, for the most part she has to get through herself. It feels very relatable for many audiences to see someone who has such a hard time not only at school but lives in such a negative environment and still somehow stands her ground and finds a way to save herself. With the help of her strong, caring, yet troubled personality, Eleanor finds a way to finally be happy and live the life she really deserves.
Richie is Eleanor’s stepfather, if you could even call him that. Well, parents are supposed to care and show love for their children but Richie has never been affectionate towards her. “Richie is the head of this household,' her mum said. 'Richie is the one who puts food on our table.' What food? Eleanor wanted to ask. And, for that matter, what table?” (Rowell, 87) Sure, Eleanor wasn’t really Richie’s kid, but she deserved some love right? Richie hated Eleanor’s guts the most out of all her siblings. She was the oldest, she was in high school, which meant she was the smartest and least afraid to stand up for her mother as well as for herself. At least the feeling was mutual. Eleanor had no intention of getting on Richie’s good side, and having any ‘stepfather daughter’ bonding time was the last thing she needed in her life. He never held back that’s for sure, he’d called Eleanor every harsh, degrading name in the book and never once considered what kind of damage it could be causing her. Being the oldest out of the whole bunch, Eleanor tried everything she could to protect her little siblings, because they too hated Richie, including his own son.
After all the pain she’s been through, Eleanor still wants to keep herself happy, she’s so strong. “For the rest of the day, whenever Eleanor got nervous or scared, she told herself to be happy instead (it didn't really make her feel better, but it kept her from feeling worse).” She doesn’t want to let them win and bring herself down which is hard. She has to ignore everything everyone says, and they do say very harsh things, but somehow she has enough strength to keep herself alive and not let negative people have a huge impact on her. While getting harassed and at school, Eleanor never lets herself slip. Throughout the entire story Eleanor never hurts herself, she never considers suicide and never tried to tell herself she didn’t deserve happiness. Well, let me rephrase that. Eleanor always wished the best for herself, except when it came to Park.
Park is in love with Eleanor, Eleanor is obviously in love with Park. So what’s the problem? Everyone else is the problem. Park’s friends hate Eleanor and to be quite honest, there wasn’t much for Eleanor to like about them either. However, Eleanor understood that Park wanted to please his friends and she wasn’t exactly what they would want. She constantly tries to explain to Park that she isn’t good enough for him and he absolutely shouldn’t want to be seen with someone who looks like her. Park probably doesn’t realize it but the only reason Eleanor acts and thinks like this is because she cares about Park and would never want to embarrass him. Eleanor hates being herself, she hates everything she sees in the mirror, her stomach and breasts are too big, her cheeks too round, too many freckles scattered across her body, her legs too short and chubby, her fingers definitely too fat, but what was most embarrassing for Eleanor? Her mother. Not in bad way of course, her mother was probably the most beautiful woman you would ever see in your whole life. But it was embarrassing for Eleanor, her mom was prettier than her and she hated it. She often wondered why she couldn’t have been blessed with her mother’s genes so that she could also be as breathtaking as her mom. All Eleanor knew was that she would never understand why Park would want to be seen with her in public. She didn’t want to embarrass Park, and to be honest, sometimes she herself was embarrassed because she didn’t want Park to have to be seen with her. She didn’t want to know all the things people thought and whispered to each other when they saw Eleanor and Park walking down the hall side by side.
By the end of the story, Eleanor had finally accepted the fact that she deserved Park and happiness in her life. She made her way out of the awful family she was living with and moved away with her relatives, tragically though, she left Park behind. But she came back, she came back when she felt like it, she came back in Park’s dreams and thoughts and he smiled. He smiled because he knew she was finally happy. “He’d stopped trying to bring her back. She only came back when she felt like it, in dreams and lies and broken-down deja vu.” (Rowell, 2) This book really made me realize something, and that was to never ever judge a book by it’s cover. Now I know that sounds very cliche and most probably, you’ve heard it over and over again. But this is different, because by the end of the book, it didn’t matter that Eleanor probably only took a bath once a week, or that her bra was held together by a safety pin, or the fact that she probably never really brushed her hair. All that mattered was that she was finally happy and was where she needed to be. Through heartbreak, love, hate and tears, Eleanor finally let herself believe that true love, happiness, and the perfect life did exist.