Significant Family Differences in the Book Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell

(note: I haven't finished the book)

         The book Eleanor and Park, by Rainbow Rowell, the two main characters are Eleanor and

Park, hence the title. They meet on a schoolbus on the first day, and Eleanor is a new student, so she gets embarrassed by other students. So Park, being the nice boy he is, lets Eleanor sit with him to end her humiliation. For a while, they don't talk to each other and just sit there. But then they start reading comic books together, talking, and things start to evolve until they are together in a relationship. Once they're a couple, Eleanor starts going over to Park's house a lot, but it gets complicated because Park is never allowed at Eleanor's house, because of her difficult family situation. Although Eleanor and Park have a great relationship together, they do, however, have very different family situations.

    Eleanor's family lifestyle and Park's family lifestyle are very different from one another.

For example, "Eleanor had assumed that Richie threw all her stuff in the trash a year ago, ten

seconds after he'd kicked her out...Her mom reached out and touched Eleanor's shoulder, justfor a second.'The little kids will be home in twenty minutes or so,' she said, 'and we'll eat dinner around four thirty. I like to have everything settled before Richie comes home.'" The "little kids" are Eleanor's four younger siblings, and Richie is her harsh stepfather. This makes it very hard for Eleanor to get the attention she deserves, especially because of how unfairly Richie treats Eleanor versus the little kids. The worst part is that Eleanor's mom is too afraid to stick up for any of her children, because Richie already hurts her and she doesn't want to make it worse for all or any of her kids, but that's still unfortunate for Eleanor. Meanwhile, Park's family is pretty close to perfect. For example, "'Mindy?' That's how Park's dad came home every night, like the dad in a sitcom. (Lucy?) And his mom would call out from wherever she was, In here!...His dad barreled into the kitchen and scooped his mom into his arms. They did this every night, too. Full-on make-out sessions, no matter who was around." This shows how sweet Park's parents are to each other, and how severely different they are from Eleanor's. Another example about Eleanor's family is that they are pretty poor, "Their mom carried the duffel bag with Eleanor's stuff into a bedroom off the living room, and Eleanor followed her. The room was tiny, just big enough for a dresser and some bunk beds. Mouse ran into the room after them. 'You get the top bunk,' he said, 'and Ben has to sleep on the floor with me. Mom already told us, and Ben started to cry.'" This proves, even with this one small scene, that Eleanor's family is scraping all of what they can get at this point. They have small children sleeping on the floor every night, including an infant. Later, Eleanor mentions how she doesn't even have room in the dresser to fit her own clothes. But at Park's house, he probably has an entire dresser all to himself, because his family is in much better shape than Eleanor's, financially. Park has a large house, and he and his brother, Josh, each have their own room. Park's grandparents also live right next door to him, which is both fun because he and his family can spend lots of time with them, but also important in case an emergency were to occur and Park's parents weren't home.

    Overall, I feel that Eleanor and Park definitely walk into very different scenarios when they walk through their front door after school. It's not like Park is trying to have a better home life than Eleanor, which he's not because he loves her, but it just worked out that he does and Eleanor really suffers at her house. It must be extraordinarily hard for Eleanor, considering that their stepfather hurts her and her mom, gets drunk all the time, has the money but doesn't pay for enough stuff, and at least the little kids no nothing better than what they have at the moment, whereas Eleanor has seen at Park's and has lived when she was younger, a better home situation. I understand that there isn't much Eleanor's mother can do, considering that if she were to try to stand up to Richie she'd probably receive harsher punishment than ever before, and she could lose all of the current money and belongings she has because of him. I wish that Eleanor could live with Park, because that way she'd be with someone she loves and be living in a safe, large home. But there are many flaws in that plan, such as the fact that Park's parents probably don't want a third child to take care of, and it would be a little weird because Eleanor and Park like each other. I am not done with the book yet, so there is still hope of a happy ending, which I would love to be able to read.