Eleanor is one of the main characters in this novel. She is obviously a protagonist as her name is on the cover of the book. She comes from a poor Danish family. Her mother is in an abusive relationship with Richie and cannot dig herself out of it. There is no door to the bathroom nor is there a curtain for the shower leaving no privacy. She uses hand soap and tic shampoo for her hair because she does not have any shampoo of some sort. Her mother puts vanilla from the kitchen on her for perfume, and she brushes her teeth with her fingers and salt. She is not fashionable and does not like makeup. Eleanor actually cried once because she had makeup on. She is a chubby girl with puffy red hair. She is very intelligent in the area of language. She is also independent, and her independent trait helps her a great amount when it comes to Richie and her family. she is also a humorous girl that enjoys the Beetles, comics, and music. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Park is also a protagonist in this novel. He was raised in a very well family with a Korean mother and Irish Father. He is very close with his mother but so much with his father. He did become closer to his father after the fight at school and being Eleanor. Park’s mother is a hairstylist. He is always there to assist her with anything she needed. Park also took taekwondo. He is a smart, sweet, and good looking guy. He enjoys listening to music and reading comics. Park is a very optimistic person because he always finds a way to make things better and looks at things positively. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Two other charters are park's mother and Richie. Park’s mother is a very important character to the story. She did not like Eleanor at first, but after knowing Eleanor, she really likes Eleanor. She gave Eleanor another chance after seeing that Eleanor came from a large family. She decided this because she came from a large family and knows that not everyone in a big family gets a good amount of anything. Afterwards, she would always love to and ask if she could give Eleanor a makeover. She is very attractive and educated about beauty. She enjoys makeovers and results of the makeover. Richie on the other hand, is an antagonist in this realistic fiction novel. He is Eleanor’s step-dad and Eleanor’s problem. He has been in the neighborhood since he was in high school. He call the neighborhood his like Ms. Strangeworth to the little village (The Possibility of Evil by Shirley Jackson). Richie is a trashy, mean, and belligerent. He is also a sadist towards Eleanor. Richie is a very pessimistic person because he is a very negative character.
Choice: Point of View
The point of view for the novel Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell is very interesting and really helps the plot and connections. The point of view is limited third person. Limited third person point of view is explaining the characters and how they feel, but it is not in the view of the character. Rainbow also decides to write this novel by switching from character to character. The first chapter was a limited point of view of Park. Then it changes to Eleanor. This helps with the plot because it expresses how each character feels and their thoughts. This also allows the reader(s) connect to the characters more easily. Because of the powerful connection between the reader and the characters, it attracts the reader even more. Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell’s choice of limited third person point of view and switching from character to character, really helps the plot and the reader(s) to connect to it more easily.
This is a good book, why?
Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell is a good book because of the strong imagery showing love and romance by Rainbow Rowell’s word choice to show the growth of their relationship, the first touch, and their first kiss. This is first seen from the beginning of the book where Eleanor and Park first meet. The very first time Park laid eyes on Eleanor, he hated her, but as time goes on Eleanor becomes the person that he could never let go. Rainbow Rowell illustrates this with many visual words and details for the readers to imagine how it was like and imagine them in action. Because of all the visual words, we can imagine them becoming closer in their romance. Moreover, Rainbow Rowell draws the picture of the first time Eleanor and Park held hands. “Then he slid the silk and his fingers into her palm” (Rowell 71). This scene kills the reader inside (not literally, it is just that good). Because of the events that lead to this, this scene is majorly big. It is a very big part of their romance because it was the beginning of their love for each other. This is also seen on one late night in the front yard of Park’s grandparent’s house where Park had something to show Eleanor. Park tells Eleanor that he has something to tell Eleanor so he pulls her to the side when he actually pulled her to the side because he wanted to kiss her. This romance scene was very dramatic and visual to the reader because of the word choice. Overall, Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell is a good book because of the imagery, showing the reader all the actions of their growth, the first time they touched, their first kiss.
This novel is a good novel to read because it shows the life of two very different families, yet the two high school students in the families fall for each other despite Eleanor’s imperfections, Park’s perfection, and they are still crazy for each other. To begin with, Eleanor grows up in the poor side of the neighborhood. Her house is a small and trashy house. She is not the perfect girl, yet she falls in love with Park who grew up in such a different environment. In contrast, Park’s family is perfect. His family is the odd one out of the neighborhood because his house was very big and perfect, yet Park cannot live without Eleanor who lives the opposite life. What is more is their relationship they have with each other despite their differences. They are strong with their feeling for one another making this novel a great book to read. In concussion, Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell is a great novel to read because no matter the differences of Eleanor’s imperfections and Park’s perfection, their love for one another hold tightly together.
Because of the view change from Park, Eleanor, and limited third person, this book is a great book to grab off the shelf. Starting off, the book begins in Park’s view to show his school status and his first thoughts of Eleanor. “Nobody would look at her. Park tried not to, but it was kind of a train wreck/eclipse situation” (Rowell 7). “Not just new-but big and awkward. With crazy read hair, bright red on top of curly” (Rowell 8). Because this novel portrays how Park feels in his situation, it makes this novel a great read. Furthermore, the view changes from Park to Eleanor. This illustrates her personality and who she is to the reader; the view change builds a connection from reader to character. Because this builds up a good connection from the reader to Eleanor, this novel is great to read. In addition, this novel is in limited third person. This informs the reader of how Eleanor and Park feel for each other. This also allows the reader to connect from the previous chapters and draw the picture of both characters together, thus this is a great option from the shelf. As a result, this is a great novel to pull out of the shelf to read because of the view change from Park, Eleanor, and third person point of view.
Another great reason to read this book is the strong connections the reader will have with Park, Eleanor, and their love for each other. The first connection the reader has is with is Park. Park is the first character to connect to because right in the beginning, it started with Park. Park is a quiet and smart kid who loves to listen to music, yet he is somewhat with the popular kids and jerks. Because of the easy connection the reader will have with Park no matter whom the reader is, this is a great novel to read. Eventually the reader will also connect strongly with Eleanor. Rainbow Rowell did a good job of creating Eleanor to be this perfect yet not perfect girl for everyone (mostly girls) to connect with her. This is a fantastic read because of the strong connection with Eleanor. Immediately, the reader will connect with the relation Eleanor and Park has. Reading the growth of their feelings for one another is like watching a flower grow and bloom. The flower starts from the ground, and it grows up and out to become a beautiful image. Watching Eleanor and Park grow like a flower, will strongly connect the reader to their relationship. In other words, because of the powerful connections with Park, Eleanor, and their relationship, the reader will fall in love with this book.