Essay Questions

Why are Eleanor and Park drawn to each other?

Eleanor and Park are very attracted to each other because they each recognize that the other is a misfit. Eleanor is poor, dresses in a non-traditional way, and is made fun of for her larger body. Park is biracial and doesn’t necessarily identify with either of his parents’ heritages, which means that he feels out of place in the world. Since both of them lack a sense of belonging and feel that the world isn’t made for them, they are drawn to each other, because they recognize a shared experience and a sense of belonging based on that shared experience.

How does the 1970s setting add to the story?

The setting of the novel in the 1970s helps emphasize Eleanor and Park’s feelings of not belonging. The novel is set forty years before our time, when it was much less common for someone to be biracial, to have a unique sense of style, or to have a larger body. While people who fit into those categories still experience hardship today, it’s less so than it was in the 70s, so the time period emphasizes just how much Eleanor and Park don’t fit into their communities and how much they long for someone who understands them. The time period also adds to the significance of Eleanor’s family situation, because part of why her mother stays with her stepfather is because it was much less common in the 1970s for a woman to leave her husband than it is today. Because it was less of a norm, and there were fewer support systems in place for women who did leave their husbands, Eleanor’s family is stuck in their living situation, and the time period the book is set in adds to the difficulties they face.

How does Eleanor and Park illustrate the reality of a teenage relationship?

Eleanor and Park illustrates the nuances of a teenager relationship because it reflects the overwhelming rollercoaster of emotions involved in many teenage relationships: Eleanor and Park have feelings for each other very quickly, like many teenagers who fall hard and fast for their significant others after very little time. They are infatuated with each other, spend tons of time together, and are devastated at the thought of losing each other. For many teenagers, their romantic relationships feel like the most important things in their lives, and like it would be the end of the world to lose their significant others, and Eleanor and Park reflect that.