For the second quarter, I decided to read Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell. The young adult fiction and romance novel consists of two very different people falling in love with each other, despite the unpopular opinions of others including their families. The book repeatedly switches off by being told from Eleanor’s perspective followed by Park’s, which is something I enjoyed because I felt that I was able to thoroughly comprehend their thoughts and emotions between one another to establish a better connection.
Eleanor is my favorite character because she is unique in her own ways and does not let others affect her. Moving to a different city, Eleanor is in a new environment where she lives with her mom, siblings, and alcoholic stepdad. Since she is new at her school, she does not have many friends and immediately gets bullied by one of the popular girls named Tina who constantly teases her for several factors including her hair, body, and clothes. Eleanor stands out since she has bright red hair, a curvy body, and dresses in an unusual manner. Nevertheless, she meets a boy named Park who ends up falling for her and appreciates her for who she is. Through Park, Eleanor is able to gain confidence and be herself regardless of the numerous comments she would receive both at school and home. Throughout the novel, I was able to see her character development from her emotions since she was able to step out of her comfort zone in several ways. Overall, I respect Eleanor’s character for dealing with everything that she did as she was finally able to find happiness and remove herself from the terror she was used to until the end of the novel when a plot twist occurs. However, she continues to respect herself and carries a positive attitude even at times that seem impossible, for she does not change who she is simply to please others and is altogether my favorite character for doing so.
I read this book previously in the year and this is one of my favorite novels and I also enjoyed how we got such an in-depth perspective of both sides in order to truly be able to understand how both of the antagonists felt. Personally, Park was my favorite character because he knew how he would appear to his peers and his family if he was with Eleanor but he ignored and was proud to have her. I agree that there was immense character development because you can see Park, becoming less caring about others and how he stands up for her constantly through out the novel. Eleanor also displayed character development in the sense that she becomes more confident in herself.
ReplyDeleteI am currently reading this and like Ellen I too favor Park over Eleanor. Park has much more to lose . Even if high school status means nothing to some, it is clear that it is in the back of Parks mind. Park still continues to show compassion in the dark coldness that is high school.
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