Full title  Eleanor & Park

Author  Rainbow Rowell

Type of work  Novel

Genre  Coming-of-age novel; romance novel; young adult novel

Language  English

Time and place written  2013, Omaha, Nebraska

Date of first publication  2013

Publisher  St. Martin’s Press

Narrator  The narration alternates frequently between Eleanor and Park. As the relationship between the protagonists gets closer and closer, the narration jumps back and forth between them more rapidly.

Point of view  The story is told in a third-person point of view, focusing on what Eleanor and Park do and think. When the story is told from Eleanor’s point of view, the narrative presents the events as though the reader is inside her head, and the same thing happens when the narrative switches to Park’s perspective. The book is very subjective, meaning that the reader gets the story presented through the moods, emotions, and thoughts of these two main characters as the narration switch back and forth between them.

Tone  The tone of the book is funny and romantic, yet also bittersweet. From the prologue, the reader knows that Eleanor and Park are destined to be apart, and even though the book presents their love story, there is always a cloud of doom.

Tense  The narrative occurs in the past tense. Almost the entire story is framed as a flashback, since in the prologue, Eleanor and Park are already geographically separated.

Setting (time)  The novel is set during the school year from fall 1986 to spring 1987.

Setting (place)  Almost the entire novel occurs in Omaha, Nebraska.

Protagonist  Eleanor and Park are equally the protagonists, since the novel is about their relationship and is told from both of their perspectives.

Major conflict  Even though Eleanor and Park are developing a blossoming romance, their home lives get more complicated, and Eleanor in particular feels increasingly threatened by her stepdad, Richie.

Rising action  Richie’s actions get worse and worse, and Eleanor doesn’t feel safe in her house.

Climax  The climax of the novel comes when Richie destroys Eleanor’s possessions, Eleanor finally confesses to Park how dangerous Richie is, and Park drives Eleanor to Minnesota so she can escape her situation and start a new life.

Falling action  Park and Eleanor know that they have had to sacrifice their own relationship so that Eleanor can survive, and when they separate, Eleanor can’t bear to keep up their communication, leaving both of them heartbroken, until the final sentence of the novel, which presents some hope.

Themes  Gender Expression and the Importance of Identity, Outsiders vs. Insiders

Motifs  Romeo and Juliet, Driving Stick Shift

Symbols  Walkman, Watchman

Foreshadowing  The novel’s prologue provides the book’s most crucial foreshadowing, since it tells the reader that Eleanor and Park will be separated, even though the reader does not yet know who these characters are. Eleanor and Park read Romeo and Juliet at the start of their own relationship, and the many parallels between these lovers and Eleanor and Park foreshadow that Eleanor and Park’s relationship is both intensely love-filled and doomed. Eleanor hides her prized possessions in an empty fruit box, but because there is no privacy in her home, the box is almost begging to be found by Richie.

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