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There was only one source of beauty and light for me that school year. The only thing I had anticipated at the start of the semester. That was seeing Eugene. In August, Eugene and his family had moved into the only house on the block that had a yard and trees.

The first mention of Eugene occurs at the beginning of the story, showing the importance Elena places on him. In the grim, grey world of Paterson, Eugene represents both beauty and light for Elena, a striking description that captures how different he is from her other peers at school. Eugene is attractive to Elena both physically and as someone who shares her interest in books and love of learning. In addition, because he lives in the house she has always watched as an object of fantasy, he represents an intriguing and desirable life beyond the noisy chaos of El Building. Eugene is not only Elena’s crush but a symbol of a world she longs to belong to. 

The kids at school called him “the hick” and made fun of the way he talked. I knew I was his only friend so far, and I liked that, though I felt sad for him sometimes. “Skinny Bones” and the “Hick” was what they called us at school when we were seen together.

In the middle of the story, Elena describes Eugene as an outsider at school like Elena. Although Eugene is accepted by the school system in ways Elena is not, as shown by his taking honors classes that she cannot, Eugene is unpopular with other students. Like Elena, he has no friends and is made fun of for being different. Other students call him “the hick,” meaning an unsophisticated person from the country, a reference to his previous life in Georgia, which the city kids of Paterson regard as a backward place. Elena likes that Eugene shares her outsider status because it makes him more like her. Even though Elena and Eugene are different from each other, they are both considered outsiders in Paterson.

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