Summer Reading Assignment 2

So far in the book Eleanor & Park the characters are starting to develop and I'm starting to realize who they are as people. Eleanor just wants to be normal, in a normal home with normal parents and no bullying.  Now that she has gotten to know Park, she thinks that all she wants is him. Eleanor believes she cannot live without Park, and without him, she wouldn't be able to endure all that she goes through. Park also thinks he cannot live without Eleanor, she makes him into a better person. When she gets bullied-he defends her. In the book, there was one time when Eleanor got bullied on the bus and as soon as all the kids got off the bus Park got into a fight with the kid who was bullying her and got suspended for a few days. The fight happened even though Eleanor told Park not to start anything and that she "didn't care." Even though Eleanor "didn't care", Park still felt obligated to protect her. They "need" each other. So far I have encountered a couple themes. The first, sometimes keeping secrets from your loved ones might be the only possibility. Eleanor has to keep Park a secret from her family otherwise she could get kicked out, or even worse, never see Park ever again. Park desperately wants to meet her family but she won't let him and he is struggling to figure out why. The next theme I've noticed, two people who love each other might not always get along. This theme has held true throughout the book because I have noticed that Eleanor and Park are constantly fighting. So far they have gotten over all of their fights and they still love each other through thick and thin. The author has set this book up in a way that is easy for the reader. The chapters rotate between the point of view of Park and Eleanor so that we as the audience can see both of their points of view of just about everything. I find this useful so that we aren't biased toward one of them-we can choose for ourselves who to believe in their arguments.