History Literature / EleanorAndPark

%%* LoveMartyr: Sabrina is this to Richie.

** It's also implied that Sabrina and her first husband had Eleanor when they were in their senior year of high school.

** He also takes the kids to see ShortCircut at one point.

->"I just can’t believe that life would give us to each other," he said, "and then take it back."
->"I can," she said. "Life’s a bastard."

'''Eleanor & Park''' is a 2013 YoungAdult novel by Creator/RainbowRowell.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: The class discussion on RomeoAndJuliet, the most famous StarCrossedLovers in English history. Eleanor expresses disgust with the idea that Romeo feels true love for a girl he just met. This plays out when Park [[spoiler:to keep Eleanor safe drives her to her uncle's house.]]

-->"I just can’t believe that life would give us to each other," he said, "and then take it back."
-->"I can," she said. "Life’s a bastard."

* ParentalFavoritsm: Out of all the kids, Richie seems to hate Maisie the least, letting her watch television with him, and giving her a keyboard “Because she likes to sing.” [[spoiler:Until Eleanor realizes that he may be grooming her for sexual abuse.]]

* AbusiveParents: Eleanor's home life is far from ideal: her stepfather Richie is emotionally and verbally abusive to her and her siblings, while her biological father is uncaring and distant. Eleanor's mother ends up catering to Richie's every whim, and unwilling or unable to leave him. [[spoiler: Near the final act, it's heavily implied that Richie is a sexual predator with his eyes on Eleanor.]]

* BerserkButton: For Park, it's making Eleanor upset. When Steve makes fun of her, Park kicks his teeth in.

* BittersweetEnding: Eleanor [[spoiler: gets out of her terrible family situation thanks to Park and her uncle taking her in, but can't see Park because of the distance.]] But Eleanor is also able to get her mother to [[spoiler: leave Richie and take the kids with her.]]

* BrickJoke: It is stated at the very beginning of the book that Steve often breaks his fingers when punching people. A few dozen pages later, [[spoiler: he and Park fight; Parks knocks his teeth of with a kick and Steve punches in return. Hard. and breaks his fingers.]]

* TheCynic: Eleanor, and for good reason.

* TheEighties: Oh so very much. In a more realistic way than other works.
* EightiesHair: Tina has a massive hairdo.

* EveryOneCallsHimBarKeep: Mouse. His birth name is Jeremiah, but they've called him Mouse since he was a baby for reasons Eleanor can't remember.

* [[ForeShadowing Foreshadowing]]: The class discussion on RomeoAndJuliet, the most famous StarCrossedLovers in English history. Eleanor expresses disgust with the idea that Romeo feels true love for a girl he just met. This plays out when Park [[spoiler: to keep Eleanor safe drives her to her uncle's house.]]

* IronicEcho:
--> "What friend?"
--> "Tina."
--> "Oh."
* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: Eleanor considers [[spoiler: staying at home for the summer, to be with Park, but he drives her to her uncle's house to keep her safe from Richie.]]
* InTouchWithHisFeminineSide: Park, by his own admission. While he enjoys comics and does taekwondo and is seen playing basketball at one point, he says himself that he wasn't the traditionally masculine son his father wanted. [[spoiler: His father completely flips out when Park wears makeup to school]].
* KickTheSonOfABitch: Double-subverted. After helping Eleanor [[spoiler: escape Richie]], he comes across the latter drunk, and completely inebriated. Parker considers [[spoiler: killing him, but instead kicks dirt into his face.]] Richie completely deserved it.

* LoveMartyr: Sabrina is this to Richie.
* MassiveNumberedSiblings: Eleanor, at sixteen is the oldest of five children. After her there's: Ben, (who is eleven, but turns twelve shortly before Christmas.) Maisie, (nine, and the only other daughter.) Mouse/Jeremiah, (five, and the youngest of Eleanor's biological siblings.) and Little Richie. (two, and the son of Richie, making him her half brother.) She also has a stepbrother, Matt.

* NoEndorHolocaust: At the end of the book, Eleanor [[spoiler: while living with her aunt and uncle]] writes a letter to her mother [[spoiler: threatening to call the police if she doesn't leave with Eleanor's brothers and sister]]. When Parker comes across the house, he realizes that Richie [[spoiler: has been living alone.]]

** [[spoiler: On the night Eleanor runs away, Tina and Steve comfort her and take her in for a while. Tina also notably does ''not'' sell Eleanor out to Richie when asked about her whereabouts.]]

* PovertyFood: Eleanor and her family eat a lot of beans, grilled cheese sandwiches, frozen pizzas, generic brand cereal, and tuna fish. Eleanor is baffled about she's always hungry, but she's still fat.

* RedHerring: [[spoiler: It wasn't Tina or any of her cronies writing disgusting things on Eleanor's books -- it was actually Richie.]]

* TheRunaway: [[spoiler: Eleanor becomes this at the end, Park having spirited her away to live with her uncle in Minnesota on the night they discover Richie's intentions.]]
* SatelliteCharacter: Cal (and by extension Kim) only exist to interact with Park and remind the readers that he has a life besides Eleanor.

* ShoutOut: For their mixtapes, there's Music/TheSmiths, Music/JoyDivision, Music/TheCure, and Music/TheBeatles.

* TeenPregnancy: Discussed between Eleanor and Sabrina when the latter tells the former that the teenage daughter of a family friend has gotten pregnant by a black boy, and the family is in an uproar over it.

* ThoseTwoGirls:[= DeNice=] and Beebi, two black girls who befriend Eleanor after one of Tina's bullying incidents, are often around to bolster her confidence, eat lunch with her, and provide running commentary on happenings.
* UnderstandingBoyfriend: Park is this trope embodied. He's protective of Eleanor, helps her grow out of her insecurities, and shares her interests. He's this trope to the point of being willing to [[spoiler: ''drive her to Minnesota in the middle of the night'' so she can get away from Richie, even if it means their separation]].
* TheUnreveal: [[spoiler: Eleanor's postcard to Park at the end of the book is "Just three words long", but exactly what the three words are is never revealed.]]

* WickedStepmother: Richie is a RareMaleExample, who picks on his stepchildren, is often drunk, is abusive to Eleanor's mother Sabrina, and [[spoiler: is a sexual predator]]. None of his stepchildren actually like having him around.

* YouNoTakeCandle: Park's mother speaks like this, years after she came to America from Korea.

'''Eleanor & Park''' is a 2013 YoungAdult novel by Rainbow Rowell.

* TheEightes: Oh so very much. In a more realistic way than other works.

* BrickJoke: It is stated at the very beginning of the book that Steve often breaks his fingers when punching people. A few hundred pages later, [[spoiler: he and Park fight; Parks knocks his teeth of with a kick and Steve punches in return. Hard. and breaks his fingers.]]

** Park's comics are WatchMen, XMen, RomSpaceKnight, and SwampThing.
** Eleanor's books include WaterShipDown and TheCatcherInTheRye.
** Park also likes XTC and DeadKennedys.

* ShoutOut: for their mixtapes, there's TheSmiths, JoyDivision, TheCure, and TheBeatles.

* MassiveNumberedSiblings: Eleanor, at sixteen is the oldest of five children. After her there's: Ben, (who is eleven, but turns twelve shortly before Christmas.) Maisie, (nine, and the only other daughter.) Mouse/Jeremiah, (five, and the youngest of Eleanor's biological siblings.) and Little Richie. (two, and the son of Richie, making him her half brother.)

** Averted with Richie, who gets steak, bacon, and egg sandwiches, and when the family eats Christmas dinner.

* PovertyFood: Eleanor and her family eat a lot of beans, grilled cheese sandwiches, frozen pizzas, and tuna fish. Eleanor is baffled about she's always hungry, but she's still fat.

** Park's comics are WatchMen, XMen, and SwampThing.

* AbusiveParents: Eleanor's home life is far from ideal: her stepfather Richie is emotionally and physically abusive to her and her siblings, while her biological father is uncaring and distant. Eleanor's mother ends up catering to Richie's every whim, and unwilling or unable to leave him. [[spoiler: Near the final act, it's heavily implied that Richie is a sexual predator with his eyes on Eleanor.]]