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Chapter 53
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Eleanor and Park, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Adolescence and Shame
Love and Intimacy
Poverty and Class
Family and Abuse
Summary
Analysis
In no time at all, Park and Eleanor arrive in St. Paul. Driving in the city is difficult, and Eleanor helps Park navigate. As they discuss what it will be like to arrive at Eleanor’s uncle’s house, Eleanor tells Park that she doesn’t want him to come into the house with her—or wait for her outside. She will, she says, be their problem soon enough. Park privately thinks that he’s not ready for Eleanor to not be his “problem” any longer.
Eleanor sees herself as a burden to Park, and hopes that in asking him to pull away as soon as he’s dropped her off, she can lessen the pain of their goodbye. Park, though, is happy to be burdened by Eleanor—he loves her, and would do anything for her.
Themes
As Eleanor and Park continue driving, the houses start looking more and more familiar to Eleanor. She starts to get nervous that her uncle will turn her away, but keeps reminding herself that he is the one who invited her to come for the summer. When Eleanor tells Park they’ve arrived—she recognizes her uncle’s Volvo in the driveway—he tells her he wants to circle the block one last time, for just a little more time with her.
Eleanor and Park thought just hours ago that they had all the time in the world—that their relationship would go on and on. Now, though, as they realize that they have precious few moments left together, at least for a long while, the weight of what’s happening really starts to hit them.
Themes
Back at Eleanor’s uncle’s house, Park urges her to call him as soon as she can, and to give him her uncle’s number then so that he can call her too. He promises he’ll write Eleanor letters, and asks her to write them back. Eleanor says she’s worried that her uncle will send her back to Richie’s—Park tells her that if that happens, she should come to his house, where his parents will help her figure out what to do.
Park keeps asking Eleanor to keep in touch in all these different ways, but Eleanor is unable to promise him that she’ll follow through. Just as Eleanor has always had a hard time saying “I love you” to Park, she perhaps feels that the vulnerability and weight of such a promise is too much to bear.
Themes
Eleanor wishes she could thank Park for “saving her life”—not just now, by bringing her to Minnesota, but “practically every day” since they first met. She thinks that she will “always” belong to Park.
Eleanor is brimming with emotion but is too afraid to tell Park out loud the truth about how she feels and the magnitude of what he’s done for her.
Themes
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Eleanor confesses aloud that she doesn’t know how to say goodbye to Park—he tells her she doesn’t have to say goodbye, because they’ll see each other again. Park tells Eleanor that she’s the bravest person he knows. She begins crying and asks him to kiss her.
Park remains optimistic even in their final moments together, but Eleanor is falling apart.
Themes
Eleanor finally wrenches herself away from Park and out of the car, unable to bear the “gasping loss of him.” Park tells Eleanor he loves her, and begs her to call him later that evening. Eleanor tries to lighten the mood by joking that it would be totally “anticlimactic” if her aunt and uncle weren’t even home before heading up the stoop to the door. She looks back at Park one last time—he mouths “I love you” once more.
Eleanor and Park’s goodbye is painful and miserable for both of them—but Eleanor tries to detach herself at the last moment by making jokes and refusing to verbalize the true depths of her feelings. She is well-practiced in keeping her own pain at bay, and uses these skills now as she faces one of the most difficult moments of her life.
Themes
