Eleanor and Park

by

Rainbow Rowell

Eleanor and Park: Chapter 56 Summary & Analysis

Summary
Analysis
Eleanor never opens any of Park’s letters. Countless times she gets out a pen and piece of paper and starts writing to him, but “Everything she [feels] for him [is] too hot to touch.”
It hurts Eleanor too much to put her feelings of sadness and longing into words, so instead, she keeps them pent up.
Themes
Adolescence and Shame Theme Icon
Love and Intimacy Theme Icon
Back in Omaha, Park begins wearing his eyeliner in thick black smudges and listening to loud, angry punk music at full volume to drown out his feelings. He gets a job at a record store and pines for Eleanor every day. He stops sending her letters—but continues writing to her and keeping the unsent missives in a box under his bed.
Park can’t let Eleanor go, and wants to drown out everything else but his memories of her so that he doesn’t lose the feelings he has for her. It’s better, in Park’s mind, to be miserable about Eleanor than to forget the intensity of their love.
Themes
Adolescence and Shame Theme Icon
Love and Intimacy Theme Icon