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Chapter 8
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
Wednesday evening after taekwondo, Park sits in his room, planning on how he might congratulate Eleanor on doing so well on her poetry assignment in Mr. Stessman’s class. He thinks of endless combinations of words as he stares at a stack of new comic books on his desk—he is waiting until the bus ride in the morning to read them.
Park clearly wants to get closer to Eleanor—but his lingering shame and fear of upsetting his limited social clout threatens to stand in the way of their burgeoning friendship.
Themes
On the bus the next morning, Eleanor realizes that the “stupid Asian kid” knows she is reading his comics. He keeps looking up at her before turning the page, making sure she’s ready to move on. Eleanor knows the kid is not one of “the bus demons,” but can tell that he’s “in with them somehow” since they all leave Eleanor alone whenever she’s sitting near Park. When the bus pulls up to school, Eleanor is disappointed—she and the kid have only gotten through half the Watchmen comic book, and she is sure he’ll finish it without her during the school day.
Even as Eleanor notices that Park is making some kind of effort to be nice to her and let her in, she continues to refer to him in pejorative and racist terms in her head. Eleanor’s defense mechanisms function much like Park’s social anxiety—they keep her walls up and prevent her from letting people in.
Themes
Eleanor is shocked that afternoon when Park opens up the comic right where the two of them left off in the morning. She is even more shocked when he hands it to her as she stands up to get off at her stop. Eleanor stashes the comic book between her school book and reads it three times that night in secret, then puts it in her grapefruit box for safekeeping.
In spite of her defenses and fears, Eleanor is clearly happy and excited by Park’s gestures of kindness and goodwill towards her, muted as they are.
Themes
Meanwhile, Park is worried that Eleanor might not give his comic book back. The only thing that scares him more than the idea of her holding it hostage is the idea that she might give it back after all—and then he’ll have to figure out what to say to her.
By opening himself up to a friendship with Eleanor, Park is confronting his fears of upsetting the social status quo—and finding himself in uncharted waters.
Themes
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The next morning, when Eleanor gets to her seat on the bus, Park is looking out the window. She wordlessly hands him the comic book, and he takes it without saying anything either.
Eleanor and Park’s relationship—if it could be called that at this point—has reached a new status quo, and even though they’re not yet having conversations, the ease and intimacy between them is growing in spite of both their reservations.
Themes
