How Does This Book Help You Think About Social Issues You Care About or Causes You Are Committed to? - Eleanor and Park (Final)

Sydney Ellison 804

How Does This Book Help You Think About Social Issues You Care About or Causes You Are Committed to? - Eleanor and Park

All over the world tons of books are being written about abuse and poverty. Teens can't seem to get enough of these intense issues. "Eleanor and Park" by Rainbow Rowell satisfies these teens craving. The book focuses on the romantic relationship between Eleanor and Park. Eleanor has a very bad life at home; her mother is physically abused by her alcoholic husband Richie, and her family is always struggling with money. Park helps Eleanor deal with her feelings towards her family as he begins to fall in love with her. Reading this book made me care even more about the issues at hand, as well as make me realize how abuse and poverty are a serious problem in the real world.

Throughout the book, Eleanor's mother gets abused by Richie. That being the main reason for Eleanor's passionate hatred of her stepdad. Every night Eleanor hears her mother screaming, wailing, shouting, and crying. Richie and Eleanor's mom fights are intense and sickening. Richie curses at her mother, slaps her, and shows not an ounce of love for her. Eleanor even sees the bruises Richie makes on her mother: "Eleanor pretended not to notice the bruises on her mom's wrist" (Rowell 26). That shows that the violent mistreatment is so bad that it is becoming observable by others. Even Eleanor gets abused by Richie. He curses at her and says the most awful things to her and her mother: "FUCK THIS. FUCK ALL OF YOU. STUPID BITCHES." (Rowell 153). That shows that Richie has no filter and is comfortable with saying whatever he wants, even if it is consider verbal harassment.

Poverty is also a huge part of the book. The family is always struggling for money. Having enough food and buying necessities such as soap is a hard to maintain in Eleanor's household. Even on thanksgiving did the family have trouble purchasing all the food. Clothing is also something that the family has a hard time affording. Eleanor has to wear the cheapest clothes from thrift stores because she can't afford to buy nice clothes from regular stores. At school people make fun of her for it and sometimes it really gets to her, "And she was dressed like...like she wanted people to look at her. Or maybe like she didn't get what a mess she was" (Rowell 8). That shows that poverty is affecting her life at school, and that shouldn't be something Eleanor has to deal with on top of her problems with Richie. It seems as if the family never has enough money to do anything.

By reading this book I have come to care for the issues focused on in the book even more than I had before. The book focused on the two issues so heavily therefore I paid so much attention to them, thus learning how they really affect people. I learned a lot about how the characters felt about these issues and how people in the real world dealing with these issues probably feel. I also began to understand how the issues affected the characters daily lives. The problems didn't just affect the one person directly, but the person's friends, family, classmates, and neighborhood as well. Adding on, many people know of these issues and think “Oh poverty and abuse are so bad” but don't really understand the degree of how bad they are. Also I think many people think of abuse and poverty as “normal” because it has become such a big part of our society. But it shouldn't be “normal” and people need to understand how awful it is. By reading this I also grasped the fact that these issues are a severe problem in the world. They need to be dealt!

Some people are really suffering with poverty and need to be given money so they can buy food and water. People need to be able to pay for shelter and healthcare, as well as suitable clothing and necessities. Poverty shouldn't be as big of a problem as it is. People need to do something about it weather it's finical aid or giving people more job opportunities. Abuse also needs to be handled. People that are harassed need to speak up and get the help they need. The help could be getting the injustice to stop by having the person arrested. The help could also even be therapy to help the person deal the fact that they were mistreated.

Reading the fantastic book “Eleanor and Park” by Rainbow Rowell have really opened up my understanding of the issues. Things are more serious than what meets the eye and something has to be done about it.