Park comes from a well-adjusted home, with happily married parents and a cheerfully decorated house, while Eleanor's family is broken and dysfunctional, and her run-down house doesn't even have a bathroom door. We know Eleanor doesn't feel at home in her family's house—in fact, she doesn't really have a place she even feels safe there. Eleanor & Park looks at two completely contrasting ideas of home, and by showing us such different houses, we get to think about what a home really means.
Questions About The Home
- Does Eleanor ever really feel "at home" anywhere throughout the book? Why or why not?
- How does Park feel about his own house?
- What kind of differences does Eleanor see between her family's house and Park's house?
Chew on This
Eleanor shows us that home can be a state of mind—when she's with Park, she feels more at home than anywhere else.
Mindy may have decorated Park's house to look nice, but the real reason their house is comfortable is that she and Jamie have a loving relationship.