Eleanors stepfather, Richie, finds out about Park. Richie is a complete madman. He practically drives all around Omaha trying to kill Eleanor, the suspense at this part of the book keeps you reading. The only option left is for Eleanor to leave town to stay with her Uncle in Minnesota. As Park drives Eleanor to Minnesota I couldn't help but think "so this is it for them?" which it turns out it is. Life is not always a happy ending and this story makes that very apparent. The book as a whole is very true to real life, romantic loves stories like The Notebook aren't realistic, or at least rare, but the story of Eleanor and Park is something that could be seen all around us.
http://www.goodtherapy.org/blog/stepchildren-family-parents-abuse-0409132
http://www.shmoop.com/eleanor-and-park/richie.html
http://www.breakpoint.org/features-columns/youth-reads/entry/40/21805
At the very end Eleanor sends a post card that says three words, maybe those words are "I love you" and maybe they pick up where they left off and it didn't come to an end. At least I hope. I hate open endings.
ReplyDeleteI wish the ending wasn't an open ending either, I just want to find out what happens after Park reads the letter.
ReplyDeleteI was also a little disappointed at the end. I couldn't believe that that was how it was going to end, with him just dropping her off in Minnesota. However, I think this is probably a realistic ending, and suits the story well.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I am not too crazy about the ending to this book, I agree that the idea of a story like this happening in real life is a lot more probably than something that would happen like in The Notebook.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed that it was realistic too. That's the charm of the novel.
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