There is more subversion of the Youth Lens in Eleanor and Park than I originally recalled. The characters are dynamic, partly, because they find themselves in very adult situations at an early stage, which is part of what made this novel enjoyable. Although Park may have refined taste in music and an attitude of staunch maturity at points, he definitely was not ready to be driving Eleanor across the country to save her life about 200 pages down the line. There is truly a sense of lost youth in the final chapters of the story.
Also, Eleanor is sort of forced out of that classic teen phase. However, she reinforces the youth lens at school. She is bullied, embarrassed by teachers, and generally insecure. These are running themes from Hunger Games to Degrassi, even though she has such a wildly different home life than most.
I definitely agree that they found themselves in very adult like situations which does shape how they perceive the world.
ReplyDeleteI like how you focused on the characters personalities rather than their environment.
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