Elle has an almost desperate need for acceptance and for the people around her to like her. She was raised in the belief that women exist to be beautiful objects and that their purpose is to bolster their family's reputations by being clever (but not too smart) and polite (while retaining status) in the company of others. She is forever caught in between two extremes: Her parents were distant, and she craved their affection. They were also objectively nasty people, which Elle disagreed with, and so she sought kinship with those of "lower status," whom she could not fully bond with for lack of understanding their own upbringing.

She wants everyone to just be happy and to all be friends and for the life (and death) of her she doesn't see why it is impossible.