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Essay / A review of the novel 19 Minutes by J. Picoult
In the novel 19 Minutes by Jodi Picoult, she takes her readers on a roller coaster of emotions and gives psychological insight to all her characters. Ms. Picoult uses several flashbacks from the past and present while switching between different characters. This provides wonderful details into the inner minds of all the characters and reveals their personalities. However, it's a little difficult to follow at first. This novel addresses many social issues, including suicide, bullying, social barriers between children and adults, and many other aspects of adolescent life. His use of plot and dialogue slowly reveals and develops the theme, moral, and overall tone of the novel. The only aspect I didn't like was the way the book ended. She left a lot of details unresolved and that upset me. Taking the whole book into account, it would receive a rating of eight out of ten. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay Over the course of 19 minutes, readers will discover what caused Peter to go on a school shooting and examine what others could have done to stop the problem. . “Why” by Rascal Flatts relates very well to this book. “Why” was written about a boy who committed suicide and people wondered why, even though he always seemed happy. Peter was always dumped and bullied from his first days in kindergarten and he thought "It must have been in a place so dark you couldn't feel the light". His life was hell, he was tortured at school and no one helped him and the school administrators did nothing. He would then return to a home where he would have to live up to the expectations set by his older brother. He couldn't cope and felt useless and worthless. Peter seems to have thought that the only way to stop this was to kill them. However, he didn't really want them dead. It wasn’t “the way you wanted to draw a crowd.” After all his suffering, he wanted to leave and it reached the breaking point. He lashed out and resorted to violence to end his problems. In the end, he did not achieve his ultimate goal, ending his life. Bullying is a major theme and focal point of this book. IT drives the plot and shows how much it can hurt a person inside and out. This theme also focuses on adults not doing their part to stop bullying or other hazing. “Fitting in” is another important theme. Josie abandons Peter when she becomes a beautiful young woman and leaves for the popular crowd. It's not that she didn't like Peter, she didn't want to be bullied like Peter and was willing to lose him to save herself. “Safety” is an important idea as well as a common thought. No one imagines that their child could be shot one day. A small town in Sterling, New Hampshire or even Huntley, Illinois seem like perfectly safe places until something horrible happens. The idea of “security” is called into question in 19 Minutes and shows that we may never be completely safe. “Communication” is an important part of every person’s life. The relationships between Alex and Josie and Peter and Lacy show how communication can save a life or take one. Parental involvement in a child's life is essential to their health and safety, as well as that of others, in Peter's case. Finally, “Innocent until proven guilty” is an expression.