nineteen

=Tragedy and Justice =  Lilli Pearson

 **// Nineteen Minutes //**    Jodi Picoult.  455 pages. Washington Square Press/Simon and Schuster. $15.00     To the residents of Sterling, New Hampshire, Peter Houghto n seems like any other high school student. His community is unprepared for the day he brings guns to school and kills ten people. Community members struggle to cope with feelings of anger and loss in the aftermath of the attack. Much of the town shuns Peter’s parents because their son is a murderer, but they may have judged too soon. Peter’s court case unfolds alongside the story of his childhood and it seems the students Peter attacked may not be the only victims.  Jodi Picoult sets out to question our tendency to blame in her fictional novel //Nineteen Minutes//. Picoult has frequently explored morality and family discord in her fifteen works. This novel is similar to //The Pact// and //My Sister’s Keeper//, in that it explores ethics and criminal justice. However, //Nineteen Minutes// is not repetitive or unimaginative. Picoult brings in new characters and questions while writing in a style she has clearly mastered. This is a carefully created book powered by the author’s remarkable insight into human emotions. <span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"> //<span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="line-height: 200%; font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Nineteen Minutes  // <span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"> opens on the day of the shooting. Police detective Patrick Ducharme reports to Sterling High and observes the disaster firsthand after he receives a call on his dispatch radio. Other characters have their say as Picoult rapidly introduces new points of view, changing the storyteller every few pages. Narrators include Lacy, Peter’s mother; Peter’s attorney McAfee; Josie; and Peter himself. These other characters complicate matters; Josie is both the star witness for the prosecution and Peter’s one-time friend, before Josie became popular in middle school and “walked out of his life.” This rejection is one of a long string for Peter, who was called “fag” and “homo” daily, who was so bad at soccer that his coach wouldn’t let him come off the benc h.   <span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"> <span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Multiple narrators tell Peter’s story effectively without extraneous descriptions. Each character shares his personal memories and point of view with the reader and not with other characters. No one person knows everything that has happened, so the tone of the book varies. Patrick’s anger and disgust at the shooting contrasts with Lacy’s agony as she tries to accept the image of her son as a cruel killer. From cynical McAfee to insecure Josie, Picoult illustrates the quirks of humankind. Her style has its flaws; the narrators switch rapidly at times, and critics may find her tendency to give each short section a dramatic finish tiring. Lines like “a gun was nothing, really, without a person behind it” can get old after too many permutations. However, Picoult’s perceptiveness is more often striking than overdone. Her varying characters keep the reader mulling over the book’s themes. <span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"> <span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; text-align: left; display: block"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"> <span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Lacy words it well when she asks, “Why is it so easy for people to point a finger at someone else?” The friends and parents of the victims direct all their anger at Peter and his parents. However, //Nineteen Minutes// does not give Peter’s family sole responsibility for the violence. There are other contributing factors, including Peter’s peers and contemporary culture. Peter was abused by other students for years and he could not see any way out of the torment. Violence and cruelty are also acceptable in American society. How fair is it for members of that culture to blame him? <span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif"> <span style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif">Picoult does not let Peter’s parents off the hook entirely. Although they did not want him to become a killer, Peter’s parents bear some responsibility for the shooting. However, any child is impacted by more than just his parents. Both Peter’s harassment and his response have a precedent in today’s society. //Nineteen Minutes// is the kind of story that readers ponder long after they devour it. It reminds us that any tragedy is a cue to search ourselves for flaws, not just accuse others.