Nineteen Minutes Through a Social Action Lens

Question #1: What really hard things are happening in the text?

       I have started Nineteen Minutes, by Jodi Picoult, and it is such a powerful book. Just at the beginning, many major issues and hard things appear in the text. This book is about a school shooting committed by Peter Houghton at Sterling High. Peter suffered many problems to cause him to commit such an act of violence. His school days are horrible, because as it says on page 15, "There was a note from her, (Peter's mother), too, telling him to have a good day at school, as if it were that simple." Peter's life seems really depressing and miserable.

     One hard thing that takes place in this book is social problems or bullying, and the effects of those, which is depression. As it says on page 15, "Peter threw back his covers. He moved to his desk, still wearing his pajama bottoms, sat down, and logged onto the internet. The words on the message board were blurry. He reached for his glasses...After he slipped the frames on, he dropped the case onto the keyboard...Peter reached out and hit CONTROL ALT DELETE, but he could still picture it, even after the screen went blank, even after he closed his eyes, even after he started to cry." It is too early in the book to decide what this hard thing is, but it is definitely social troubles. It is a great possibility that it is bullying, because bullying really affects kids, and it may cause suicide or homicide. Bully really damages a kid, and it can ruin their life. On top of all that, it is on the internet, where anyone can see it, and it is never really gone. Just imagine if you were bullied, and the whole internet can see you being bullied. It would be terrible. I would basically crumble, and want to either get revenge, or kill myself. This most likely caused Peter to open fire at Sterling High.  

     Another really hard thing that takes place in the book is the actual school shooting. It is a terrible thing, physically and mentally. As it said on page 24, "The girl lying next to him was face down, blood spreading from beneath her temple...Suddenly, the girl shifted. "Help...me..." Patrick knelt beside her. "I'm here," he said, his touch gentle as he assessed her condition." Patrick, the detective on the Sterling Police Force, was going through this terrible ordeal. It is horrible, and he isn't even the one who was shot. This must be a very hard thing to go through. Just imagine if you were there at that time. You would want to do so much to help all the injured and dead, but just can't because it is physically impossible. It is also physically hard to go through that ordeal, because many badly injured, and many students were hiding, not knowing if they will make it out of the school alive. Also, for the perpetrator, Peter, it must be very hard, because many things could be running through his head. He might be thinking of what he wants to get out of this. He might be thinking of who wants to kill or not. He might also be thinking about his consequences after all this is over. He has many things running through his head, and it must be a hard position to be in.

      In conclusion, Nineteen Minutes, by Jodi Picoult, is a powerful book that has many hard things in it. It contains social issues, violence issues, and many other issues that come with being in high school and being at school shootings. This book made me think a lot about the hard things people go through and how it relates to our world. Like, for example, in our school, there are many anti-bullying assemblies that try to prevent bullying before it can ruin someone's life and possibly make them commit a severe act of violence. I think that this is a wonderful book, and I can't wait to read on!