Blog Post #5

The first significant element in my book 19 Minutes, by Jodi Picoult is the bullying Peter Houghton dealt with as a child. The main problem in this book is Peter, a high school student planning and following through with a shooting at his school. He chooses specific victims based on his past. Josie, his childhood bestfriend is the only victim circled in the yearbook that he planned the shooting in that's circled and says 'let live' even though they aren't friends anymore. Matt, Josie's boyfriend and the person who bullied Peter the most was the only victim of the shooting who was shot twice, which goes to show that this shooting was a result of his childhood.

Another significant element is the guns Peter used in the shooting. Peter's father, Lewis often blames himself because 2 of the guns Peter had were the guns that his father taught him to use for hunting. These guns could very well have to do with the shooting techniques Peter used. Although during the shooting Peter did not fire either of the shotguns he stole from his father, they were found in his bag. Peter used two pistols, one was fired many times and one was only fired once. The ongoing question is where did Peter get the pistols, and how long had he been hiding them?

Picoult, Jodi. Nineteen Minutes. Washington: Square Press, 2007. Print.

Blog Post #4

Picoult, Jodi. Nineteen Minutes. Washington: Square Press, 2007. Print.

The AMDSB character attribute I have chosen to write about is fairness, or lack of for that matter. This book is about a school shooting and the effects it has on so many people, including but not limited to the families, the students and the community. Peter Houghton, a 17 year old 'nerd' is the shooter. He doesn't believe the killing of 10 students and physical and emotional pain he caused on so many others is wrong, because of the way they treated him. Peter was treated extremely unfair as a child. When the book takes a look back at his childhood, it states that he was a nice, sweet little boy who never did anything to get treated the way he did. But time after time he is bullied, which is what causes the anger inside of him. Now he believes it's their turn for unfair treatment. He ruins the lives of so many people, as revenge for his own struggles in life. Neither Peter's nor the people killed had fair situations, yet they both unforutetly happened.