Some people take a 19 minute shower. It takes 19 minutes to drive across my town if I catch the green lights. In the novel "Nineteen Minutes," it takes Peter Houghton 19 minutes to walk into his high school with four guns and kill 9 students 1 teacher.
I've read a lot of books in the past few years. I read all the time. But no book has affected me nearly as much as "Nineteen Minutes" by Jodi Picoult. This books sheds light on bullying. The question it raised for me was really a touchy subject. When do the bullied start fighting back? And who has the right to judge another?
The book is littered with main characters, each playing a significant part. Alex is the judge on Peter's case. She is also the mother of Peter's childhood best friend, Josie, who was hurt in the attack. Lacey is Peter's mother. Patrick Ducharme is the detective that works on the case, trying to get inside Peter's head. All these characters are essential to the novel.
Reading this book in high school completely changed my perception. What is constituted as bullying? When is it taken too far? When do the bullied become the bullies? How can we stop it? After reading this book, I realized that these questions are present outside of high school and can define who we are as people and as a society.
Read Nineteen Minutes. I hope it gets you to see that bullying is a serious issue.
That's it for this post. Have a good night and be safe.
Ace
1 comment:
Bullying is definitely a serious issue. It's a shame how cruel people can be to one another to the point where it causes a person to want to harm and kill others. Everyone can be affected by bullying and it's definitely something that should be stopped!
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