Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult Part 2

I am half way through the book “Nineteen Minutes” by Jodi Picoult. This book is very intense and as I said before is about a school shooting. So far we have found out who the shooter is. His name is Peter. Peter and another character Josie were best friends ever since they were little but when 8^th grade rolled around and the high school Josie ditched Peter for her cooler more popular friends. Josie watched her boyfriend Matt and his friends call Peter homo and would kick him to the ground and she wouldn’t say a word. When peter killed ten people on the day of the shooting including Josie’s beloved boyfriend Matt, she didn’t know what to feel. This is a really good book told from multiple perspectives.

Peter always seemed like a messed up kid and was bullied his entire life. It makes me think about the difference between killing 10 people and getting killed inside by bullies everyday of your life. For Peter to kill 10 of his own classmates was a dreadful thing to do, but also I couldn’t imagine going through life getting picked on everyday and watching my old best friend not say anything about it. Why do people kill other people? Do they even care about what happens after? I wonder did Peter do this to get revenge? Was he even trying to kill them or was he really just trying to find a way to kill himself? Peter could be considered a terrible person and in the book he is considered that by many people. On one hand killing kids is such an awful thing there are no words to describe it On the other hand was what they did to him almost as bad as what he did to them? I’m not saying I think that what he did was right or okay AT ALL but I’m saying that what those kids did to him wasn’t right or okay either.

I’m wondering if Peter regrets what he did. You hear all these stories about shootings but in the end the shooter ends up killing himself too. This story is a little different. Peter doesn’t kill himself. It makes me wonder about all the shooters that do kill themselves. Do they do it because they feel so guilty? Do they do it because they see police coming and they know they can’t deal with what they know the rest of their lives are going to look like from behind bars? Do they do it because they’re crazy? Do they do it because it’s easier then facing what you did? Do they do it because they consider themselves victims too? I don’t know it could be all of those reasons or none of those reasons. This is why I wonder why Peter didn’t kill himself. Maybe it was because he truly believed he deserved to live. Maybe he knew that it would just kill his mother who already lost a son before(her older son who died in a car accident). I don’t know. This also makes me think did Peter only do it for revenge against the kids who bullied him his whole life? If I were him killing them wouldn’t make me feel any better. Revenge is a nasty thing. Two wrongs don’t make a right, but I guess Peter didn’t feel that way.

Finally this book makes me wonder about Peter’s poor mother named Lacy. She blames herself for everything which in my opinion she shouldn’t. It isn’t her fault. I just can’t imagine being in her position. She tried so hard to be the best mother she could and then knowing that her son killed 10 people. For parents out there are they supposed to love their children even if their child did a despicable thing? Is their unconditional love really unconditional. Do parents draw a line somewhere? Do they still love their child even if there child is a murderer? I know that Lacy does still love him and goes to visit him everyday in jail no matter what. She tried so hard to give him everything and all the love he needed but she blames herself. How could you not blame yourself though? It’s such an intense and difficult situation to be in.

This is a really good book I really recommend it. It makes you think a lot about life and death and wrong and right.