Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult

Jodi Picoult ends the acknowledgments of Nineteen Minutes by dedicating her book to different, unpopular and scared kids. You know the kinds who’ve been laughed at in school and college. The kinds who have been given ‘names’ by cliques because of their offbeat character..the kinds who dont ‘fit in’. I am sure all of us had someone like this in our class at some point in time. The important question is whether we were a part of denting that student’s self-esteem. If we were, in any which way a part of the mocking brigade, then unintentionally we have created a broken human being who, as in this case, destroys the source of pain and hurt.

Peter Houghton has stormed Sterling High School and killed students on an impulse. He’s exacted his revenge in ‘nineteen minutes’. He has orchestrated this act with enough coldness to shock a jury and the town in consideration, but with enough sensitivity to spare his friend Josie Cormier.

With two parallel storylines, one that runs forward and another that goes back in time, Jodi goes on to explain the concept of bullying and how it impacts students worldwide. Through Peter’s character she shows how every little insult and every act of comparison drives the nail into the coffin. Its not just the act of bullying or the use of humiliation that is accounted, but also the apathetic nature of society who turns a blind eye to a child’s helplessness. Josie’s mother Judge Alex Cormier’s character is introduced early on in the story and makes an impact right till the end. Through Alex’s character, Jodi questions the right of society to judge anybody for a mistake that has been eventually created by society itself. Her need to protect her daughter from the trauma of her trial, forces her to relieve herself of legal duties related to the case. Josie Cormier’s daughter who happens to be the only friend that Peter had in school, becomes key witness in the case. Josie Cormier is a typical case of a ‘trying to fit in’ personality. She abandons Peter for a more popular group of friends, who are the perpetrators of humiliation in school. Josie is Jodi’s mirror for the popularity issue in schools and colleges alike.  There are teenagers who for hours on end keep thinking about how they can be popular and save themselves from incessant torture by the ‘it’ crowd. Come to think of it, for an average teenager it is indeed a questionable dilemma. The risk of being laughed at is huge and the need to get into a clique enormous. No wonder self esteem is derived from materialistic possessions.

The novel is written in a remarkably easy to read language and combines the elements of drama, friendship and suspense to keep the reader involved. What strikes the reader early on, is the thought process that has gone behind the creation of each central character. For this reason the parallel storylines, that keep the day of shooting as the focal point, help us understand, slowly but steadily the events that led to D-day and the months after that. All while till the end, you as a reader, will agree with all the characters and their actions. You will think that each member of the novel is justified in his position. However you will thank that there is a law in place, that prevents us from turning into a banana republic. Then again, who are we as individuals to judge Peter’s act. True, he took lives and scarred families, but werent the victims actually the cause of the crime? Shouldnt we all then be a recipient of punishment? Shoudnt the society that caused the formation of a monster be held accountable for this act?

There is a beautiful point in the story where Lacy Houghton ( Peter’s Mother) meets her friend Alex Cormier after many years and Alex recounts Peter’s wonderful childhood years and the beautiful shades of creativity that he possessed …She ends the conversation by saying this personal favourite quote of mine …

“Some things exist as long as there is someone to remember it “

Cross posted here.