Perfect Match By Jodi Picoult 2

*****SPOILER ALERT*****

"Perfect Match" by Jodi Picoult is about a young boy named Nathaniel whom is molested at the age of five and how his Mother, Nina deals with this conflict. Nina is a prosecutor against child molestation cases and when he own child's mental health is at stake she will do anything possible to help bring the rapist to justice. At one point Nina even points the blame at her husband Caleb but when he is proven not guilty she begs him to forgive her and their marriage happily continues. Nina finally decides that a certain priest is definitely the molester and she shoots him in court. During all of this conflict I noticed another side story. 

There is a very conflicting love triangle that has ensued in "Perfect Match". The love triangle is in between the mother named Nina, her husband Caleb and Nina's best childhood friend Patrick. The deal with this triangle is that Caleb is devoted to his wife but knows that Patrick has an undying love for Nina. Nina talks to Patrick for advice but doesn't truly see that he is anything more than a best friend. The whole time while reading the book you truly realize that Patrick is a good guy and Caleb is just....distant. 

Patrick has always shown a loyalty towards Nina and refuses to speak to her when she tries to tell him about why she killed the priest. Patrick knows that he must testify in her trial since he was a witness but he doesn't want to put Nina in jail for the rest of her life by telling the truth to the court. Patrick at one point says, "Nina is the only one I'll ever love" when he meets a pretty girl at a bar. He doesn't let the girl get to him and runs to Nina's house to comfort her in a time of need. I think that Patrick is a great guy for her because he is completely devoted to her and will do anything to protect her.

Caleb, on the other hand, seems to love Nina in a very distant way. He always mentions that he knows her completely and that nothing surprises him anymore which is not healthy for a marriage. Caleb always seems to find more comfort in his son than in Nina and doesn't ever try to intrude on Nina's close friendship with Patrick. He doesn't even say anything to protect their marriage which doesn't make any sense at all. This is what I thought of the love triangle in "Perfect Match" by Jodi Picoult. 

The Perfect Match by Jodi Picoult

I am currently reading "The Perfect Match" by Jodi Picoult. The book is about a young boy named Nathaniel and his mother Nina, who is a lawyer to persecute rapists. One day Nathaniel stops speaking and is not acting normally. He suddenly begins to show signs of a traumatic experience and soon his parents are afraid. Nina then uses her past work to discover that all the clues add up to one thing, Nathaniel was sexually assaulted, even though he is only five. The book is mainly about how Nathaniel will tell his parents who molested him and how he will recover. I wanted to solve the social action question: "whose perspective is missing?".

I think that Nathaniel's traumatized perspective is missing in the story. The author splits the narroration between Nina, Nathaniel, the father (Caleb) and their friend Patrick. Whenever Nathaniel's perspective is written he always seems normal and talks about the toys he wants to play with. It seems as if he is completely unaware of why he cannot speak or of what happened to him. Without this voice the book is not as disturbing and the story becomes more of a mystery because the reader is limited. I also found the fact that the author included Nathaniel at all makes the story much more fascinating to read. This is because you really feel as if you're experiencing the story and trying to solve the mystery along with the characters. 

Nathaniel's perspective stands out from others, partly because he is the youngest character in the story and his mindset is clearly in the writing. Without the assailant's perspective you mostly rely on Nathaniel to help you understand what truly happened. If the molester's point of view was shown then everyone else's view would be completely obstructed. Perspective truly makes a difference in this story because the author used the craft of using everyone's perspective except the culprit. These are the perspectives in "The Perfect Match" by Jodi Picoult.