"Nineteen Minutes" by Jodi Picoult is about a judge named Alex and her daughter Josie who are victims of a mass shooting that occurred at Josie's school. Josie struggles with self esteem issues, like every teenage girl yet is one of the popular crowd. Josie wants to be perfect so bad that she has lost herself by being friends with this fake group of people. The only person she truly finds comfort in is in her boyfriend, Matt. While this is going on Patrick (from Perfect Match) gets the call and shows up the school too late, as always. Patrick finds himself always too late.
I think the message of "Nineteen Minutes" is to be yourself you have to do what you have to do to make sure you are the person you want to be or are. Josie for example; wants to be herself but has lost herself in the crowd. She has very obvious depression at the beginning of the book and keeps a bag filled with narcotics so she can commit suicide at any point. Yet Josie does not stop and say to herself, "let me be friends with people who actually interest me", instead Josie just goes to her boyfriend for comfort who truly changes her mind. If Josie and her boyfriend breakup she might just go off the edge because she may lose sight of who she truly is.
Patrick is another character who is suffering from doing what he knows is right and being himself. Patrick always has the feeling that he shows up too late and cannot prevent crime, he only corrects it. It seems that all he wants to do is stop one single crime before it becomes worse, which is what he does in the school shooting. The only problem is that Patrick only slightly decreases the amount of fatalities instead of preventing the shooting all together. Patrick did not follow directions and was able to save students, yet he still feels unaccomplished.
I believe that Jodi Picoult wants to teach this specific message through different ages. This way different audiences can engage and feel empathy towards the character that is most like themselves. I think that the author wants to show that Josie is completely helpless without some guide of direction to let her know, it's okay to be yourself. With the character of Patrick she wants to show that you need to follow your own lead in order to commit justice, you just have to trust yourself. This is what I think one of the messages is in "Nineteen Minutes" by Jodi Picoult.
Friday, January 25, 2013
Thursday, January 17, 2013
The Wild Things by Dave Egger
"The Wild Things" is a story loosely based upon the children's book, "Where The Wild Things Are". It tells the story of a boy named Max who has a very distant and unusual relationship with his sister and mother. Max struggles with being normal and he desperately wants his mother to be happy and for his sister to accept him. It seems though that Max may struggle with some sort of ADHD which prohibits him from acting "normal" according to his sister. I really want to focus on his relationship with his sister since that seems to be a very big issue in the book so far.
Max wants his sister to notice him, just like any other little brother would. As his sister, Claire grows up she wants Max to leave her alone so she can just be with her friends. Max does not understand this concept and plays a practical joke on Claire which results in her being extremely furious with Max. Max doesn't seem to realize that what he does to Claire that may be mean or annoying will result in a consequence. It seems that Max may have ADHD because when Claire yells at him he becomes very confused and describes that he cannot organize his thoughts. This may lead to him non-purposefully annoying his sister.
I believe that Max is a complicated character wishing that he could understand his thoughts and understand his relationships with others. I think that if he truly understood what consequences he would always face no matter what he did, he would realize that he is just an annoying little brother and his sister believes she's too cool for him. Max is also a very interesting character because he watches people and observes how they live but never tells anyone if they are doing something wrong. Max is almost a wallflower in this sense. This is Max's relationship with his sister and why he is such a complex character.
Max wants his sister to notice him, just like any other little brother would. As his sister, Claire grows up she wants Max to leave her alone so she can just be with her friends. Max does not understand this concept and plays a practical joke on Claire which results in her being extremely furious with Max. Max doesn't seem to realize that what he does to Claire that may be mean or annoying will result in a consequence. It seems that Max may have ADHD because when Claire yells at him he becomes very confused and describes that he cannot organize his thoughts. This may lead to him non-purposefully annoying his sister.
I believe that Max is a complicated character wishing that he could understand his thoughts and understand his relationships with others. I think that if he truly understood what consequences he would always face no matter what he did, he would realize that he is just an annoying little brother and his sister believes she's too cool for him. Max is also a very interesting character because he watches people and observes how they live but never tells anyone if they are doing something wrong. Max is almost a wallflower in this sense. This is Max's relationship with his sister and why he is such a complex character.
Thursday, January 10, 2013
I Am The Messenger by Markus Zusak
SPOLIER ALERT!!! SPOILER ALERT!!! SPOILER ALERT!!! SPOILER ALERT!!! SPOILER ALERT!!!
"I Am The Messenger" by Markuz Zusak is about a man named Ed Kennedy who doesn't really live life until he gets a set of aces. The cards list names and addresses, where he goes and sees the good deeds he must perform in order to make their life better. Soon Ed becomes obsessed with the idea that he is helping other people and cannot wait till he receives the next ace. Ed lives a complicated life with his dog named Doorman, his crush (Audrey) and his two friends Marv and Ritchie. Ed throughout the book expresses his love for Audrey, yet Audrey tells Ed that she doesn't go through longterm relationships.
I found Audrey to be the most interesting character in the book. Audrey suffers from an inability to love. Throughout the story the reader learns of Audrey's persuasive ways to use men for their looks and make sure she doesn't truly have any feelings for him. By using men as toys, Audrey doesn't have to go through heartbreak or guilt when her relationship ends. Audrey knows that Ed has a huge crush on her but she denies his love because she doesn't want to fall for him or make him feel terrible.
As Ed continues his adventure by doing these good deeds, Audrey soon discovers that she is starting to fall for Ed. Ed soon grows to be a very interesting person instead of just watching his life go by without participating. Audrey falls for Ed's curiosity and courage, she soon realizes that she needs to abandon her guard and let herself go. Finally at the very end of the book Audrey tells Ed that she will stay with him forever and the book has a happy ending.
Audrey was such a fun character to read about because she learned a valuable lesson. As I continued to read the story I soon realized that Ed and Audrey learned the same message You should always let your guard down because sometimes that keeps you from living. "I Am The Messenger" was just as amazing as "The Book Thief" except the ending was slightly rushed. I really loved the book and even though you know the story, I recommend that you read it.
"I Am The Messenger" by Markuz Zusak is about a man named Ed Kennedy who doesn't really live life until he gets a set of aces. The cards list names and addresses, where he goes and sees the good deeds he must perform in order to make their life better. Soon Ed becomes obsessed with the idea that he is helping other people and cannot wait till he receives the next ace. Ed lives a complicated life with his dog named Doorman, his crush (Audrey) and his two friends Marv and Ritchie. Ed throughout the book expresses his love for Audrey, yet Audrey tells Ed that she doesn't go through longterm relationships.
I found Audrey to be the most interesting character in the book. Audrey suffers from an inability to love. Throughout the story the reader learns of Audrey's persuasive ways to use men for their looks and make sure she doesn't truly have any feelings for him. By using men as toys, Audrey doesn't have to go through heartbreak or guilt when her relationship ends. Audrey knows that Ed has a huge crush on her but she denies his love because she doesn't want to fall for him or make him feel terrible.
As Ed continues his adventure by doing these good deeds, Audrey soon discovers that she is starting to fall for Ed. Ed soon grows to be a very interesting person instead of just watching his life go by without participating. Audrey falls for Ed's curiosity and courage, she soon realizes that she needs to abandon her guard and let herself go. Finally at the very end of the book Audrey tells Ed that she will stay with him forever and the book has a happy ending.
Audrey was such a fun character to read about because she learned a valuable lesson. As I continued to read the story I soon realized that Ed and Audrey learned the same message You should always let your guard down because sometimes that keeps you from living. "I Am The Messenger" was just as amazing as "The Book Thief" except the ending was slightly rushed. I really loved the book and even though you know the story, I recommend that you read it.
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