preview

Nineteen Minutes Themes

Decent Essays

A person can do a lot in a matter of nineteen minutes. Although it may not seem like a very long time, nineteen minutes forever changed the lives of nearly everyone living in Sterling, New Hampshire. Beginning at 10:16, 10 lives would be lost, 19 would be injured, and countless people would live in fear and constantly be brought back to that day. On March 6, 2007, Peter Houghton brought 4 guns into his high school and began shooting, and shooting, and shooting. Peter’s life had been filled with relentless bullying, ever since his first day of Kindergarten. The book, Nineteen Minutes, shows the lies and faults of different members of the community during the trial. In this journal, I will be evaluating the themes of identity and love found in the novel. …show more content…

Josie and Peter Houghton used to be best friends. They would spend every second together: at school, at home, and anyplace in-between that. When Matt Royston, Josie’s boyfriend, introduced Josie to a different lifestyle, their friendship quickly demised. Josie fell under peer pressure and became a part of the popular group, who happened to initiate most of the bullying. She was half of “the perfect couple” in Sterling High School, went to every party, and had the best friends a high school girl could ask for. Even though every girl was head-over-heals jealous of her, she also felt like her life was a movie, and she was just an actress; always acting like someone other than her true self. It was evident that Josie did not want to act the way she did: “I have to act the way people expect me to act. It’s part of the whole…thing. If you don’t… it’s complicated. You wouldn’t understand” (Picoult 239). Josie felt trapped between being herself and being who everyone else wanted her to

Get Access