Reading Response On Theme

The book "19 Minutes" by Jodi Picoult is one of my favorites. Its follows the stories of many different characters all surrounding a high school shooting. Everyone is questioning themselves and how the boy who shot everybody could have done what he did. I think that one major theme in the book is how people can be them selves, and how others opinions affect that.

I think this theme is true when it comes to Josie. Josie is about 16 and is in high school. She is the perfect popular girl with a boyfriend who loves her and a perfect life, well it seems. One thing that Josie struggles with is that she feel that she can't be who she really is or all her friends will abandon her. One example of this is that Josie is eating a bunch of french fries which she sees as looking delicious, but when her boy friend makes a comment about how fat she would be if she ate them, they suddenly become disgustingly unappealing. I think that here she is really being influenced by what others think, she can't be herself and just eat, because she criticized. I think this is only true in my life too. People can make huge changes based on what others think, therefore changing and masking themselves. Josie also used to be friends with this boy everyone thought was weird, but left him when the "popular" kids started to accept her. I think that Josie still likes him, but is too scared to loose her popularity by being friends with him. I think this is also mixed in with peer pressure. I end up feeling bad for Josie, because she stuck in this place where her whole life is fake, and she knows it. I think that the best friends are the ones that love you for who you are, not who you pretend to be.

I think that this theme also applies to Josie's mother Alex. Alex is a female judge in court. One thing that Alex has done is overcome being different and has learned to love herself for it. One example of this is that Alex talks about how she was the only female judge and kept pushing past others comments until she became this person that others support and respect. I think that this is something to really look up to in people. By making this choice she really inspires others to reach for their dreams and do what they really want to do. I really admire Alex's initiative, I think it would be hard to be the only one to do anything. I think that Alex really struggled with being who she was and how that fits with the court room. I think that somethings in life have to affect what we do. I think that for justice to be fair everything can't revolve around personal moral. I think that this must have been a hard thing to get over. Letting a criminal go free because there wasn't enough evidence, it comes with the job and there is nothing you can do about it.

In conclusion, these two characters are both intertwined around the theme of who they are as people, but have dealt with it in different ways. Alex chose to overcome it, while Josie gave into it and became someone else. I think that as time passes Josie will reach a point where she has to be herself, or she won't be able to deal with her life anymore. I feel that if Josie could only do that then she could grow to be an amazing person, like her mom. This doesn't just have to do with Josie, but anyone who feels they can't be them selves.