"You could patch up whatever was broken, but if you were the one who had fixed it, you'd always know where the fault lines lay" (184). This is a passage from Jodi Picoult's "Nineteen Minutes" which illustrates the idea the everyone who was affected by the shooting will never be the same. Even though, eventually, things will get back to normal for future generations, everybody who had to, in some way, fix an aspect of their lives will know and feel exactly how it used to be broken. I read a book once that compared that idea to a vase falling and shattering. Even if I was to glue the pieces back together, I could still see the cracks, and more importantly, I could feel how broken it really is when I run my hands over it.
For Peter Houghton, he might feel as though he is the one to fix something that had been broken for a long time, instead of breaking it. In reality, he glued together one vase but knocked another one over in the process. Instead of putting the vase of their school back together, with everyone equal, he simply threw a few pieces out before trying to glue it back together. But without those pieces, the vase wouldn't reassemble. He miscalculated because he couldn't fix the school by taking out some of it's most important parts. Now he'll see the shattered vase forever, but is unable to fix it.
Alex feels that she has to fix the situation seeing as she is the judge assigned to the case. I haven't gotten that far in the book yet but I imagine she'll do her best to fix it, but she'll also be the only one to uncover every secret and know the absolute and entire story. She'll be the only one who can see every single crack left in the vase.
Picoult, Jodi. Nineteen Minutes. New York: Washington Square Press, 2007.
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4 comments:
I read Nineteen Minutes as my first book this quarter and it was amazing. My Sister's Keeper is definitely my favorite of her novels, but Nineteen Minutes was a close second. I thought the quote you chose was very interesting and I remember reading it. It summed up a recurring theme in the book about "never being whole again."
OH MY GOODNESS I LOVE THIS BOOK. I also read this as my first book this quarter. I remember reading the quote in your post, and I thought it was a great quote to include. It basically states anyone who was a part of the shooting will never be the same again, and they can't delete the memory from their minds.
I have never read Nineteen Minutes, but it sounds like an interesting book. I like that comparison that you used with the quote, it was very descriptive and seems to fit so well.
Hi Eliza, hope you don't min me commenting on your blog. Anyways...
Your commentary on this book has really caught my attention now! How does Peter Houghton deal with the idea that he shattered a second vase while trying to fix that first shattered vase? How does he deal with the idea that he essentially failed? (From my perspective it does, at least)
Poor Alex is also taking a heavy burden upon her shoulders by being able to take on the mental strain of being able to see every crack. Hmmm.
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