Revenge
Revenge also plays a large role as a theme in the book. Peter chooses to get revenge on all of the people who bullied him and ruined his life. The theme shows that even when revenge seems like a good idea, it does not solve the bigger problem. "When you begin a journey of revenge, start by digging two graves: one for your enemy, and one for yourself." This related very closely with Peter's situation. When he chose to get revenge on the people that bullied him, he not only ended their lives, but he ended his own. Lacy, his mother, also talks about how life is from her perspective. She mentions how sorry she is that the families lost their children, she also realizes that she lost her own child too. Peter's problems are not solved by his revenge. This shows a deeper theme in the book; that revenge does not solve problems caused by bullying. This connects to the quote because by choosing to get revenge, Peter changed the lives of everyone around him, including himself, not just the people who bullied him.
The problem of bullying and how it connects to revenge is shown as we are thrown back in time to when Peter was growing up. We see his new lunch box being thrown out of the school bus on his first day of school. We see him shoved into lockers on a daily basis. We see him with his pants pulled down in the cafeteria, while the whole school laughs at him. Most importantly, we see Peter transform from the loving boy who was warm hearted and kind, into a cold blooded killer. Peter said, in the beginning of the book, "I guess I should tell you, don't blame yourself; this isn't your fault, but that would be a lie. We all know that I didn’t get here by myself." This shows how bullying can push people to the point where they see no other way out than to take drastic measures and get revenge. The theme of revenge plays a large roll in the book and is also supported by the theme of bullying.
Another character in this book also chose to get revenge. Josie Cormier had been beaten and abused by Matt to the point where she wasn't sure if she loved or hated him. As Josie put it, "I loved Matt. And I hated him. I hated myself for loving him, but if I wasn't with him, I wasn't anyone." This caused her to question all of her life choices and why she had to hide who she really was in order to fit in and be popular. When Peter gave her the opportunity, when his gun fell out of his bag and landed near her feet, Josie took the opportunity to get her life back. Although she was charged for shooting Matt, she probably does not regret it. She wanted a way to change her life and be happy again. The only way she could do that is if she got rid of the people that tempted her to fall back into her old routine. Bullying often leads to revenge in some way. If a person is tormented for a long period of time, their hatred and self-loathing could back fire towards the people who hurt them and have irreversible consequences.
The picture below shows the impact of revenge. Along with the quote from the book, "When you begin a journey of revenge, start by digging 2 graves: one for your enemy and one for yourself." The boy with the gun represents Peter along with the boy in handcuffs. By trying to get revenge on the people who bullied him, Peter not only changed their lives, he changed his own too.
The problem of bullying and how it connects to revenge is shown as we are thrown back in time to when Peter was growing up. We see his new lunch box being thrown out of the school bus on his first day of school. We see him shoved into lockers on a daily basis. We see him with his pants pulled down in the cafeteria, while the whole school laughs at him. Most importantly, we see Peter transform from the loving boy who was warm hearted and kind, into a cold blooded killer. Peter said, in the beginning of the book, "I guess I should tell you, don't blame yourself; this isn't your fault, but that would be a lie. We all know that I didn’t get here by myself." This shows how bullying can push people to the point where they see no other way out than to take drastic measures and get revenge. The theme of revenge plays a large roll in the book and is also supported by the theme of bullying.
Another character in this book also chose to get revenge. Josie Cormier had been beaten and abused by Matt to the point where she wasn't sure if she loved or hated him. As Josie put it, "I loved Matt. And I hated him. I hated myself for loving him, but if I wasn't with him, I wasn't anyone." This caused her to question all of her life choices and why she had to hide who she really was in order to fit in and be popular. When Peter gave her the opportunity, when his gun fell out of his bag and landed near her feet, Josie took the opportunity to get her life back. Although she was charged for shooting Matt, she probably does not regret it. She wanted a way to change her life and be happy again. The only way she could do that is if she got rid of the people that tempted her to fall back into her old routine. Bullying often leads to revenge in some way. If a person is tormented for a long period of time, their hatred and self-loathing could back fire towards the people who hurt them and have irreversible consequences.
The picture below shows the impact of revenge. Along with the quote from the book, "When you begin a journey of revenge, start by digging 2 graves: one for your enemy and one for yourself." The boy with the gun represents Peter along with the boy in handcuffs. By trying to get revenge on the people who bullied him, Peter not only changed their lives, he changed his own too.
Who has the right to judge you?
Who has the right to judge who is a major theme within Nineteen Minutes. It is something asked over and over again throughout the book and society today. Peter was always harshly judge but why? Did his classmates have to right to judge him the way they did? Most people would say no one had the right to judge Peter but the truth is if you had known Peter, you probably would have judged him in some type of way too. Judgment also occurred with Josie, Matt, Alex, Patrick, Lacy & Peter's other bullies. Judgment is everywhere and Sterling High is a perfect example of this. When Peter announced to his math class during a presentation that Josie hangs out with different types of people, she was immediately judged. People immediately started to look at her, started to whisper about her. Josie was also always worried about how she looked, acted and interacted with since she did not want to be judged and lose her popularity. Matt constantly worried that if Josie messed something up he would be wrongly judged for what she did since Josie was his girlfriend. A few months after the shooting Lacy was harshly judged. While she was at work, she went to deliver a baby however the mother told Lacy she did not want the "mother of a murder touching her baby". In society, we always hear of how we should not judge, that we should keep an open mind but in reality, we cannot escape judgment. Alex had judged Patrick for a while in the book. She saw him as the detective on the case and in a way almost harmful since multiple times Josie needed to be brought to the station for questioning and Josie would cry every time. When Patrick persisted on spending time with Alex she opened up and learned how Patrick really was. "You don't stop being a judge just because you step out of the courthouse." Just because people step in and out of certain places doesn't mean they will ever stop judging. Judgment is seen everywhere, in the work place, at school, in the media etc... Judgment can cause a ripple effect however. When someone is harshly judged, it can lead to that person being picked on, teased, and harassed. "But a big part of it, too, is the society that created both Peter and those bullies." Peter was judged the second he stepped on the bus the first day of school. His bullying problems were not stopped by anyone. Society created the bullies since Peter's bullying issue remained active and since the bullying continued society also created Peter. He was judged and it leads to the excessive bullying which eventually leads to Peter's revenge. The picture below was chosen because it is asked throughout the book who has the right to judge who and should you be allowed to judge someone in the moral or legal sense. The scales represent balance, where there is no judgment to weight one scale further down then the other. Peter was always harshly judged by his bullies. The scale of equality at Sterling High was very unbalanced.