A Deeper Look

Nineteen Minutes is a vividly disturbing narrative about what can happen when we least expect it and how little time it takes for life to be turned upside down. Parent-child relationships are central to Nineteen Minutes. When you're a teenager, the fact of parents is unavoidable, even when they're not very good at being parents. For Josie's single mother, it's easy to be a judge and hard to be a mother, everything she says "isn't right". To Peter, his parents seem typically responsible and resemble two "normal" parents. Surprisingly, the child with the "normal" family grows up with the problems and becomes the antagonist in the novel. Josie's mom, Alex, and Peter's mom, Lacy, were once friends who had a falling out. Josie's popular boyfriend, Matt, is both a girl's dream and nightmare. In some ways, unfortunately, any high school can catch a glimmer of itself in the book. As Alex reflects on her own good fortune, "Life was what happened when all the 'what-ifs' didn't, when what you dreamed or hoped or -- in this case -- feared might come to pass passed by instead." We should all be so lucky. Picoult's novels usually analyze ethical issues, which are judged from many different viewpoints, only to create a more clear understanding of the multiple sides of the story. The omniscient narration that Picoult provides, allows the audience to see into each character's disposition. More views create a different outlook on the novel, and therefore a more powerful meaning. In addition, if a reader doesn't favor one character, there is room for them to relate easier to another character. The story is not told in a linear way, which adds to its emotional drama. It flips back and forth in time, describing how friendships unraveled, love grew and anger boiled over. Plenty of flashbacks were incorporated throughout the novel to provide additional information in a unique form. These mentions of the past are set up in a creative time line that really adds depth to the novel and keeps the audience thinking.