Yesterday, I finished Perfect Match by Jodi Picoult. I really loved this book, though it was scary, sad, and disturbing. I definitely felt resistance like we talked about in class while reading it. Perfect Match is about a young prosecutor, Nina, who fights against molesters and Pedophiles. When her young son is raped by a priest, however, she goes insane and shoots the defendant. This tears apart her family.
I have noticed a pattern in Picoult's books, of which I have read three and a half in the past three weeks. Most follow a young person, a murder or crime, a connection with the law, and how their choices ruin their relationships. This book is a perfect example.
I am not a mother, and do not plan to be one any time soon. However, I do know what it feels like to love someone so much that you would do just about anything for them. Nina feels this way with her son Nathaniel, portrayed as an adorable, five year old, innocent little boy, used and violated by his own priest. Picoult uses the tactic of describing the rape scene between Father Gwynne and Nathaniel to invoke disturbance and terror within the reader. I felt like I wanted to reach into the pages of the book and shoot the priest myself.
I do not know If I would go as far as actually murdering the preist myself, however. Murder is a very risky and wrong thing to do, especially considering the law system that exists today. Nina could have been killed, all for protecting her son from being scared when he stood on the podium. Although I like Nina, I think she made a bad choice.
Amelia,
ReplyDeleteI liked your post. I liked the way you analyzed the pattern in Jodi Picoult's books. I also liked how you really put yourself in the shoes of this character Nina. I wonder why the author makes all of her books really similar? Is it because the events that are usually in her books reflecting on events like this in real life? Anyway, great post!
-Georgia P.