Was Peter Justified In Nineteen Minutes

The novel, “nineteen minutes” by Jodi Picoult, goes back and forth between the before, during, and after of the shooting that occurred at Sterling High School. Peter Houghton, who is a 16-year-old who attends the high school, was the shooter. Throughout the novel, the reader learns about everything Peter had been through leading up to that point, including incessant bullying and harassment as well as being a social outcast and having no friends. While some may try to argue that his actions were justified, there are many pieces of evidence that prove otherwise, including that the victims were innocent, the murders were premeditated, and Peter showed no remorse during or after the shooting. The first reason why Peter is guilty of murder is that he killed innocent people, including ones that he did not even

He had been planning it for months prior and had gone to great lengths to prepare. Peter had even created a game, titled Hide-n-Shriek, in which the goal is to kill as many jocks and bullies as possible, and even takes place in a school. “It might be kind of cool to do a game where the prey was human… A fantasy world where the balance of power was turned on its head, where the underdog finally got a chance to beat the bullies.” (Picoult, 2007. Pg. 222). This evidence from the book proves that Peter was thinking of this plan a whole year before the day of his shooting. Additionally, Peter had been bullied ever since he was in kindergarten. He was going after people who had bullied him, since Courtney and Matt were victims of his. “ She opened the closet and saw the empty bottles and electrical tap and torn rags and everything else she had missed the first time around.” (Picoult, 2007, pg. 59). This is when Lacy found everything that Peter was hiding in his closet. Then, she tried to get rid of the evidence but the police showed up. This is further evidence that he planned out this