Caroline Oden
Explore Feelings
In Nineteen Minutes, a particularly horrifying scene was when Peter Houghton (a kindergartener at this time) showed one of his father’s rifles to his best friend, Josie Cormier. “It’s heavy,” Josie said. Then Peter: “Here. Like this.”…And there, behind a stack of boxes and a shelf full of home-canned jelly, was Josie, holding a rifle…”Where did you get this?”...”Peter,” Josie said. “He had a key.” “A key?” Alex cried. “To what?” “The safe,” Lacy murmured. “He must have seen Lewis taking out a rifle when he went hunting last weekend” (81). Peter’s actions were frightening, and because of them, Josie was forbidden to have play dates with Peter again. Josie and Peter’s mothers, previously best friends, never spoke again due to a fight started over this terrifying incident. Exposing Josie to the rifle foreshadows the violent, heartbreaking school shooting that Peter created. This unsettling occurrence was one of Peter’s first introductions to guns, paving the way to his expertise handling of guns. However, his knowledge of guns was not always used in a safe, appropriate manor. Josie and Peter began to drift apart, loosing a valuable friendship that would never be the same. Peter became infatuated with guns at an early, unhealthy age, causing him to put himself and others in danger when his own insecurities were the real reason behind his motives.
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