Guided Response - Week 6

The Hate List – Jennifer Brown

Identify what caused a major change in the main character and explain how the character(s) changed. (These changes may have been a consequence of choice or conflict. They might be a display of some outstanding character trait or a result of events that occurred during the novel.)

      I believe the whole book is about Valerie going through different changes.  Dealing with the shooting, losing the one person she loved, becoming a social outcast, the way of her parents, and so on.  After the shooting Valerie experiences several changes with her life and everyone else.  Now that Nick is gone she is dealing with the change of not having somebody there anymore.  When she was questioned by the detective, even her outlook on the situation changed.  Not only did she realize how guilty she looked, but I think she learns that the way she saw Nick and the list were different than how he interpreted them.  Instead of having parents who were mad and fighting, the shooting brought them together temporarily.

                Another change is the way that she sees her peers act, which I believe will ultimately sink in on Valerie too.  They have learned to accept one another as an individual, and let things flow their own way.  High school in general is usually not what you would call peaceful and supportive, more dramatic and ridiculous. So having a school of teenagers come together is what you call change, but with an incident like that who couldn’t change?    

Eades