Note: Regardless if you read the book or not, please answer where you can, some questions are plot specific, some are general to the topic at hand. The link below is to Jodi Picoult's website, where you will find a brief summary of the book, and she talks about her background and where the ideas came from for this novel. There are also numerous additional questions, please open those up for discussion if you would like.
1. Did the title of the book, "House Rules," clue you in to the solution of the murder? Why were the house rules so important to Jacob?
2. Did you guess what happened at Jess' house before the end of the book?
3. Was it believable that Jacob would try to cover for Theo without understanding that he was implicating himself in the murder?
4. What do you think happened to the characters after they went to tell the judge about Theo being at the house? Were you upset that there was not more of a conclusion to the story?
1. This is why JP is such a brilliant writer- the solution to the novel is RIGHT THERE the entire time, yet I did not figure it out. I knew Jacob didn't do it, Theo didn't do it, and the only other suspect, Mark, was too "obvious" so I knew he didn't do it. I thought the ending where Jacob tells why he did what he did (House Rules) was a perfect way for JP to tie up the story.
ReplyDeleteHouse Rules were so important to Jacob because he took everything so literally. I found it sweet that he covered up the murder because that was the rule to protect/look after his brother, but sad too, because you know he didn't do it out of love, but obligation to follow the rule.
2. I think I did consider it might have been an accident, but didn't believe that the whole time.
3. Yes. Because he took things so literally OF COURSE the police would look to Mark because that's where the evidence pointed. And OF COURSE they wouldn't think it was him because he said he didn't do it. Period.
4. This is typical JP- a vague ending, so no, I wasn't disappointed. I'm sure there was some sort of legal consequence for Theo,but I doubt he did jail time.
I agree, she is an amazing writer and everything I have read has been so good and riveting and I just want to sit down and read until I am done. I love love when the title of the book comes up in the story and so was pleased to understand when they explained the house rules, but no, I did not see that as the clue to the answer of the story. Agree with Elizabeth, the rules were his day to day, just like his schedule, in his black and white world, he followed everything to the letter.
ReplyDelete2. I did figure out what happened to her before the end of the book. I tried to piece it together and figured that she was already dead before Jacob got there. I did not see the fact that he covered up for Theo until it unfolded because I did not see that J knew that T was there. Again, his attention to detail and critical eye, I missed some of those clues. Sad all around of course. That she died in an accident, (well sort of, if T was not in the house, she would not have slipped) and then J showed up later, and their lives were changed forever.
3. Absolutely believable, because he was following the rules and taking care of his brother, not thinking about the consequences. He was so proud of his crime scene and focused on the clues he left etc, he did not think one step further that HE would get in trouble. It was heart wrenching to me every time he was in court and kept telling his lawyer to tell the truth, that the jury would understand why he did it, I am sort of having flash backs to A Few Good Men where the one guy followed orders without question and once they realized the direction came from above, were still in trouble. (Hopefully people followed that).
4. I was a bit disappointed to not have a verdict, but as E said, this is typical, so I was not surprised. It sort of shows that it does not really matter, that was not the point of the book, it was the family, the reasons, the crime scene and the relationship between someone with Aspergers and the rest of the world. I am sure there was some consequence for Theo, for the peeping tom and breaking in, and I am sure consequences for Jacob as he did alter a crime scene, but not sure to what end.
Love love love JP.. She keeps me interested in the book from page 1. The house rules were so important for Jacob because he is a rule follower and does everything exactly the way people say it.. In a way, I feel like I should have a set of Rules in my house since I am always telling Emma, we don't do that in this house.. I need to print or make a Family Rules sign from all the blogs I read...
ReplyDeleteI was pretty sure that I knew that Jacob did not hurt Jess but it kept me hooked until the end of the book.. I just knew he could not possibly do that to her or at least I hoped he didn't.
I was totally upset with the way the story ended, I like to imagine what the characters are doing now in real life:)
It was totally believable for me that Jacob would cover for Theo since he knew that is what he had to do to follow the rules.