Protagonists and Antagonists in The Pact by Jodi Picoult **Spoiler Alert**

            In the book The Pact by Jodi Picoult, the protagonists and antagonists are very interesting. This story is about a teenage boy who kills his teenage girlfriend Emily Gold out of an apparent suicide pact. Both families are very close and this changes both families lives upside down. The protagonist is obviously Chris because his struggle is the one that is most displayed in the book. The antagonist is difficult to figure out, since no one is truly blocking Chris from what he wants, except the police and the disrespectful prisoners. But once I looked deeper I realized that Emily Gold, his dead girlfriend that he loved is the antagonist because she is blocking Chris from what he truly wants: justice. She caused him all these problems that blocked him from getting his freedom.
         For the protagonist, since a large chunk of the book takes place in the courtroom, you almost are rooting for justice for Chris, because you know he is innocent. He is the one the story revolves around and you want him desperately to get what he wants. I think that Chris is a very interesting protagonist though, because it's very difficult to step into his shoes. Chris loved his girlfriend so much that when she wanted to kill herself, he did that for her because he loved her so much. This kind of love is so rare and it almost made me reject the text because it was so powerful. But I think Jodi Picoult did this on purpose because it draws the reader in and makes the story even more rich. The author gave us the image of an average kid who has this undying passion for this girl, and as teenagers this is crazy. It''s cheesy, almost. But this allows to identify with him more because he is just an average kid. This makes him a really interesting magnetic protagonist.
           I believe that the anagonist in The Pact is Emily God because even though she is defunct, she causes many obstacles for Chris. She causes him to go to prison and be charged with a homicide, but the troubles that she caused for him did not stop there. Emily's parents, Michael and Melanie, were like a second pair of parents to him. They ended up hating him and Melanie even screamed angrily at him in court. I also think what Jodi Picoult did with this was interesting because Chris loved Emily so much, yet she's the antagonist. It sends a message that the people we love do the most terrible things, intentionally or unintentionally. Chris realizes this towards the end of the book when the trial is becoming increasingly terrible, he thinks to himself that Emily put him through this horrible mess and she's almost the one to blame.
         In conclusion, I believe that in The Pact by Jodi Picoult, Chris Harte is the protagonist and his dead girlfriend Emily Gold is the antagonist. The author made some very interesting choices in the texts and almost flips the roles of the protagonist and antagonist around a bit.

The Pact by Jodi Picoult Through a Social Action Lens

 Q: How does the text make you think about justice in the world?
           The book The Pact by Jodi Picoult really makes me think about justice in the world because in the book, two teenagers who are lovers and have known each other their entire lives, and they make a suicide pact to kill themselves. The boy, Chris, shoots the girl, but the police arrive before he kills himself. The girl, Emily, ends up dead while Chris lives. The question of whether justice is being served or not is a prominent issue, along with many other intriguing concepts about justice that come into this book.
         The question of whether justice is being served or not is a very deep issue in The Pact. Emily died, killed by Chris, but it was because she wanted to die. She gave him her consent, and even though he planned to kill himself along with Emily, he lives. I don't think justice is being served because even though he had an intention, it was not fufilled, and Emily is dead. For the parents especially, because their daughter was cherished and loved by both of them. Yet in the book, the police are treating the case as a homicide. Even though I believe that justice is not being served, I don't think Chris comitted a heinous crime. He was a lost, depressed boy who his parents didn't understand. Emily was in the exact same situation as he was. I'm not sure what kind of life he should lead, but I am positive that justice is not being served.
         I think that in the real world, justice would not be served in this situation. In America when children are involved in a murder, the people get very angry. The kids in the book are 16 years old, and people are going to have a lot more sympathy towards the grieving parents than to Chris himself. Children and violence are a very delicate topic all around and if this case were to be tried in the real world, Chris would probably be convicted of a homicide. For example, in the case made against Casey Anthony recently, she was found not guilty yet the public was furious. Because there was a child involved it makes the matter so delicate. In America we are almost blind to the facts, and if this was a real case a jury would probably be blind to the fact that Emily consented to her death.
        In conclusion, the book The Pact by Jodi Picoult says a lot about justice and whether it is being served or not. It makes me wonder about what would happen if this case were to be tried in the real world.