Change of Heart #4 Q1

The values and experiences of Change of Heart are very unique. Shay Bourne is in jail and is sentenced to the death penalty and June Nealon's daughter, Elizabeth, will die if she does not get a new heart. I could not directly relate to these because they are very extreme. However, I think that I can connect to some of the underlying feelings and messages that are shown through these hardships. For example, Father Michael is the spiritual adviser to Shay and reminds him every day to never give up on God and that he has a plan. Shay does not see the meaning of this and refuses to even talk to Father Michael some days. And some days I think that I forget that God is with me and that I need someone telling me every once in a while that God is still there, even through little things. And I think some of the characters in the novel portray a person that is worth striving for. June Nealon never gives up on trying to help her daughter. She lost her husband and other daughter and is battling with the lawsuit of Shay Bourne but is always a great mother and is so strong throughout the entire novel. I think the true purpose of the novel is to show that people can go through and experience a change of heart. It happened to June Nealon when she accepted Shay Bourne's heart for her child Elizabeth knowing that he is somewhat responsible for the deaths in her family. I do not think that I have gone through a change of heart quite yet but I do believe that it can happen. This book is very powerful in the sense that God is present in so many of the character's lives. And I think anyone reading the novel can connect to a time when God was needed in their life or God was so prominently present that he seemed to be holding your hand through something. I really liked how Jodi Picoult incorporated the power of God into Change of Heart because most novels do not have a lot of content about God. I think the way that Jodi Picoult explains everything in detail, including the feelings of the characters, connects the reader to the story. For me it did because when reading it, I felt as if I knew the characters and felt bad for them. The underlying messages and how characters were portrayed were a lot easier to relate to than the actual content of Change of Heart.