Jennifer Brown Time Manipulation Quotes

The book is about Valerie Leftman whose boyfriend was responsible for a mass shooting that took place in the commons of their high school, the story tells about her struggle to come to terms with what happens and the damage that has been done. Time manipulation is used by the author to give more insight into what took place in the commons on May 2nd which assists in developing the characters through their direct experience with the shooting. Primary documents that give the biographies about the dead and wounded are also used by the author, these gives more information about these people further developing their characters. Seeing how different characters react to conflict that is presented to them is another technique the author uses to develop

the characters, the way a certain character reacts to conflict that is presented to them impacts their personality and overall development. “Hate List” by Jennifer Brown uses primary documents, conflict and time manipulation to develop characters.

Time manipulation is used by the Jennifer Brown in this novel to contribute to the development of in depth characters in the story.

In this part of the book, Valarie sees Jessica Campbell, who is the school mean girl who used to call Valerie ‘sister death’ , for the first time since the shooting happened. Jessica invites Valerie to have lunch at her table full of “popular kids” after seeing Stacey and the rest of Vals group completely shut her out of their table. Before the shooting this is never something Jessica would have done and in a way Val feels like she “looked changed somehow” (pg 94). “He turned back to Jessica and at the same time drew the gun upward again . I lunged for him this time, my only thought being I can’t watch Jessica Campbell die right in front of me. (pg 104).This flashback details how Val saved Jessica’s life, this explains her change of attitude towards Valarie. Seeing this change in Jessica develops her character to be deeper than just a “mean girl”, it is made obvious that seeing Val save her life despite how mean she has been to her struck a nerve. Towards the beginning of the story, all we really know about the incident is that Nick Levil committed the mass shooting that happened in the commons. This gives him the automatic role of the “bad guy”, making his character really cut and dry. However when Val has a flashback after finding an old picture of them at the lake this changes the reader's outlook on Nick as a person. The photograph makes

her remember their first kiss; “He picked me up until my feet were dangling above the ground and I couldn’t help it -- I let out a squeal that turned into a giggle. He kissed me and my body felt so electric up against his even my toes tingled” (pg 20). She then goes on to explain what the flashback made her feel stating that, “Even though in May he became a monster in the eyes of the world, in my eyes he was still that guy holding me above the ground, kissing me and calling me Juliet.” (pg 21). The use of this flashback is used to give Nick’s personality more depth, this memory shows how he was more than just a murderer. Nick is painted as being more of a romantic and sweet guy who was just misunderstood. The use of flashbacks in this novel by the author help give more of a background to characters who seem to be one sided. Flashbacks help to show the development their personalities have made as a result of the shooting giving them a more in depth and realistic feel.

The author makes use of conflict and the way characters respond to it assists in the development and personality changes of individuals throughout the novel. Before dealing with the aftermath of the shooting and Vals obvious mental health issues as a result of the massacre, it is pretty clear Stacey is supposedly Valerie's best friend. However when Stacey visits Val in the hospital it becomes apparent that even a couple days after the shooting Stacey has changed a lot. Stacey first goes on to tell about how shocked she was to find out about what happened saying; “I couldn’t believe what happened. I didn’t at first. When I heard everyone saying who did the shooting I didn’t believe them. You and Nick… you know you were my best friend’ (pg 168). She then does not even make an effort to listen or understand where her friend is coming from, saying to Valarie “You only told Nick to do it (shoot people) for you” (pg 169).
Staceys change of heart after the shooting as a result of finding out who the perpetrator was changed her attitude towards her best friend.

Her betrayal to Val as a result of the murders develops her as being easily moldable and manipulated by things she hears, showing that she can’t develop her own opinions. Valerie's brother throughout the story is a very strong character and an amazing little brother , even though he is kind of caught in the middle of a very difficult time in his home life. He is always nice to Val and puts up with a lot of problems that isn’t even his fault, almost seeming oblivious to what is going on . However this all changes when their parents report his sister missing after she went on a walk causing him to miss soccer tryouts, he finally snaps and blows up at his family saying, “You’re impossible. I’m sick of my life always having to revolve around yours.” He stomped back into his room and slammed the door shut. “ (pg 355). He then goes on to go and live with his father and his mistress and when Val finally sees him again he had undergone a lot of physical changes in his appearance; “He’d cut his hair to match the rest of the soccer players and was wearing a pair of glasses that completed a clean-cut look for ahim that I’d never imagined. He didn’t speak to me much, except to give reports on how Dad and Briley were doing when Mom wasn’t around.” (pg 357).Frankie keeps his feelings towards his family bottled up and acts unaware to the problems

around him for as long as he can until he finally explodes telling everyone how he feels. After finally blowing up he chooses to go about fixing everything by distancing himself from the people he deems are toxic in his life. Frankie is more affected by his parents and sister than he had shown at first, developing him to be a lot stronger of a person than previously but not as good of a brother as Valerie thought he was. Conflict in the story shows the reactions and adaptations that characters have to major problems. The changes they undergo as a result of this conflict gives more information about the characters and develops their personalities even further.

Primary documents assist in giving more information about the characters providing an insight to their personalities and how they were killed/wounded in the shooting and to whom they were before the massacre, developing their characters further and giving them a place in the story. Before this sample of an article written by Angela Dash, the reporter of the story, it is unclear why Ginny Baker just ran out of the class room crying at the sight of Valarie being back at school. The article states that Nick, “Just leaned down, pointed the gun in her face, shot her and walked away.” (pg 85). The article also tells about the reconstructive surgery she is having to get done as a result of this stating that; “He (her father) added that he will be moving back to the midwest to help Baker through the extensive plastic surgery that doctors say will be required to reconstruct her face” (pg 85). Understanding what happened to Ginny on the day of the shooting and the long road to recovery she has to go down in order to become somewhat normal again gives obvious reasons for her to be upset and traumatized by seeing the girlfriend and accused accomplice of her attacker free and back in the same school as her. This develops her character as being depressed and very emotionally unstable as a result of what Nick Levil did to her. When Val is informed that she is a suspect in the shooting it is extremely confusing why they would consider her since she seemed like a victim herself. Detective Panzella’s suspicion is justified through email evidence of Valerie and Nicks conversations where they exchange messages stating, “Oh, and you know who I want to add to the list? Ginny Baker. -N”, “I wrote her down. 411, btw. Wouldn’t it be great if all of a sudden the mall blew up and the SBRB (skinny blonde rich bitches) Club was blown to smithereens?” (pg 150-151). These emails develop Vals character and give more insight into the person she was before the shooting, making her more of an angry hateful person.

“Hate List” by Jennifer Brown uses primary documents, suspense and time manipulation to develop characters. Brown’s uses Time manipulation, conflict and primary documents developing the theme, plot and characters. Usage of these techniques give the characters a deeper personality that builds the plot and theme of the book.