Character Study #2

2. Josie Cormier

    

      Josie Cormier is introduced as a seventeen year old "it girl" who appears to have it all based on her outer appearance. She is pretty, studious, and conforms to the crowd in order to retain a coveted position on the high school social hierarchy. The first introduction of Josie is her thoughts where her life is compared to a room with no doors and no windows, that other students could only dream of entering, yet she feels trapped with no escape. It is clear that she suffers with insecurity and common teenage mental instability when the narrator says, "Either Josie was someone she didn't want to be, or she was someone who nobody wanted (Picoult 8)."

     The reader barely knows Josie yet the audience already sees her daily struggle that lies underneath her flawless facade. She forces herself into looking and acting a certain way in order to gain acceptance. "The problem was, when Josie looked in the mirror, she noticed what was underneath that raw skin, instead of what had been painted upon it (Picoult 8)." This is a creative way to illustrate the pain Josie feels after putting up a front, solely for the purpose of living what many considered to be the ideal teenage life. The proceeding passages are very emotional and show that her life is nowhere near perfect. Josie cannot confide in her mother and is afraid of losing herself and becoming "a fake who had nearly forgotten what it felt like to be real (Picoult 9)."

     Josie is hiding a lot from her mother going to the lengths of stashing of Ambien in case she needed a way to "escape." The reader can relate Josie to her mother because they are both under extreme pressure to perform and act a certain way. Josie is so afraid of facing the truth and instead seeks comfort from the acceptance of her boyfriend Matt and her elite circle of friends. She relies on her social status to make her happy, and reminds herself how "lucky" she is in order to go on. Josie may seem like she has it all, but in reality she is constantly tormented by the pressure and is not satisfied with her life.

     One example that hits home for the reader, was when she is at lunch listening to the girls gossip and watching the boys torment a quiet student when she is about to eat her french fries. Considering all the had was coffee that morning, she is starving, and about to dig into her lunch when her boyfriend Matt glances at the fries and says, "You're not going to eat those, are you (Picoult 17)?" He proceeds to actually pinch her waist to deter her from consuming such a greasy meal. His action was, "a caliper and a criticism all at once...Ten seconds ago, they'd looked golden brown and smelled like heaven; now all she could see was the grease that stained the paper plate (Picoult 17)." This is another strong insight crafted by the author to illustrate the emotionally exhausting life Josie goes through on a daily basis. Matt's behavior is extremely disrespectful, but Josie is forced to conform to these standards because fighting it would cost her entire fake life. There is so much pressure to be perfect that she takes this and continues to feed off of Matt's approval to feel satisfied.