House Rules (novel)

House Rules is a novel by Jodi Picoult about a boy with Asperger's Syndrome who was accused of murder. The novel shows the struggle between the boy and his family, the law and his disability. ^[1]

Plot

The novel is split up into different chapters which are written from five of the main characters' point of view.

Jacob Hunt is 18–years-old and is diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, which is a form of high-functioning autism.^[2] Jacob lives with his mother and brother, Emma and Theo Hunt.^[3] The novel goes on to explain that like most people with Asperger's Syndrome, he has to have a structured schedule for every day of the week and also has one area of interest, forensic analysis. It is explained in the novel that this hobby consumes his life.^[4] He owns a police radio, and shows up at different crime scenes, helping the detectives figure out manner, mechanism and cause of the deaths of each victim. There are several parts in the book where Jacob sets up pretend "crime scenes" for the rest of his family to solve. Then Jess Ogilvy, Jacob's social skills counsellor, is found dead. After arresting and then letting go the first suspect, Mark Maguire, Detective Rich Matson asks to talk to Jacob. After getting the boy to admit he moved Jess's dead body, Jacob is arrested and put on trial for murder. In court, the prosecutor, Helen Sharp, points out how all of Jacob's symptoms of Asperger's Syndrome are almost identical to the characteristics of those who are guilty. Also, it is proven in court that most of the evidence found relates back to Jacob being the murderer (eg: Jacob's fingerprints on the scene of the crime, an unlabeled crime scene evaluation identical to Jess's found in his notebook, and her backpack he retrieved from her home). At the end of the trial, Jacob testifies that he found Jess, dead in her bathroom and lying in a pool of her own blood. He admits to cleaning her, dressing her and placing her outside then cleaning the original scene up and creating a new one that will lead investigators in a different direction. This is because he realised that, while an accident, Jess's death was the fault of his brother, Theo. ^[5]

Characters

• Jacob Hunt - Oldest son of Emma and Theo's older brother. He is diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome and he's accused of murdering Jess Ogilvy, his social skills teacher.
• Emma Hunt - Single mother of Jacob and Theo Hunt, is a columnist for their town's local newspaper. She has devoted herself to her eldest son, Jacob, and his disability. She creates "House Rules" which are clean up your messes, tell the truth, brush your teeth twice a day, don't be late for school, and take care of your brother; he's the only one you've got.^[6] When Emma sees the quilt wrapped around Jess, she realizes that it is Jacob's and calls Detective Matson. After this, Matson interviews Jacob, ultimately arresting him for admitting to moving Jess's dead body.
• Theo Hunt - Younger brother of Jacob, claims himself to be independent and rebellious. He breaks into stranger's houses and takes items such as games and food. In the novel, he runs away to see his father, since he claimed to feel unwanted.^[7] In another part of the novel, Theo states that he realizes he will have to take care of Jacob on his own someday, but wanted to know "why God couldn't have asked him first".^[8] It is later revealed that he broke into Jess's house, saw her in the shower, then saw her slip and fall. He claimed he was scared so he ran. Jacob explains that this is why he went into Jess's house, cleaned his brother's mess, and created a new crime scene with new evidence.
• Rich Matson - The lead detective on Jess's case.^[9] He is the first to interview Jacob and get him to confess he was at the scene of the crime and moved Jess's body from upstairs in the bathroom, to outside the house. However, the evidence collected from the interview cannot be used because Detective Matson did not correctly read off Miranda Rights to Jacob before the interview took place.
• Oliver Bond - Jacob Hunt's attorney. He helps Jacob throughout the case by asking the judge for a sensory break every so often and for Emma Hunt to sit with Jacob to keep him calm. Later in the novel, Bond is granted a suppression hearing since Jacob was not read his Miranda Rights correctly by Detective Matson. Bond and Emma share romantic feelings as the trial goes on.
• Jess Ogilvy - Jacob's social skills counselor, murder victim Cause of death: subdural hematoma. Her studies involve kids like Jacob. Jacob does develop some degree of a crush on her early on.
• Mark Maguire - Jess's boyfriend and first suspect of the case because his shoe matched the print taken from the crime scene. However, he is soon cleared after Detecive Rich discovers a lack of wounds on Mark's hands, something which should have occurred if he was the culprit.
• Judge Cuttings - Judge presiding over the murder case of Jess Ogilvy
• Helen Sharp - Prosecutor; accusing Jacob Hunt of murder.

The novel is told from Jacob, Theo, Emma, Rich and Oliver's points of view.

Reception

In one review of House Rules the writer, N. Manning, has Asperger’s. The writer believes that Picoult’s portrayal of a person with Asperger’s is too extreme. Picoult took every possible symptom of Asperger’s and attributed them all to Jacob, whereas most individuals with the disorder only have some of the symptoms. Also, Jacob’s symptoms are exaggerated more than real symptoms are. The review mentions that there are certain cases in which the individual's photographic memory or attention to detail is as extreme as Jacob’s, but this does not happen often and it especially does not happen when more than one symptom is at its highest degree.

The same reviewer criticizes Emma’s discussion of trying to find a cure for Asperger’s. Because Asperger’s is not an illness or a disease, the condition does not have a cure and they believe that Picoult should not present it in such a way. On a similar note, another reviewer named Nancie Wiseman trashes Picoult’s audacity to write about the link between vaccinations and autism. There have been multiple studies to debunk that theory and Picoult brings more shame and guilt to the general public by including this inaccurate information. Other people say Picoult’s definition of Asperger’s sound more like the definition of a sociopath. Her portrayal of an adult with Asperger’s in “inaccurate” and “offensive.”

On the contrary, Laughing Stars blog author Atria notes that Jodi Picoult did ample research on Asperger’s in order to develop Jacob as a believable character. Picoult states in her interviews that she interviewed as many as 50 families with children having Asperger’s and sent written questionnaires to even more families. Atria commends Picoult’s informative and scholarly explanation of Asperger’s during the court trials. As a mother of a child with Asperger's Syndrome, she also praises Jodi for her ability to portray Jacob’s “mind blindness,” the term Atria uses to describe the inability of an Aspergian individual to see from another person’s point of view. Furthermore, Atria claims that House Rules allows the reader to get into the mind of Jacob and understand the daily challenges Asperger’s presents to the child and the family.

Picoult’s representation of Asperger’s is not without its faults, Atria says. Picoult portrays Jacob as incapable of empathy- something that many people with AS develop and overcome. Just because they experience emotion differently does not mean that many people with Asperger’s do not go on to have friends, get married, and have successful lives. Atria says, “Jodi really pushes the envelope” by pleading insanity for Jacob because he was incapable of knowing right from wrong. Calling this “disturbing” and “far-fetched,” Atria explains that Asperger’s is not an illness or a defect. Though there are many redeeming qualities about the novel, if nothing else it informs readers who otherwise would not know of Asperger’s, Picoult misses the mark on the subject of Asperger’s by making Jacob’s case too extreme and unrelatable.

http://laughingstars.net/2010/03/13/book-review-79-house-rules-by-jodi-picoult/

http://www.amazon.com/review/RG4UARQ805LLF

http://www.autismspeaks.org/community/resources/books.php

References

General

• http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/corp/aboutus.html
• Jodi, P. (2010). House Rules. NYC, NY: Atria.
• http://bookpage.com/books-10012933-House+Rules
• http://www.jodipicoult.com/

Specific