House Rules (novel)

House Rules

a fictional novel by Jodi Picoult

Plot Summary

In the novel by Jodi Picoult, House Rules is spilt up into different chapters and are written from the different characters’ point of view. Jacob Hunt is 18 –years old and is diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome, which is a form of highly functioning autism. Jacob lives with his mother and brother, Emma and Theo Hunt. Jodi Picoult 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, which is explained in the novel that this consumes his life and is also known as his “hobby”. He owns a police radio, and shows up at the scene of crimes, helping the detectives figure out manner, mechanism and cause of the victims’ death. There are several parts in the book where Jacob sets up false “crime scenes” for the rest of his family to solve. Part of Jacob’s schedule is to watch the show The Crimebusters everyday at 4:30. Jacob proves as the story unfolds that he has memorized every single episode by being able to list off each episode number and what happened in each one. Jacob is on trial for murdering his social skills counselor, Jess Ogilvy. Jacob testifies that he found Jess dead in her bathroom, cleaned her and the scene up. He also stated that he created a new scene with a different direction. . 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: 1)Clean up your messes 2)Tell the truth 3)Brush your teeth twice a day 4)Don’t be late for school 5)Take care of your brother; he’s the only one you’ve got . Theo Hunt, the 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. . In another part of the novel, Theo states that he realizes he will have to take care of Jacob on his own, but wanted to know “why God couldn’t have asked him first?” . 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. is the head detective on Jess’s case. 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. Oliver Bond is Jacob Hunt’s attorney. He helps Jacob throughout the case by asking the judge for a sensory break every fifteen minutes and 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 by Detective Matson.

Character List

Jess Ogilvy - Jacob’s social skills counselor, murdered. Cause of death: subdural hematoma Mark Maguire - Jess’s boyfriend Judge Cuttings - judge presiding over the murder case of Jess Ogilvy Helen Sharp - Prosecutor

References

reflist