Difficult and Complex Issues in "the Tenth Circle" by Jodi Picoult

In Jodi Picoult's "The Tenth Circle," there are many complex issues that are difficult to process and deal with- both for characters in books and for people in real life. While some issues are obvious and very real, others are more complex or personal. "The Tenth Circle" is about a girl named Trixie and her family trying to deal with the many issues that proceed her rape. There are many events that contribute to Trixie's slow mental recovery, along with her father and mother's mental recovery.

One step towards the recovery of Laura, Trixie's mother, is to admit to her affair. This contributes to her recovery because it makes her much more available to her daughter and her husband, who need her desperately during their struggle to move on with their life. Adultery is one complex issue in this book, and is mentioned frequently. Daniel, Trixie's father, is a comic book illustrator, and his book does not portray adultery lightly, with "Adultery Demons" being the "Fourth Circle Of Hell." Laura's affair is taken very seriously and is not discreet. The night of Trixie's rape, Daniel confronts Laura about her affair and asks if she was with the man the night that their daughter was raped. This shows how complex the social issues are in this book and how damaged the characters are.

When Daniel is trying to recover from Trixie's rape, a major conflict he deals with is drawing the fine line of how much she needs him and where to step in or let her go. Daniel describes Trixie as "just growing away from him," and can't handle not having her so close to him. Daniel is always there for Trixie and in a way, her problems are a repetition of Daniel's problems as he grew up. A complex problem that Daniel is forced to deal with is his daughter's growing up and not needing him for many things. Daniel also has to deal with learning when to be there for Trixie. All in all, Daniel has to deal with many complex issues on helping Trixie grow up.

Trixie has to deal with many, many complex issues when she is recovering to her rape. She goes through periods of suicidal tendencies, and cuts her arms. She also deals with being in love with a boy who rapes her, and the complex emotions of not knowing what to feel, especially when he boy is killed and she is a suspect. "She hadn't been looking to ruin his life. She'd only been looking to salvage her own," writes Picoult, describing Trixie's thoughts on flirting with Jason, the boy who raped her, at the party. It is an incredibly complex issue to thin about Trixie loving Jason even though he hurt her so badly.

All in all, "The Tenth Circle" is a book with many complex and difficult issues. Like many of Picoult's books, one of the main ideas is how far to go for someone you love, and whether killing can be justified. I thought that this book was very well written and had a suspenseful, well crafted plot.

Argument Essay

In 2012 alone, 464 books, for children, teens and adults, were challenged or banned. The books attracting special attention were written for a certain age group- teens, or young adults. Young Adult literature is said to handle topics too mature and disturbing for kids between the age of 12 and 18. Students should be able to have the choice to choose what they read. There is no justifiable reason to completely ban a book from any age group, including young readers. Banning a book is like killing a friend. Why do that to a kid?

One reason why young adult literature should be available to kids is that kids can identify with these books and learn from them. Reading literature that is slightly gruesome or sexual can only widen the minds and horizons of young readers, helping them develop their own perspectives and feel new emotions. One teenage reader posted her feedback n banning books on Twitter. She wrote, "Good literature rips open the private parts of us- the parts people.... have deemed too dark, inappropriate, grotesque, or abnormal for teens to be feeling- and then they stitch it back together again before we even realize they're not talking about us.” This only shows how important this genre is for kids and society.

Another reason why books should not be banned from students is that not only do these books help the kids who identify with the problems, but they also help the kids who don’t. Sherman Alexie, the author of frequently challenged, “The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian” wrote that he met an individual who was wealthy and lacked all of the issues that others who Alexie talked to had. Alexie was confused and didn’t know how to help him with his equally troublesome issues. Alexie’s only answer was to write a book about it. The teen said, “I want to be myself. Just like in your book.” This shows how important Young Adult literature is to teens and how helpful and crucial it is.

Yet people still question Young Adult literature, saying that books might set bad examples for kids who haven’t experienced “horrors”. Megan Cox Gurdon, journalist for the Wall Street Journal, writes that, “self destructive adolescent behaviors are observably infectious and have periods of vogue.” This sentence follows two paragraphs gruesomely portraying self-harm, making the reader’s reaction be “Oh no, ‘slic[ing] [their] arms to ribbons!' Never!” But according to Alexie, there is absolutely no point in not allowing kids to view these books, because their lives are worse. So who to believe? The easy answer is Gurdon; parents must protect their children from dreadful, unknown and unnecessary horrors. However, the educated answer is found with Alexie. Alexie was a real world troubled kid, abused, disturbed, and a voracious reader.  He writes, “[Teens] read because they believe, despite the callow protestations of... adults, that books- especially the dark and dangerous ones- will save them.” This quote shows how important books are to kids and how books leave impacts on people- Alexie is an adult, yet he still believes that books are saviors.


All in all, students need to be able to make their own decisions regarding books because we are the readers. As a student reader, I think that all books should be available to everyone. I have read books that I thought were slightly upsetting for me as a reader, such as “Night” by Eli Wiesel. But after discussing the book with my teacher, I was able to understand it and learn from it. This only shows how books can help build community while teaching young readers. If someone reads enough to care, they will be capable of deciding if they are comfortable with the subject of a book.