Reading Response Three; Rumble by Ellen Hopkins

      Matt is the main character in Ellen Hopkins book "Rumble." He is a brother of a boy named Luke that fell victim to relentless bullying due to his lifestyle. During the first pages of the story you learn that Matt's younger brother died a year before the present day. As the story progresses you learn that Luke committed suicide because he was gay and bullied by everyone in the community including his own father. The only person that was ever there for him was his older brother Matt, although Matt never stood up for his brother only told his brother to hide who he was. After Luke's death Matt struggles with his religious identity as well as facing his priorities. Matt places blame in everyone for Luke's death except for his girlfriend, Hayden, whom he relies on throughout the story.

“I think it’s easy
to confuse love with other things.
Lust, for one. Need, for another"

     I think this is a very important quote in the story because Matt confused his love with Hayden. During the story he says that he loves Hayden and she is his whole world. What Matt doesn't realize until later in the story is that Hayden was just a safety blanket when it came to dealing with the problems that his life threw at him. Matt confused love with need in this case. Toward the beginning of the story you learn that Matt doesn't believe in a God. He actually despises Christians because their relentless bullying is what he believes killed his brother. This is a great example of irony because his girlfriend is completely devoted to God. Matt believes that if there really was a so called "God" it would have saved his brother. Matt struggles with this throughout the story. After his parents get divorced and his girlfriend leaves him because God doesn't want them together he has to rethink his priorities. Matt finally concludes toward the end of the story that he needs forgiveness. He needs to forgive himself, and also forgive everyone else that he found at fault with Luke's death. That was the only way that he could truly move on and really be happy.
     The picture that I chose is of a cross with rainbow handprints. The reason that I chose this picture is because it represents what Rumble stands for. Rumble explores the idea of religion and what it truly means, while also shining light on different lifestyles. The essential theme of this book is to find out what religion means to you while deciding when and where to find your own personal forgiveness.