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Discussion question for the August 2014 book of the month, The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult:

What do you think of Rocco and Mary's characters? How do the characters Rocco and Mary tell you more about Sage?

I think Picoult's expert way of delivering a story shows in the way we learn so much more about Sage by those around her such as Rocco and Mary, even though the story is not told from their perspective. I see these characters showing us another side of Sage, her value, skills and potential that she doesn't see and thus also her low self-esteem.

I love the way Mary's character plays a motherly role towards Sage, made especially dynamic since they do not see eye to eye on so many things.

However, Rocco's character kind of annoyed me and he seemed unrealistic and silly.

I thought Mary's character was well developed. Although, she did tend to piss me off at certain points, especially when she did not believe Sage about the former nazi officer. I guess that could have been a kind-of foreshadowing on Mary's part, since in the end you find out that he was NOT really the horrible guy he said he was, though obviously not absolved of his past crimes.

Rocco on the other hand, not very memorable. I literally had to flip back through the back to refresh my memory on who he was. That kind of says it all. His character was probably not necessary and I do not like think he added anything substantial to the characters or plot. Except maybe a spot of humor, but that would be stretching it.

if Rocco wasn't memorable and was annoying, do you think that the book would have been better without him at all? Should his role have been cut completely, or do you think that he should be replaced with another, better character?

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zahid

I think the book would have been better off without Rocco. He kind of seemed like a pointless character to me. Mary on the other hand, I though was just a little irritating.

I thought that both Rocco and Mary were pointless characters- Mary could've been kept in with more development, but otherwise I forgot about them completely until this topic was raised.

Rocco made the story have a touch more depth. We all know someone like him, a person who doesn't define us, but is a background character. Mary on the other hand had her place, although not entirely a pleasant one, and helped steer the story in a direction. Overall, Jodi writes good thought provoking material. Love her!

Carmen wrote:Rocco made the story have a touch more depth. We all know someone like him, a person who doesn't define us, but is a background character. Mary on the other hand had her place, although not entirely a pleasant one, and helped steer the story in a direction. Overall, Jodi writes good thought provoking material. Love her!

I agree about Rocco. I think that he was annoying and not realistic, but he added just a little more oomph to Sage's story. Mary as well didn't really too much of a purpose in the story after the focus shifts from the Jesus bread to the holocaust, but she makes the story overall more interesting and fills in some gaps. I didn't really get Mary's Jesus bread moment though... it seemed like that would be a big point, but then it led nowhere. Ultimately I think it was too distracting to fit in nicely in the background.

kayla1080 wrote:I thought that both Rocco and Mary were pointless characters- Mary could've been kept in with more development, but otherwise I forgot about them completely until this topic was raised.

Exactly my thoughts! It took me reading the first couple of posts in this thread to understand what characters were being referred to. Mary could have had a bit of a larger role, but Rocco seemed underdeveloped and seemingly pointless.

I thought Mary's character was very much created. Rocco then again, not exceptionally noteworthy. His character was presumably a bit much and I don't care for think he added anything significant to the characters or plot. But perhaps a spot of cleverness, however that would be extending it.