Reflection

When I read Jason's part, from the beginning it seemed that his letters would have a big significance later on in the story. I was correct when I predicted that Jason would somehow die in the end, and it is assumed that he did die because he has been missing for months with no trace. The letters Jason wrote were the more crucial than the letters that Cheryl, Heather and Reg wrote because Jason's revealed some truths in his life. Jason revealed that the twins were actually his twins and not Kent's; if he hadn't have written this note, no one ever would have known Barb's secret. I predicted that Jason would kill himself in the end, but it seems as though he actually just went missing and didn't survive in the wilderness.

When I was reading Heather's part, I had a feeling that Allison wouldn't be as good as she seemed. In the end we find out that Allison is a fake and completely manipulated Heather, so my gut instincts about psychics was correct.

As I was reading each person's perspective on Reg, knowing that he had his own chapter at the end, I figured that we see a softer side of Reg in the end. Reg was he bad guy throughout the whole book, and generally the bad characters turn good in the end, which is what happened in Reg's case.

From the critic article summaries I wrote about: “The novel begins to lose some of its narrative coherence [after Cheryl and Jason’s parts] and we cease to care as much about what happens after that." (Johnston 60)  After completing the novel, I agree with Johnston because Cheryl's part was what captivated my interest, and although I did enjoy the rest of the book, I found her part to be the best, and each perspective got slightly less interesting. Most of the action is from the school shooting part, which takes place in the first two perspectives of Cheryl and Jason, which may be why I found them more captivating then Heather and Reg, who were only indirectly related to those events.

At first, I thought the story revolved around Cheryl, but now after finishing the reading, I see that it actually revolves around Jason. Everything Cheryl did in her young life was for Jason: becoming religious, getting married. As we continue through perspectives, Heather's part completely revolves around Jason and their relationship, and in the last part of the book, Reg's part reflects on his life and the impact he had on his son Jason. In the beginning, Jason had everything he could have ever wanted, he found love in Cheryl.

After finishing reading, you see everything Jason went through and realize Jason's life was a tragedy. He had a hard life growing up with Reg, who was a religious freak. Then the love of his young life, Cheryl, tragically dies right in his arms after a school shooting, he resorts to drug trips for his thrills, and goes missing in the end and is presumably dead.

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Book Note Summary: Part Four - Reg

Book Note Summary: Part Three - Heather

Book Note Summary: Part Two - Jason

Book Note Summary: Part One - Cheryl

Exposure to pain

“Will you just tell me why it is that the only way we ever seem to take steps forward in life is through pain? Huh? Why is exposure to pain always supposed to make us better people?” (Coupland 181)

This quote stand out to me while I was reading because I think it represents the theme of the book. Every part of Hey Nostradamus! is dealing with some form of loss, some form of tragedy, some form of pain. Jason shed his religious ways into a new person after the death of Cheryl, Heather turned into a maniac after the loss of Jason, and after a lifetime of pain and loss in Reg’s life, he is finally able to be a better person and see what he has done wrong. Reg can now reflect on past decisions, question his motives, and be a gentler person, but he had to lose everything to become this person. I can relate to this quote because I’ve got through a particular moment of pain in my life, and I truly believe that I wouldn’t be the person I am today if I wasn’t bullied. I think that time in my life made me a stronger person and taught me how to deal with the pain caused by others.

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A new side of Reg

The fourth part of Hey Nostradamus! is from the perspective of Reg in 2003. Reg explains his actions, why he was the way he was starting from the early points of his life, and his reasoning with God. In Cheryl and Jason’s perspectives, we see a very negative side of Reg. We see the religious, controlling, evil side of Reg. When we get introduced to Heather’s part, she, combined with the loss of Jason, bring out a new side of Reg. We begin to see a heart behind the rough exterior. “Heather, something happened today. Tell me what it was” (Coupland 179) shows Reg to be a little more understanding lately, as he was making Heather tea. Also, when Heather tells Reg about the characters between her and Jason, Reg doesn’t react in his normal religious-freak-out sort of way; instead, he is more understanding and actually finds the use of characters to be a good output. It’s sad that it took the death of his son Kent, the royal dumping by his wife, and the loss of Jason for Reg to finally get Reg to see some error in his ways, but I guess better late than never. In the final part of the book, Reg is writing his note to Jason with the intention of posting up photocopies of it in the forest that Jason’s shirt and debit card are found in (as told to Reg by the RCMP). Reg provides us with one last sliver of hope that by putting up the posters, Jason will stumble upon one of them (although it is very likely that Jason is already dead).

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