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Laura reached into the paper bag. She had known the moment she pulled it from behind the toilet tank that she was not holding the agreed-upon dye packs, but something better. A six-shot revolver, just like the one her husband had used. First, she shot Martin Queller in the head. Then she pressed the muzzle of the gun beneath her child and killed herself.
Pieces of Her questions the moral acceptability and practicality of actions which reflect an “extremist” position. The first of several acts of political violence detailed in the novel is the assassination of Martin Queller at an economics conference in Oslo. Laura Juneau, disguised as a well-respected economist, debates Martin, CEO of QuellCorp, in a panel at the conference which highlights their very different ideologies. While Martin feels that the United States has become a “welfare state” that distributes resources the undeserving, Laura in contrast argues that hard-working Americans spend their lives working on behalf of a political system that does not support them when they are no longer able to work. Citing the specific example of Robert Juneau, Laura makes an impassioned appeal that surprises Martin, gaining the upper hand in the debate.
However, when she reaches into her bag to find packs of red dye to throw at Martin, in fulfillment of an earlier plan, she instead pulls out a gun and calmly kills Martin and then herself. Her violent actions raise difficult ethical questions concerning the relationship between the law, revenge, and justice. These questions become even more complex in light of the fact that Laura had not herself planned to kill Martin. Later events in the novel reveal that the gun was planted in a bathroom by Jane Queller, who hoped to reassure her boyfriend Nick of her loyalty to their terrorist group the Army of the Changing World. The nature of these “extremist” groups, the novel suggests, is to become increasingly extreme in their tactics and ideas.
"She is a martyr—a celebrated martyr. And what we do next, the steps we take will make people realize that they can’t just run along like sheep anymore. Thing will have to change […] Only we can make that happen. We’re the ones who have to wake up everyone else.” They were all beaming at him, his willing acolytes.
After the shocking assassination of Martin Queller in Oslo, some members of the Army of the Changing World express their anxieties regarding the escalating violence and extremism of the group’s actions. The plan had been to humiliate Martin, not to kill him, and some group members note that the group’s involvement in Martin’s death will bring them to the attention of law enforcement. When their leader, Nick, arrives at the group’s “safehouse,” he quickly reassures the other members of the group that what happened in Oslo was part of his plan all along, and that they should celebrate the assassination as a great success. Nick claims that Laura Juneau, a former group member who killed herself after shooting Martin, is now a “celebrated martyr,” praising her extreme actions as heroic and deserving of praise. One implication of Nick’s speech is that there is glory in dying for their cause. At this point in the novel, Jane is becoming increasingly aware of the cult-like tendencies of the group, and she notes that his “willing acolytes” or followers stare at him in awe as he speaks.
“It’s alright. I mean no, of course it’s not alright, but it was an accident and we have to get past it because there are more important things at play here.”
“He’s right,” Quarter said. “We still have Stanford, Chicago, New York.”
Paula said, “You know I’m still in. I’m not like little miss princess here.”
As Nick proclaims the shocking events in Oslo a great success for the Army of the Changing World, Jane Queller’s doubts about the group’s extremist activities grow stronger. Though Jane hated her father on both personal and ideological grounds, she nevertheless feels guilt about her involvement in his assassination. Hoping to gain some sense of clarity, she goes to the top floor of the group’s “safehouse” and removes the muzzle from the mouth of Dr. Alexandra Maplecroft, an economist who was kidnapped by the group as part of its plans. However, Maplecroft is not interested in having a calm conversation with Jane, instead loosening her binds and attacking her.
Alerted by the commotion, the other group members race upstairs and Nick attacks Maplecroft, killing her. Jane is shocked by this violent turn of events. Nick, she reasons, could have incapacitated Maplecroft without killing her. When the dust settles, the group discusses what has happened, and Andrew, who has been fully indoctrinated in Nick’s extremist beliefs, attempts to justify the group’s actions. Though he acknowledges that the murder of Maplecroft was “not alright,” he nevertheless dismisses it as a mere “accident,” insisting that they must “get past it” and return to their work, which is more “important” than the death of one innocent individual. Quarter, who has also been brainwashed by Nick, agrees, noting that they still have other goals to focus on, including their plans to detonate bombs in various major cities. Paula, previously skeptical, now assents, affirming her loyalty. This scene, then, demonstrates the escalating violence of the group, and the various ways in which group members challenge each other’s loyalty in order to affirm their own. Paula dismisses Jane as “little miss princess,” implying that Jane’s horror at the murder is evidence that she is frivolous and immature.
