My Sister's Keeper 141-283

Summary:

            After the court hearing was over, Anna is assigned with a guardian aid which would help her make wise decisions since she is too young and her mother is not allowed to talk about the case with her. Julia is a woman who happens to be Campbell Alexander’s former girlfriend. Since Julia is going to play an important role in the court case it would be very important for her to get to know everyone in Anna’s family. When she came to the hospital, Sara was not glad to see her. She said that Kate would not get better knowing that Julia was only there because Anna did not withdraw her lawsuit yet. This leads Julia to think of other things to ask Kate that wouldn’t bring that issue up. One of the things Julia asks Kate that surprises her is what Kate wanted to be when she grew up. No one ever asked her that because they just didn’t think she would make it that far. Kate tells Julia that life is very hard on Anna because of all that she has to face due to her sister’s medical condition.

            When yet another paper comes to Anna’s mother stating that a restraining order was placed against her, Anna becomes very confused once again. Each time pressure is placed on her, she doesn’t want to disappoint so she lets the whole thing go… even if it’s not what’s right for her. Campbell gets on her case about this and she replies that all she really wants is to not be treated like a pet and to be given the chance to explain her feelings toward this whole situation.

            For the first time Julia actually gets to talk to Anna’s older brother Jesse (the addict). He describes to her how life in his family is very hard to live because they forget that he is even there. They never give him the time of day, which is exactly what causes him to do all the rebellious things he does, just to get the attention of his parent even if it meant in a negative way.

            After Campbell gets those important feelings out of Anna he goes to the fire house and talks to her dad. He wants Brain, Anna’s father to also testify against his wife and agree with Anna that she had the right to a choice. It seems that all Campbell really cares about winning the case and not actually getting the right answers and solutions.

            Another one of Sara’s flashbacks is about when Anna was again placed in the hospital to get bone marrow drawn from her body for Kate to put her back into relapse. After the procedure is over Anna is in the hospital room and she asks for her mother. Since her mother is with Kate she cannot come down. It bothers me how Anna does this whole procedure for her sisters benefit and her mother doesn’t come down and see how her young daughter is doing. The only person who acknowledged her was her father who got her a necklace for helping her sister so much.

            Back in the current time, Anna and her sister are playing a crossword puzzle and the needed the answer for a “four-letter word for a vessel”. Just then the doctor walks in and tells them that Kate is having renal failure. He says that she only has a week since the availability of the kidney is still under debate. When Sara starts crying Anna tells her mom to stop and her mother replies with “No, Anna. You stop.”(Picoult 251). Anna then replies by saying that a four letter word for a vessel is Anna. When she said that it showed her feelings toward everything that is occurring because she feels like she is being used.

            When the trial is started up again, Anna’s mom Sara asks the judge if she can offer a deal with her daughter and her attorney. That deal is that Anna would provide this kidney for the transplant and that would be the last thing that she has to do for Kate. This decision is very important, which is why Campbell says they need to go discuss it, although Anna already made up her mind about that question and the answer was: I can’t.

Quote:

“You could take a conversation about the frigging Red Sox and somehow turn it back to Kate” (Picoult 267).

Reaction:

Jesse was very young and when he got into trouble with his school his mother had to pick him up instead of doing her bedside vigil she was keeping for Kate. While she was lecturing him, she started to compare everything to Kate and all the struggles that she faces. He became angry because he felt as though all his mother ever thought about was Kate and not anyone else. It shows how Anna is right for trying to get her own say at things because her mother will always make Kate her top priority.

My Sister's Keeper 1-141

Summary:

Since we are reading books that have been developed into films, this term I decided to read My Sister’s Keeper by: Jodi Picoult. So far this book is about a young girl named Anna who is trying to figure out where she belongs in life. Unlike all other children who were born to their parents, she was born for a specific reason: to help treat her sister’s long battle with leukemia. She talks about her parents, her mother who is very over protective of her older sister, her brother Jesse who moved into the garage and started doing bad things like smoking and drinking for attention. Since her brother lives out in the garage she never goes out to him, but all of a sudden she went to her brother “house” and asked him to give her a ride. She ended up going to the office of a lawyer. Obviously when she went to the lawyer’s office he thought it was a joke since she was only thirteen, but since a major decision about her was about to be made she thought she had a right to a choice. That decision was whether or not one of her kidneys should be given to her dying sister. This is why she wants to sue her parents for the rights to her own body.

Since this book is written in different point of views the next person who is speaking is Campbell Alexander who is going to be her lawyer. She tells him how they never pay attention to her unless they need something for her sister. This prompts him to file a petition to grant her medical emancipation from her parents which would mean that she has to go to court and face her parents which is something that a normal thirteen year old would be terrified to do.

Anna’s father Brian is a firefighter. Even though he is supposed to be working he takes the time to eat with his family. At dinner that day they notice that Anna is not at the dinner table in time for dinner. When she comes, they notice many things that are strange about her such as the way she is speaking to people and the fact that she wasn’t wearing the necklace that was given to her as a very important gift from her dad. This causes her father to be alarmed, but her mother thinks that the other children are higher priorities since compared to them Anna is doing fine.

Days later while Anna, her mother and her sister Kate are at the hospital for Kate’s Dialysis sessions, the sheriff comes and delivers papers to Anna’s mom Sara. She finds out that she is being sued by her own daughter. Even though you might think that both her parents might have been outraged, Anna’s father seemed to understand that it’s not a crazy idea for something like this to happen, but her mom thinks it all for attention.

At the court hearing, a lot of misunderstandings occurred causing each side to believe that Anna was agreeing with them. Since she is living with her mother, it is very hard to come out and just say what she wants but on the other hand she wants to continue the case because it is important to her.

In all of the flashbacks that Anna’s mother has, she is able to take us through the journey of her daughter’s life from when it all started crashing down. These flashbacks help us understand what led her to making the decisions of “creating” Anna and making her a donor to her sister.

Quote:

“If you have a sister and she dies, do you stop saying you have one? Or are you always a sister, even when the other half of the equation is gone?”(Picoult138).

Reaction:

When I first read these sentences, it caused me to really think about what the right answer really is. Anna is doing the exact same thing. She doesn’t want to lose her sister but she also doesn’t want to get used and not have a say in it. This quote allows us to have an insight to the kind of thinking she has to be doing.