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My Sister's Keeper

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My Sister's Keeper
My Sister’s Keeper Jodi Picoult’s ‘My sister’s keeper’ is a novel based on conflicts surrounding the main character, Anna Fitzgerald. Anna did many procedures, endured pain, gave cells, bone marrow and blood to her sister, Kate. If that wasn’t enough, now the doctors want her to give away one of her kidneys. It was a shock to the whole family when her mom, Sara received a letter stating that her daughter, Anna is suing her for medical emancipation. When a law suit is filed it is usually for someone’s own benefit, in Anna’s case her one and main influential factor is Kate’s benefit. This shows that Anna’s strong and undefined love for her sister allows her to do what she would’ve never dreamed of doing, being the reason for Kate’s death. Anna’s perpetual love causes her to feel neglect from her parents, to put her sister before her own desires, and to grant Kate’s wish which leads to a lawsuit against her parents. One shouldn’t judge at the first glance of a situation, and that’s what Anna will teach us in this novel. “See, unlike the rest of the free world, I didn’t get here by accident. And if you parents have you for a reason then that reason better exist. Because once it’s gone, so are you.” Picoult wrote this quote which is a perfect example of what Anna feels throughout the novel and a factor that had an impact on her decision to sue her parents for medical emancipation. Anna’s wish would be to live independently from her sister because of all the neglect that she feels. She tells us with this quote that she was conceived to save Kate. She feels that her parents love her because she can make sure that their beloved daughter will be able to fight cancer and live a longer life. Anna informs us that her parents won’t love her anymore once Kate passes away since that was the reason that she was born in the first place. This makes Anna wonder whether people actually like her or if they are forced to be nice to her because of her circumstances.


Bibliography: Picoult, Jodi. My Sister’s Keeper. February 2005. New York. Washington Square Press. 2005. Print.

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