My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult, Book Review Example

About the Author

Jodi Picoult is a well known author primarily noted for her contribution to the New York Times issues. One character of Picoult is the fact that she has a way of utilizing the right words and the right plot to be able to reach into the hearts of her readers. Through the creation of characters that define and reflect the most conflicting issues of life, Picoult is able to present a picture that define the different decisions that humans take, both complex and unstable at some point. Giving forth towards the creation of several issues that are expected to expose the result of such decisions, Jodi Picoult is not afraid to explore the uncomfortable positions that human individuals take into consideration just so to be able to solve certain problems that they face. In her story My Sister’s Keeper, Picoult delves into the same presentation of human nature in an aim of creating an almost impossible conflict that has resulted to larger issues involving more people into the problem. Questioning the importance of being a good parent, being a good sibling and being a good person, this story tries to make a definitive indication on how humanity tries to reconcile with the differences that they are in need of embracing in line with the life they hope to live with.

The Book’s Background

Picoult’s inspiration in writing the story came from the idea of defining how family relationships are supposed to be viewed and what particular impact they should have on the life of each other. Relatively, she then uses an unconventional problem that could have been solved easier than the path that the parents of Anna and Kate have taken into consideration. Kate, the older sister was diagnosed to have leukaemia ever since she was born. To resolve the situation, giving birth to Anna was a rather defined response making her a perfect bone-marrow donor for her sister as she grows older. No conflict was still evident until the maturity of Anna into young adulthood. Seeing her life to be specifically apart from that of her sister’s she begins to question her role in the family and her identity as an individual. The release of the book in 2005 gained a considerable acceptance from the market that the making of a movie based on the said story has been pushed through in 2009.

Character Analysis

The parents of Anna and Kate were faced with the dilemma of having to bring up a child who has leukaemia and has no choice of being cured besides having a bone-marrow match that could support her growth. Anna, the younger sister was primarily genetically engineered to have a bone-marrow replica with that of Kate so as to make sure that she would be a perfect donor for her sister when she becomes older. Relatively though, like other girls of her age, Anna was able to enjoy the gist of life during her childhood and later on realized that she has more to life than simply being a donor to support her sister’s life. Although there was a genuine love that she felt for her sister, she knew that her life also has an importance that should be recognized not only by herself, but by her family as well. The change in decision on the part of Anna’s desire to support his sister and the desire she has to live her life to the fullest served as the primary conflict of the story. In the end, Kate lets go of her life for the better condition of living and identity that Anna deserves.

Reflections and Reaction

Tragic as the ending may have been, it could be analysed that Jodi Picoult was able to create a picture that would best manifest a good impact on how the audiences understand the real worth of families and how much it should be given importance to. The family, as a unit is presented in the story as a single form of group that should function well together. However, apart from being a single unit is the fact that families are made up of separate individuals who have separate identifications and specific notable uniqueness in themselves. Each individual also has the right to life, and be able to enjoy such matter as their own and not as relatively connected to others in the family. While the family is expected to create a protective support for each of its member, it does not have the power to dictate what life it members are supposed to live with.

Anna’s decision, to some audiences, may seem selfish. However, when the problem is to be explored deeper, the first decision to be considered is that of their parents’. In the aim of saving a child, the parents opted to create another who would serve as the support source for the sickly one, as if taking off the right to decide on the sibling when it comes to deciding on what she should be and how she should live her life. The consideration over the desire of living a full life on the part of Anna should not in any point be questioned as she does have the right to it and at some point, being a keeper of her sister does not mean she needs to forget herself and make a sacrifice of dropping her whole life right in front of her. The lesson of giving ample worth and value to a person is the primary message of this story, defining the demarcation line that separates familial responsibilities and personal rights to complete one’s life to its fullest without any guilt.

Reference

Picoult, Jodi. (2005). My Sister’s Keeper: A Novel. Washington Square Press.