My Sister's Keeper door Jodi Picoult

5.         Theme

1. Choose the 2 most important themes dealt with in the novel.

     (a single word won’t do → be specific !)

    

   No matter what, unconditional love will always exists.

    

   What to do with really hard ethical dilemma’s

    

    

2. < >< >   how the themes relate to the main characters.

    

   Here Anna shows you that it’s hard for her to see her mother like that, but she has to keep the promise with Kate.

    

   Sara:

   People seem to think that we're trying to make a designer baby.' 'Aren't you?' 'We didn't ask for a baby with blue eyes, or one that would grow to be six feet tall, or one that would have an IQ of two hundred. Sure, we asked for specific characteristics--but they're not anything anyone would consider to be model human traits. They're just Kate's traits. We don't want a super baby; we just want to save our daughter's life. (page 102)

   Here Sara shows you her dilemma of making a designer baby or not.

    

   'Your sister,' I say evenly, 'is incredibly sick. I'm sorry if that interferes with your dentist's appointment or your plan to go buy a pair of cleats. But those don't rate quite as high in the grand scheme of things right now. I'd think that since you're ten, you might be able to grow up enough to realize that the whole world doesn't always revolve around you.' . . . 'Yea, right, she's sick,' he says. 'Why don't you grow up? Why don't you figure out that the world doesn't revolve around her?’

   Here you see the Sara’s dilemma to letting Kate go, to also look on other things in life.

    

    

   Campbell:

   'Campbell, that's her mother!' 'This week, she's opposing counsel, and if she's prejudicing my client in any way she needs to be ordered not to do so.' 'Your client has a name, and an age, and a world that's falling apart -- the last thing she needs is more instability in her life. have you even bothered to get to know here?' . . . '. . . my job is to protect Anna's legal rights and win the case, and that's exactly what I'm going to do.' 'Of course you are. Not necessarily because it's in Anna's best interests . . .but because it's yours.’ (page 119)

   Here Campbell shows you his dilemma of the choice between Anna and her mother.

    

   Brian:

   "It seems remarkable that while one of our daughters is leading us into a legal crisis, the other is in the throes of a medical one-but then again, we have known for quite some time that Kate's at the end stages of reanl failure. It is is Anna, this time, who's thrown us for a loop. And yet-like always-you figure it out; you manage to deal with both. The human capacity for burden is like bamboo-far more flexible than you'd ever believe at first glance. (page 196)

   Here you see Brian’s dilemma between losing Kate and loving Anna.

    

    

    

    

    

   Unconditional love:

    

   Sara and Brian:

   'Maybe we should bring Kate home,' Brian says . . . 'I mean now.' He steeples his hands. 'I think she'd want to die in her own bed.' That word, between us, explodes like a grenade. 'She isn't going to-' 'Yes, she is.' He looks at me, his face carved by pain. 'She is dying, Sara. She will die, either tonight or tomorrow or maybe a year from now if we're really lucky. You heard what Dr. Chance said. Arsenic's not a cure. It just postpones what's coming.' My eyes fill up with tears. 'But I love her,' I say, because that is reason enough. 'So do I, Too much to keep doing this.' (page 265)

   Here Sara and Brian show you their love for Kate, they love her so much they don’t want her to have pain anymore.

    

   Sara:

   'Wait,' Sara interrupts. 'I have something to say . . . You think you can lay it all out in words, black-and-white, as if it's that easy. But you only represent one of my daughters, Mr. Alexander, and only in the courtroom. I represent both of them equally, everywhere, every place. I love both of them equally, everywhere, every place.' 'But you admitted that you've always considered Kate's health, not Anna's, in making these choices,' I point out. 'So how can you claim to love both of them equally? How can you say that you haven't been favoring one child in your decisions?' 'Aren't you asking me to do that very thing?' Sara asks. 'Only this time, to favor the other child?' (page 298)

   Sara shows you here how difficult it is for her, but no matter what, she loves all of her kids.

    

   Anna:

   '. . . people you love can surprise you every day. That maybe who we are isn't so much about what we do, but rather what we're capable of when we least expect it.' (page 307)

   A beautiful quote from Anna

    

   Sara:

   'When you care more if someone else lives than you do about yourself . . . is that what love's like?' (page 310)

   This quote is about Kate and her boyfriend, who dies from cancer. But, this quote is also the quote it’s all about, if you’re asking me.

    

   Campbell and Julia:

   'You don't love someone because they're perfect . . . You love them in spit of the fact that they're not.' (page 384)

   This is about Campbell who got away from Julia because he don’t want her to have a limited life because of his epilepsy.

This is about Campbell who got away from Julia because he don’t want her to have a limited life because of his epilepsy.

'I don't want her to die, but I know she doesn't want to live like this, and I'm the one who can give her what she wants . . .I've always been the one who can give her what she wants.' (page 389)

And:

'Anna,' Campbell says quietly, 'what made you think that Kate wanted to die?' 'She said she was ready.' (page 391)

These two quotes are exactly what this book is about. Anna’s love for Kate to sued her parents.