The Locked Kidney
Natalie Chang
IEP #5
Mr. deGroof
May 2, 2013
Natalie Chang
IEP#5
“My Sister’s Keeper ”, written by Jodi Picoult, is about a 13-year-old girl
Anna Fitzgerald. She was brought into the world as a genetic match for her sister
in order to become a donor to her sister, Kate, who has leukemia. Since her
sister depended on her donation to live-on, Anna wasn’t able to enjoy the life she
wanted. She wasn’t able to involve in any extracurricular activities such as being
a cheerleader or playing soccer. By the time Anna turned 13 she couldn’t stand it
anymore. She sues her parents for medical emancipation and the rights of her
own body and she hired Campbell Alexander as her lawyer. Before the result of
the case was known, the fact that Kate had asked Anna to file for medical
emancipation was exposed. Kate wanted to die. Finally Anna won the case, but a
sad twist came and ended it all, Campbell was driving his car with Anna in the
passenger seat, as the car collided into a truck. Campbell was fine but Anna
turned into a brain-dead. Everyone was torment, and then Campbell, being the
medical power lawyer for Anna, said that Anna would want her kidney donated to
her sister. This novel is jam packed with many different themes; the theme of
sisterhood is a strong theme in the novel. Another theme about choosing
between right and wrong is also illustrated in the novel.
Sisterhood is a strong theme throughout the novel, it appears in the novel
all the time. Sarah and Zanne, Julia and Izzy, and of course, Kate and Anna,
these three sets of sisters all show the importance of sisterhood. Zanne helped
Sarah taking care of her children in the hospital and supported her while she was
busy handing with Anna’s appeal. Sarah described her sister as a “built-in best
Natalie Chang
IEP#5
friend”. Another set of sisters was Julia and Izzy; Julia let Izzy move in with her
when her girlfriend dumped her and she always takes care of her.
The most important sisterhood connection was definitely Kate and Anna’s.
Anna was Kate’s savior. Kate wouldn’t have lived so long without Anna, and was
the only one that was possible to save her. At last, we learn that Kate was
actually the one who wanted the lawsuit because she felt so bad for letting her
sister into such a dangerous position. “Jesse is wrong- I didn’t come to see Kate
because it would make me feel better. I came because without her, it’s hard for
me to remember who I am,”(Pg.43) said Anna. There won’t be Anna without Kate,
in spite of the fact that Anna passed away in an accident at last, and her kidney
went to Kate. She had a hard time getting over that her sister had passed away.
But she knew that she and her sister would always share a special bond.
The novel illustrated the line to make a choice between right and wrong
perfectly. Kate is dying of leukemia and only Anna’s kidney would safe her, but
the transplant carried a risk of health problem. Sara believed she must do
whatever it took to save Kate. She couldn’t view the life without her. However,
her father Brian struggled to find the right answer. He started to feel guilty for
putting Anna through so much for Kate after Anna sued her parents and told
them she didn’t want to do this anymore. And Anna was also struggling to face
herself who she really was. Was her entire life only for saving Kate’s life? She felt
as though she wanted to save her sister but she also wanted to develop an
individual identity “They don’t really pay attention to me, except when they need
Natalie Chang
IEP#5
my blood or something. I wouldn't be alive, if it wasn’t for Kate being sick,” (Pg.33)
Anna said.
The book sets as each chapter as a day of the week. And this book is also
special about the perspective of each character. Each chapter is from a different
perspective from the person; it lets us understand each character’s points of view
and how their lives are like. It is interesting because seven characters have
different personalities and completely different points of views. We can see
strong sisterhood connections from Anna and Kate, when Anna was in a struggle
finding herself and being Kate’s savior. By looking at Anna and her parent’s
decision about whether Anna should continue donating organs to Kate, we can
clearly see the author was emphasizing the line between the right choice and the
wrong one.