One more novel, one more story. Anna Fitzgerald. An ordinary girl of thirteen. If we picture an image of the girl of this age we will see a pretty creature with the eyes full of burning desire to discover the mysteries of life. Will her dreams be restricted to buying new clothes, watching new films, chatting with friends and falling in love with a Prince Charming? This is not the case with the main character of “My Sister’s Keeper”. Anna Fitzgerald absolutely differs from the children of the same age. Her destiny itself made her different from thousands of teenagers. Anna Fitzgerald’s story told by the American writer Jodi Picoult in “My Sister’s Keeper” empowers us to call this girl a unique one.
From the first lines of Anna’s story we realize that the girl has a rare assumption of the outside world. Interesting comparisons that she makes describing this or that issue prove her ability to see the world from some other perspective, she is capable of noticing the things that are hardly noticed by others. She is absolutely sure of the reason of her appearance on the Earth. “… unlike the rest of the free world, I didn’t get here by accident,” she concludes. (Picoult, 2004, p. 2) The girl’s being born because of the scientist’s success in combining genetic material builds a wall between her and the rest of the world. Like other teenagers, Anna tries to understand who truly she is, but unlike other teenagers she has always been treated like a part of her sister. Anna’s main destination was to live for Kate.
What was important for Ann at this stage of her life was to preserve her love to life notwithstanding the grievances she faced with. The girl, deprived of the ordinary childhood, who never felt a kid, finds relief in her love to the people around.
Kate, her sister and the best friend, keeps living due to Anna’s constant sacrifices and Ann, in her turn, lives for Kate. The closest interdependence one could hardly imagine is the basis for Anna’s life. It gives her power to fight and to believe in the better world. The bridge made by the girls between their beds with the help of their hands serves a symbol of their friendship. It seems that everything will be all right while the bridge is strong.
One more object of Anna’s love is her mother. Sara Fitzgerald is a stay-at-home mother and ex-lawyer who dedicates all her life to Kate neglecting somehow other children. Anna’s ability not to be jealous of her mother’s constant attention to Kate distinguishes the girl from other children. Anna realizes that her mother is extremely tired of the life that does not stop to chock the family with the horrific events. Anna constantly justifies her parents’ neglect of all children but for Kate. She states that her parents do not have time for being equally attentive to three of them.
But one day Anna understands that the time to challenge her situation has come. She takes the serious decision that will tear her family apart and will have fatal consequences for her sister that she loves affectionately.
Anna begins to wonder why she had never been asked a question about her desire to donate one of her kidneys to keep Kate alive. People around were never interested in Anna’s feelings after the painful procedures and extended hospitalizations. One day Anna really becomes a rebel and hires a lawyer who can help her to gain medical control over her body. The author of the novel describes brightly Anna’s dilemma but does not show a way out from the situation.
It seems that the author’s purpose when creating the character under consideration was just to ask questions and not to give the answers to them. Though there are no possible correct answer answers to the ethical issues raised in the book, the character skillfully depicted by Jodi Picoult approached us to understanding of the problems that seem unsolvable. Can a child born intentionally to save someone’s life really be free? Isn’t it the child’s concern to determine one’s own destiny? The answer that Anna Fitzgerald gives is positive.
It is in our will to judge the young girl but we need to admit the girl’s power to make her own decisions. The power of every person to decide one’s own fate seems to be the main message of the author that she managed to render through creating the character of Anna Fitzgerald that strikes with its uniqueness. Getting to know the story of the girl, our assumption of the outside world differs, we become more patient to the people around and try to see the world in its best manifestations. This power helped Anna and it is destined to help everyone involved into reading of the novel.
Works Cited
Picoult, Jodi. My Sister’s Keeper.1st Atria Books, 2004.