As you finished this book, was there anything that stood out as relevant to you in where you are in life at this time? Here is the last set of questions for us to discuss regarding “My Sister’s Keeper.”
- For what reason(s) did Brian offer Anna a place to stay at the firehouse while the legal proceedings were underway?
- How does Anna’s decision to pursue medical emancipation parallel Campbell’s decision to end his relationship with Julia after his accident?
- Do you agree with Brian’s decision not to turn Jesse in to the authorities for setting the fires?
- Do you feel that it’s ethical to conceive a child that meets specific genetic requirements?
- If not, do you believe that there should be specific exceptions, such as the purpose of saving another person’s life, or is this just a “slippery slope?”
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13 Responses to “My Sister’s Keeper” – Final Discussion Questions
1. For what reason(s) did Brian offer Anna a place to stay at the firehouse while the legal proceedings were underway?
Maybe he saw the firehouse as a home away from home for him, and so he figured it could be the same for Anna? I think he identified with Anna, though not as strongly as Sara did with Kate. I also think he saw it as a way to hold onto Anna. It’s interesting to me that in the end only Sara and Kate remained in the house – sort of like the illness had driven everyone else away.
2. How does Anna’s decision to pursue medical emancipation parallel Campbell’s decision to end his relationship with Julia after his accident?
I didn’t see a parallel at the time and I’m not sure I think much of one exists. I liked Campbell and Julia, and they made a good couple, but the circumstances of their break-up were very soap-operish to me, and I felt that Picoult overplayed the idea that they’d never gotten over each other. I thought Anna’s decision was so much deeper that it actually undercuts how dumb and childish Campbell’s choice was back then.
3. Do you agree with Brian’s decision not to turn Jesse in to the authorities for setting the fires?
Hmm. Well, I understand it. I think it was in character. I might have a hard time with a father who DID turn in his child under such circumstances.
But, that said – while Jesse was an interesting character, I don’t think his arsonist tendencies were very well thought out. Besides being extremely heavy-handed (his father’s a fireman so he rebels by starting arson fires), it just didn’t feel like Picoult acknowledged how serious and…awful Jesse’s actions were. It seemed like she thought it was enough for Brian to find out and yell at Jesse and hug him. I pretty much rolled my eyes out of my head at Jesse becoming a cop in the end.
4. Do you feel that it’s ethical to conceive a child that meets specific genetic requirements?
Yes. Or maybe, I just think it transcends ethics – what parent would not do what these parents did? To take an action that THEORETICALLY will not harm anyone, and may save a precious child’s life? I understand having ethical concerns from an intellectual perspective, but on a human level I simply cannot criticize it.
5. If not, do you believe that there should be specific exceptions, such as the purpose of saving another person’s life, or is this just a “slippery slope?”
I’m sure it is potentially a slippery slope. I don’t believe in doing it to get a boy or a girl or a blond-haired baby. I guess theoretically my concern would be a case where there was immediate potential harm to the second child – say you had a child who needed a kidney and created one to be a match? In Anna’s case, early on, the procedures were doing no harm. By the time they wanted to take her kidney, that really wasn’t the case. I think I’d have serious issues with someone conceiving a child and then taking a body part that that child might need to live a healthy life from the get go.
Jennie, I agree with your answers (especially 3) up until 4 and 5. I would have sought a medically compatible match, or I would have had multiple pregnancies naturally in an attempt to have a sibling match. So I do not have a problem with their decision to seek out another person for organ/blood donation.
I object to the procedure, where four or five embryos are conceived in a lab, tested, and most rejected and destroyed because they do not pass a genetic test. I would lay down my life for my children, but could never sacrifice the life of one or more for the other. I certainly understand what prompts a mother to do that, I just know I wouldn’t.
If a “donor” child were born by chance, I would have definitely tried to make her donate her kidney the way Sara did in this book with Anna. I don’t think it would have necessarily been the right thing to pressure her the way Sara did, but I know myself, and I am pretty sure I’d want to try to save the older daughter anyway.
NOOOOOO!!I just typed answers to questions 1-2, and then hit enter, and didn’t even include my name!! If you are getting this, can you please forgive my stupidity and publish it with this name? I will type the rest of my answers on here!
OK, I give up. I just typed the first three answers, and then hit the backspace button to fix a mistake, and lost it all. I really enjoyed reading this book, and have lots of thoughts, but I am too tired and can’t lose all that thought again.
Aw, Amanda – sorry! That is so annoying! Please share your thoughts if you can find the time.
Sorry you are having a tough time, Amanda– if you want to email me your answers (lizabeth@imperfectwomen.com) I can post them for you. I know we’re having some issues with posting now!For what reason(s) did Brian offer Anna a place to stay at the firehouse while the legal proceedings were underway?I think the firehouse was Brian’s safe haven. Everyone needs a place they can run away to, and Brian hoped to share his with Anna so she could have time to think and just process everything that was going on.How does Anna’s decision to pursue medical emancipation parallel
Campbell’s decision to end his relationship with Julia after his
accident?I hadn’t thought of this either, Jennie, but I do see some parallels. This is about Campbell saving someone who did not ask to be saved, verses Anna saving herself when she had not been asked whether she wanted saving. I can see how Campbell wanted to protect Julia, just as I can see why Anna (and, in the end, we see it was really Kate) wanted to protect Anna. We do some crazy things when we love someone and want to do what is right for them. The problem lies in our version of “right” verses what they would really want if given a choice.Do you agree with Brian’s decision not to turn Jesse in to the authorities for setting the fires?Yes and no. I think he was wrong to have no repercussions for Jesse just because of his own guilt. At the same time, every parent wants to protect their child so I can’t really hold it against him.Do you feel that it’s ethical to conceive a child that meets specific genetic requirements?No. I completely agree with Ann that you need to let nature take its course and not play God. There is something to be said about having faith that things will work out as they should, without intervening in this way with embryos that are tested to see if they are a good match, then destroyed if not. I’m also against selective reduction though, and feel that even if a child has any deformity or disease it should still be given the chance to live. Just my take, though…If not, do you believe that there should be specific exceptions,
such as the purpose of saving another person’s life, or is this just a
“slippery slope?” Definitely a slippery slope. It’s like medical intervention– how much is too much. It’s like what Jennie said with choosing a blonde haired baby verses a genetic match (or even cloning). Granted it doesn’t seem like it would do much harm, but pretty soon medicine would have the opportunity to custom make kids with high metabolism, high pain tolerance, and low cholesterol, etc. Children should be who they are, not who you make them into. (Then again I am not a mother and if I was might have a different take on things. I do know that my nephew, who was born 6 weeks early at 3 pounds 14 ounces, is more perfect than any child I’ve ever known– and thats just by the way his genes ended up being. He’s an amazing little guy, and I don’t know if we would appreciate it as much if we had made him that way instead of letting God make him who he is!!)
Sorry for my previous posts. This time, I wised up and typed my answers in Word first so I still have them if my posts are eaten again!I hope it’s OK if I jump onto this thread without having participated in the book study before now. I just bought this book in the airport on Tuesday, and finished it by Thursday night. I couldn’t put it down. I was skeptical of this book because of its popularity, and the author, but I found the book to be well written, thought provoking, and emotional. That being said, I was extremely displeased with the book ending. I felt that the author did a fine job creating this complicated story line, and then just dropped the ball by using the old “kill off a character” ending. I thought the ending was very unrealistic with Kate fully recovering, and Anna being killed in a car accident. I am not sure if I will see the movie, because I just can’t imagine the actors they have selected in these roles. 1. For what reason(s) did Brian offer Anna a place to stay at the firehouse while the legal proceedings were underway?I think that Brian offered Anna a place to stay at the firehouse because he was able to take a step back from the situation more than Sara was able to. This is not to say that Brian didn’t want to save Kate as well, but I think he was able to stay more objective than Sara was. In fact, we were able to see this early in their story when Brian objected to Anna going through some of the medical interventions on Kate’s behalf. I think that Brian recognized that Anna was extremely conflicted, and that being in the same house with Sara wasn’t giving Anna space to breathe and think. I also think Brian uses the firehouse as a way to escape the reality of his home. He does this repeatedly throughout the story. The firehouse is a second home for him, and offers him a chance to actual do something with his energies and emotions. Sara did not have an outlet. Her only outlet was keeping Kate alive. I believe that Brian’s firehouse served as a hiding place, in both a positive and negative sense. Overall, I liked Brian’s character. I don’t agree with some of the ways he handled his family issues, and that he didn’t stand up to Sara more, but I felt like he was in one of the most difficult positions of all the characters – he was torn between Anna, Kate, and his wife.2. How does Anna’s decision to pursue medical emancipation parallel Campbell’s decision to end his relationship with Julia after his accident?I was not thrilled with the relationship between Campbell and Julia. I found it slightly unrealistic, and a weak story line. I think Anna’s decision to emancipate herself parallel’s Campbell’s decision to end his relationship because they both are ending a relationship, in a sense, as a form of self-preservation. In spite of what they both want to do, and in spite of the pain that decision will cause. To be honest, it was 1 a.m. when I was finishing this book, and I was very curious about what was going to happen with Kate and Anna, so I may not have paid much attention to the ending of Campbell and Julia’s relationships.3. Do you agree with Brian’s decision not to turn Jesse in to the authorities for setting the fires?I’m torn on this. In a sense, I agree with the decision because Brian realizes that he and Sara have completely neglected their family’s needs to save Kate. I think he realizes that he needs to step up as a parent, and give Jesse a second chance. However, Jesse is not a child. He’s deep in the throes of drug issues, and has committed some very serious crimes. I’m not sure that Brian can solve these problems anymore. Not being a parent, I can’t completely understand this. But I think at this point, if Jesse was real, Brian’s role should be to support his son as he accepts consequences for his actions, and to help Jesse turn his life around. Their relationship can still be salvaged. And Jesse shows signs of caring still. He’s not completely hardened. 4. Do you feel that it’s ethical to conceive a child that meets specific genetic requirements?No. But this is so far out of my realm of experience that I don’t feel that I can judge much on these types of issues. I don’t think it’s fair in any sense to use another human being as a guinea pig for testing, or to save someone else. This story really demonstrated how these ethical decisions have deep consequences on not only the person who is ill, but also the person being used for medical purposes, their family and friends, and the medical community as a whole. 5. If not, do you believe that there should be specific exceptions, such as the purpose of saving another person’s life, or is this just a “slippery slope?”How is it OK to save someone’s life at the cost of someone else? I believe it is a slippery slope, and is not something that we should attempt. My personal beliefs are that conception is an absolute miracle, even if it occurs through medical intervention. It’s incredible to me that two cells can create such a complicated human body. Even more important, that body comes with a spirit and a soul. What a waste of an absolute miracle to use that body to farm out parts. I do think it’s amazing when we can help others out through organ donation, bone marrow, etc. I am not saying that I believe doing that is wrong. But I think creating with the purpose of using that body for medical purposes is unfair. If our society allows conception for the purposes of medical benefits for others, what is to stop the creation of babies who are designed to be star athletes, models, etc? I am not a parent. But how many times have we all heard of people who have gotten pregnant by surprise? Or have a child with special needs? Or have lost a child? Each of these groups has expressed in one way or another how blessed their lives have been made by these less than ideal conceptions or life complications. Our flaws and imperfections make us wonderful and unique. These give us a different sense of perspective, and empathy for others. Creating “perfect” babies with a specific purpose strips us of the wonderful miracle of life and the chance to see what that baby will become.
Oh man, I’m so sorry that is a huge block of text. I did separate it, and bold it so it was easier to read.
Amanda
Don’t worry about it . We are all having the same problem. I emailed our tech people and we will see what they say on Monday.
I am using IE 8 right now to see if it is any better.
Ok So for now it appears that paragraphs formatting works on IE but not Firefox. I think it has something to do with the toolbar because the toolbar is not working in IE and is working in Firefox. I guess we just can’t win. LOL
Did anyone happen to see the movie? I heard the ending was changed and I was wondering if that was true.
2) What do you think of this story’s representation of the justice system? What was your opinion of the final outcome of the trial?
Please answer this anyone…
thanks
Eric, I’m no expert but the trial struck me as as unrealistic as trials often are in tv shows – even as a non-lawyer, I’m always watching those things and thinking, “that would never happen…”
But did you mean something else by “representation of the justice system”? I thought it was portrayed fairly even-handedly and I thought the outcome of the trial made sense in the context of the story.