Reading "My Sister's Keeper" Pg 130 - 259

Continuing the story reveals several characteristics of the characters that weren't immediately obvious  initially. Firstly, Anna, in spite of her relative maturity, is still very much within the realm of a thirteen-year old girl mental-wise. She still cries for her mother, still obsesses over little things, and still is a brooding teenager, and that last point is what really gets me. As much as I understand the desire to make decision's for oneself and have control over one's body, after what she's demonstrated in this section of the book, it seems more and more like Anna is in some neglect-induced teenage rebellion, which acts against her case. The less control she has over her case the more flustered she becomes, and for all of Jodi Picoult's attempts to make Anna out to be a strong young adult, they come off as superficial and skin-deep, which may be intentional as far as I know.

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To begin with, at one point she talks about a date she had with a guy just 3 months prior to the events of the story. She and this guy go see a movie, and she "spent all [her] time trying to figure out how electricity could leap the tiny space between [her] arm and his," (Pg 18). Her clashes with her mother also demonstrate this, in a very realistic way. She acts just like any other kid would, occasionally blowing up but most times being hesitant as her mother pushes her down with accusations and threats. It is in this part of the book that Anna actually breaks down into tears in front of others, as opposed to when she tried hard to hide at the beginning. Emotionally, she is still a thirteen-year old.

It's not just Anna whom I view drastically differently. With further readings involving her father Brian, I've come to realize that he is not courageous, as his being a firefighter would leave the reader to believe. He only hopes for miracles. In the face of adversity, given the option, he will take the coward's way out. This is understandable regarding his job, as he says:

"The safety of the rescuer  is of a higher priority than the safety of the victim… Always."   Pg 142

At the same time, for as reasonable as that is, the book is riddled with metaphors and indirect comparisons. Given the context, this is a reason why he sides with Anna in her case; not directly, but one can tell he isn't about to force his daughter into donating a kidney, even if it would save her older sister's life. He often runs from his fights, choosing silence when his daughter was hurt early in the book and refusing to confront the larger problems when they were present in front of him. He is a pragmatist in a bad way, doing only what he thinks he can do, limited in his willpower and resolve.

With all of the family ordeals going on with the Fitzgeralds, with Kate's kidney failure and the family lawsuit still going on, the last person they need in their lives after reading this section would have to be Campbell. As a lawyer, he's doing his job, but just when I thought he would soften up and actually fight for Anna's benefit rather than making her case a means to an end, he turns around and hurts the family for the case. He makes it clear he is only out for himself:

"There may be a special corner of Hell for attorneys who are shamelessly self-aggrandizing, but you can bet we all are ready for out close-ups." Pg 184

He instilled the restraining order despite understanding that Anna didn't want it, and when questioned about it by Julia, someone who has great empathy for Anna and a history with Campbell, he merely replied:

"I did [talk to Anna] and we were [on the same page]--Sara was coercing her, and Anna wanted that to stop." Pg 187

He is, like Brian, a pragmatist and a coward but in the worst kind of way. Only out for himself, and he has no shame in any of it. Despite what he may have done for Jesse for Anna, I only see a selfish man.