In the movie, My Sister’s Keeper, the audience is taken through the hardships of a young girl named Kate who is not only battling leukemia, but she is also faced with the task of staying strong for her family as her mother is willing to sacrifice the health and happiness of her second daughter, Ana, for Kate’s health. Kate finally defeats these issues when she convinces her little sister, Anna, to file for medical emancipation from her parents. At first, Ana is hesitant because she knows how upset this will make her mother, but she agrees to do this to make Kate happy. Just as the girls predicted, her mother was furious with Ana and could not see why she refused to sacrifice her way of life so that her sister could extend her life on …show more content…
This story is a great example of how the struggles of cancer affects the patient and the family. Kate’s mother was heartbroken and almost driven to a point of no return mentally. She denied the fact that she might lose her daughter, and she put all of her energy into finding a way to keep Kate alive. She forced Ana to have multiple procedures to keep Kate healthy and put Kate through dozens of operations. Kate was worried that she would not survive another surgery, and she didn’t want to take any amount of quality of life from her sister. She made Ana file for medical emancipation so that they could both be saved from their mother’s madness. Kate’s father was accepting of the fact that Kate was not going to live much longer so he acted with the strength that many people hope to have if they are ever put in a similar position. He made sure to take advantage of every moment that he had with Kate and tried to restrain her mom from getting out of control. Kate’s brother was very calm about the situation and acted as if nothing even changed. Ana was Kate’s rock. She took care of Kate constantly, and she supported her in every way possible. These sisters were best friends, and Kate would not have been able to survive without Ana. Kate was physically weak but mentally strong. There were only a couple instances in the movie where she was not happy with her life. These moments were when she lost her hair, had to find a
Children can feel neglected when one of their siblings have a serious illness. Annas statement, which appears in her narration on the first Monday, refers to the way Anna’s parents conceived her. When Anna says she “didn’t get here by accident,” she means that her parents deliberately selected her, or rather the embryo that would become her, for a specific reason.“Although I am nine months pregnant, although I have had plenty of time to dream, I have not really considered the specifics of this child. I have thought of this daughter only in terms of what she will be able to do for the daughter I already have…Then again, my dreams for her are no less exalted; I plan for her to save her sister’s life.” Anna’s mother didn’t even have her because she wanted to she had her because she felt like she needed to. When that was done from there on out the neglection started
When viewing the film, My Sister’s Keeper, Kate reaches the end of the terminal stage of her illnesses, by dying in her sleep as her mother, Sara, sleeps next to her. The film ends with the family going to her favorite place in the world. From my perspective of that part, is their way of a remembrance of Kate. When a patient dies from a terminal illness, families grieve their lost in different ways. “Expressing the feelings of loss, anger, and sadness that comes with death of a loved one is a necessary part of the resolution of grief” (Rando, 1984, pp. 75). There is no exact way and one feeling an individual is to experience when in the process and at the end of losing a loved one. The process of a family grieving happens at any moment of
Kate is also very tough and modest like most men, who are raised and taught to hide their emotions in public. However deep inside Kate is still a female. In the second investigation which Kate had with Ellen, Kate does end up allowing herself to break down with tears in the midst of her conversation about her dead lover Anne. Here, Forrest shows that even though some women are masculine, they are limited to an extent because they are in custody to the biological determinism which determines the limits for the advancing of success based on sex (Rubin Thinking Sex). It is important that Forrest was able to show both sides of Kate: the tough masculine side and the soft elegant feminine side.
“My Sister`s Keeper,” explores the moral, practical and emotional complications of putting one human being in pain or in danger for the wellbeing of another. There are many different kinds of ethical problems that Anna, as the “designer baby,” is the role she plays in her family, loyalty, illness, and medical ethics, and rights. Anna believes that her only role is to be a donor for Kate. Therefore, she wants to sue her parents for rights of her own body.
Many of the characters in the book “After the First Death,” their innocence stolen from them. They all had to do something they have never done. Also they were all put in unfamiliar situations. Therefore Raymond, Kate, and Ben had to make choices in their life that take their innocents. Raymond is a very sheltered little boy.
Firstly, Kate is noticeably affected almost immediately after the death of her mother and father. We see this by her descriptive quotes about how she was feeling and the observations she made about others in her life. Some instances include “I remember being rigid with fear, not daring to look at him” (19), “it was like being at the bottom of the sea” (53), and “...there was a whirlwind howling through me” (54). These quotes represent how Kate felt overwhelmed by unmanageable emotions; she felt almost numb and empty. She even ends up cutting her finger just to feel something and it hardly hurt at all. This is a confused, traumatized little girl. Next, Kate is affected by the basic principles her parents taught. The simple memory of her parents provoked thought of the Presbyterian Commandments they would follow. These principles shape who she is and represent a background where people do not talk about problems or share emotions. “No, you swallow your feelings, force them down inside yourself, where they feed and grow and swell and expand until you explode, unforgivably, to the utter bewilderment of whomever it was who upset you” (36). Lastly, the trauma she has endured has made her scared. Scared of sharing feelings, scared of commitment, scared of loving someone. Daniel, Kate’s boyfriend, feels he is in the dark when it comes to Kate’s past and her emotions. This is because Kate is simply scared to love him. She proves this and it’s connection to her past by saying, “people I love and need have a habit of disappearing from my life” (89). The death of her parents has definitely shaped who she is but some may say, it helped her show resilience and strength to embrace her past and move
What they found shocked the whole family. When Nikki and Scott got home, they could Erin and Ryan into the family room to talk.“Guys, at moms surgery the other day, the doctors found another little cell of breast cancer. Now it’s nothing serious right now, they caught it early, but she will be getting surgery for it again.” The kids tried to play it cool, but Nikki looked into Ryan’s eyes and saw the tears ready to explode. Nikki got up and hugged Ryan, he put his head on her shoulder and poured at tears. Erin did the same with Scott. And the family all knew that Nikki was ready to begin the fight all
In the book My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult, Anna’s older sister has cancer. For as long as Anna has been alive, she has been her donor. Anna has turned thirteen and finally realizes what she has been doing for all these years. She has been giving her sister white blood cells and bone marrow without being asked for permission. She does not want to donate to her anymore. Although Anna and Kate are sisters, Anna has to change this.
I do believe the knowledge that Anna was conceived to save Kate affects both Anna’s and Kate’s perceptions of themselves. This, however, does not affect their relationship with each other. In Kate’s case, I feel the knowledge that Anna was conceived to save Kate did make Kate feel guilty. She felt like she was responsible for Anna’s pain because as portrayed in the movie, Kate felt like she “let” her parents hurt her sister.
My Sister's Keeper is the story of Anna Fitzgerald, who by the age of thirteen has undergone many blood transfusions, numerous surgeries, and multiple bone marrow transplants. “Most babies are accidents, not me. I was engineered, born to save my sister’s life.” At the beginning of the movie Anna explains that she as conceived to be a donor for her sister, Kate. Kate is a 16 year old with renal failure due to a very rare form of leukemia. The girls' parents expect Anna to donate her kidney to help her sister. Instead of donating the kidney, Anna files a lawsuit against her parents for the rights of her own body so that she could not be forced into the surgery against her will. This causes mixed reactions between Anna’s parents, Brain
They got into a car accident on the way over which leads to her coma and the death of her mom, dad, and brother. This is a significant change because she has to make many decisions for herself: should she die or should she continue to live her life. There were many results of this change such as her relatives and close friends visiting her constantly, staying with her family that is still alive, and having different surgeries. Many of Mia’s family and friends visit her while she’s in the hospital bed. “I have quite the crowd now. Gran and Gramps. Uncle Greg. Aunt Diane. Aunt Kate. My cousins Heather and John and David. Dad is one of five kids, so there are still lots more relatives out there” (62). Everyone is in the hospital for Mia because they care about her and she knows that they’re fighting for her which makes her want to fight to stay too. Mia’s little brother, Teddy, was at a different hospital than her which is why everyone was there at once. She knows she has to stay with her family and friends that she still has with her instead of leaving them and choosing to die. “‘Stay.’ With that one word, Adam’s voice catches, but he swallows the emotion and pushes forward” (230). Other family members want her to stay with them because they all love her very much and Mia has to have many different surgeries because she has a lot of injuries. They want to give her confidence during the surgeries. Another major effect of the accident was the abundance of surgeries.“There are a lot of things wrong with me. Apparently, I have a collapsed lung. A ruptured spleen. Internal bleeding of unknown origin. And most serious, the contusions on my brain. I’ve also got broken ribs. Abrasions on my legs, which will require skin grafts; and on my face, which will require cosmetic surgery - but, as the doctor's note, that is only if I’m lucky” (40). Since
Eventually Kaye was not able to continue providing the care her mother required. Although the decision to move her mother to the hospice was difficult to accept, it was a welcomed event. Kaye had gotten to the point where she couldn’t cope physically. In the end, when Sarah died, Kaye seemed like having had her mother in the hospice was the best way to have conducted their affairs.
In this scene where Kate is ready to die and relive every moment of your life and the beautiful moments that happened to his family. Also when she was counted as his love and Taylor as suffered by the death of his first love. Also explains that she is upset because her parents are using Anna trying to save her and that's what hurts most. However we parents are not ready to let go of Kate and feel the need to continue the fight against cancer. Anna who is helping her sister to survive no longer wants to continue grasping because she wants to live his life as everyone else. She wants to do things knowing if he donates his kidney to his sister will not be able to do to do such as pregnant in her entire
The character of Sara is most adamant that it is in Anna’s best interests to act as a donor for Kate. However I do not think she meant for Anna to be at the mercy of her sister. I think she was only intent on doing what had to be done to keep her family intact by preserving the life of Kate. Sara believes that the social, emotional and psychological best interests of a person depend upon the happiness in the family in which they grow up in. This gives the idea that Anna’s best interests and welfare are closely tied to those of her family, who
The useable organs in her body are donated to Kate so she can live. In the movie Kate says to Anna that is okay if she doesn't want to donate her kidney because Kate didn't want to live anymore, she wanted to die. Anna sued her parents for the right to her own body, for Kate and for herself. She eventually won the case and didn't have to give Kate the kidney. Kate slowly started to get sicker and eventually died.