This summer, I read the novel My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult. I believe that the main theme or central idea of this text is the fine line between right and wrong. Throughout the text, it is shaped and defined by specific details that involve the entire Fitzgerald family, but primarily Anna and her leukemic sister, Kate. Throughout the entire novel, Anna struggles with a life changing decision she has to make. She can either put her own interests first and stop worrying about being a donor for Kate, or she can fulfill her duty as a loving sister and put Kate's needs before her own. No one knows what the right choice for Anna is, and she does not even know herself. Ultimately, the entire lot is a struggle from the characters to separate what is truly right and  wrong.

There is a specific chapter towards the end of the novel that really defines the theme. It is the chapter in which Campell Alexander, Anna's lawyer, states his closing argument. He states how ultimately, the decision should be up to Anna. The judge also makes a final ruling in this chapter, and both sum up the theme very nicely in these closing arguments. In his statement Campell says, "We know that the Fitzgeralds were asked to do the impossible--make informed health-care decisions for two of their children, who had opposing medical interests. And if we--like the Fitzgeralds-- don't know what the right decision is, then the person who has to have the final say is the person whose body it is... even if that's a thirteen-year-old. And ultimately, that too is what this case is about: the moment when perhaps a child knows better than her parents." In the judge's closing srgument, he states, "The answer is that there is no good answer. So as parents, doctors, as judges, and as a society, we fumble through and make decisions that allow us to sleep at night--because morals are more important than ethics, and love is more important than the law."

I found the following article by Jodi Picoult which includes a short summary of the novel and some reflective questions about the theme of the novel etc. answered by Jodi Picoult herself. The video beneath includes the climax of the movie version of My Sister's Keeper. It reflects the theme very nicely, and is a very emotional scene, but if you haven't read the book or scene the movie I suggest skipping the video because it might spoil it for you!!

My Sister's Keeper article

My Sister's Keeper video