Family Dynamics
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Family Dynamics: The Impact of Tragedies
Meaghan Alimo
October 13, 2010
Sociology of the Family
Movie Analysis
The book “My Sister’s Keeper”, written by author Jodi Picoult, tells a story of a family faced with multiple challenges that threaten to tear the family completely apart. Kate Fitzgerald, a young girl with a rare yet very aggressive form of leukemia, has the possibility of dying soon. This shocks the family and Kate’s mother, Sara Fitzgerald, immediately starts Kate on chemotherapy. Sara used to be an attorney, but during the story she is solely a stay at home mom. While undergoing chemotherapy, Kate’s oncologist, Dr. Chance, implies that she might eventually need a bone marrow transplant, preferably from a related donor. The Fitzgeralds test their four-year-old son, Jesse, but he unfortunately is not a match. Dr. Chance mentions that another unborn sibling could be a possible match, and Sara suggests to her husband, Brian, that they have another child. Brian works at a local fire station. They conceive another child with the assistance of in vitro fertilization, and that is how Kate’s sister, Anna, is born. “My Sister’s Keeper” is Anna’s story.
The cohesion characteristics of the Fitzgerald family were positive and negative according to which members of the family the characteristic was focused on. Kate and Anna, in terms of their separate-togetherness, leaned more towards togetherness. These two had an understanding of each other that no one else in the family seemed to have. It could have been because Anna was always taking care of Kate, but in actuality saving her life with every procedure. Kate felt comfortable and close enough with Anna that she could ask her to sue her parents for the right to her own body so Kate could die. The “I-we” balance of Kate and Anna was primarily “we”. In the movie, the audience feels that Anna is being selfish about her own body. However, she is really just doing a favor for Kate and supporting her...
Meaghan Alimo
October 13, 2010
Sociology of the Family
Movie Analysis
The book “My Sister’s Keeper”, written by author Jodi Picoult, tells a story of a family faced with multiple challenges that threaten to tear the family completely apart. Kate Fitzgerald, a young girl with a rare yet very aggressive form of leukemia, has the possibility of dying soon. This shocks the family and Kate’s mother, Sara Fitzgerald, immediately starts Kate on chemotherapy. Sara used to be an attorney, but during the story she is solely a stay at home mom. While undergoing chemotherapy, Kate’s oncologist, Dr. Chance, implies that she might eventually need a bone marrow transplant, preferably from a related donor. The Fitzgeralds test their four-year-old son, Jesse, but he unfortunately is not a match. Dr. Chance mentions that another unborn sibling could be a possible match, and Sara suggests to her husband, Brian, that they have another child. Brian works at a local fire station. They conceive another child with the assistance of in vitro fertilization, and that is how Kate’s sister, Anna, is born. “My Sister’s Keeper” is Anna’s story.
The cohesion characteristics of the Fitzgerald family were positive and negative according to which members of the family the characteristic was focused on. Kate and Anna, in terms of their separate-togetherness, leaned more towards togetherness. These two had an understanding of each other that no one else in the family seemed to have. It could have been because Anna was always taking care of Kate, but in actuality saving her life with every procedure. Kate felt comfortable and close enough with Anna that she could ask her to sue her parents for the right to her own body so Kate could die. The “I-we” balance of Kate and Anna was primarily “we”. In the movie, the audience feels that Anna is being selfish about her own body. However, she is really just doing a favor for Kate and supporting her...