Anna In The Great Gatsby

Picture a courtroom with a 13-year-old girl petitioning for her medical emancipation, her lawyer whom she hired, the lawyer’s seizure dog, the girl’s mother as the opposing council, her father as a witness, and the judge. This entire case takes place as the family’s other daughter is fighting leukemia, and their son is visiting her at the hospital after lighting buildings on fire and causing trouble. The Fitzgerald’s life has never been easy, so when their life seems to be turning around, they suspect it is too good to be true and expect unfortunate events to occur. Their life of worry started when Kate, Sara and Brian’s second born after Jesse, was diagnosed with Leukemia at two-years-old. Anna is conceived to be a perfect donor match to cure
Kate’s illness. Anna has no choice but to be hospitalized for numerous procedures to give Kate the chance to live. Anna struggles with making decisions to save her sister’s life and saving her own quality of life. In this journal, I will be analyzing the significance of a kidney, a dog, and fire throughout My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult. Anna’s question to donate her kidney is not the reason Anna files for medical emancipation; it is truly her asking to have a choice and having the chance to become someone of her own.
When hearing of the kidney transplant, Kate wants Anna to do something about it. She is sick of fighting cancer, sick of waiting around for relapse, and sick of being a burden to Anna ☺. Anna and Kate decide to hire a lawyer, Campbell Alexander, and file for medical emancipation. Both Kate and Anna are thankful for this choice even though it puts Kate’s life in danger. The case goes to court, and ultimately the judge’s verdict is in her favor. Their parents think that even though Anna should have a choice in what she does with her body, she is obligated to save her sister because that is what a family does. Because the kidney causes great controversy, it plays a major role in the plot and meaning of the story. The kidney symbolizes quality of life versus the sanctity of life: “—but at this point the sanctity of Kate’s existence has become completely intertwined with the quality of Anna’s life” (Picoult 408). Everyone knows that Anna would give Kate her kidney, no questions asked. The judge, Campbell, and Anna just think she should still have the right to make that decision since it is regarding the quality of her life. If Anna gives her sister the kidney, both would have many risks when undergoing surgery. Kate will not have the chance to live without Anna’s kidney, therefore, expunging her sanctity of life. The kidney has the power to do a lot of saving, but whom it saves is up to
Anna. Campbell goes out of his way with excuses to keep the reason for his service dog a secret; this is because he is constantly worried that his disability makes him unworthy, and he is afraid to lose control. Campbell abandons his love Julia after a car crash because he becomes epileptic. He thinks since he has to live with his epilepsy forever, nobody else should either. Campbell thinks Julia would lose her strong independence by taking care of him and wondering when the next seizure will occur. During multiple occasions in the story, Campbell is questioned why he has a dog with him. Sometimes he replies he has the service dog because he is deaf in one ear, and other times he says he is colorblind. Lying about his dog is something he can control; whereas when he is having a seizure, he cannot even control his own body. When Anna ascertains Campbell is epileptic, she asks if he took her case because he can relate to her: “Because you know what it is like to not have any control over your body” (Picoult 387). His dog symbolizes control, which is a common theme throughout the story. Campbell’s service dog assists him when he loses control during a seizure, and Anna is fighting for jurisdiction over her body in court. Sara wants authority over Anna’s medical decisions, and Kate wants power over her cancer. Campbell’s dog represents the control many characters in this book search for.
Brian is a fireman, and his son Jesse lights fire as a hobby, so at first glance this seems to be a major conflict, but even though one job is to save and the other is to destroy, fire helps the father and son converge together. Throughout the story, it is repeatedly mentioned that Sara has Jesse, and Brian has Kate as their ‘they-look-so-much-like-you’☺ children, but what is not revealed until later is Brian and Jesse’s similarities. Brian connects with Jesse when he is looking for Anna and comes upon Jesse sitting in his room. Brian immediately notices supplies like bleach and brake fluid, the causes of local fires he has put out as a fireman in the last few weeks. Jesse admits to starting the fires and becomes an emotional mess. Brian could call the cops or the fire department, but he cannot bring himself to it. He blames himself for not stopping Jesse’s behavior earlier. What Brian really notices is the similarity between him and his son: “Maybe it’s because Jesse isn’t all that different from me, choosing fire as his medium, needing to know that he could command at least one uncontrollable thing” (Picoult 331). Brian became a firefighter because he wanted to save lives, but more specifically he wanted to save Kate’s. Jesse sets buildings on fire because he is denied to be a donor for Kate, and when he cannot save, he destroys. With fire, Brian can suppress it, and Jesse can commence it, giving them the power they are searching for. Overall, fire symbolizes controlling the uncontrollable and the bond between family members. Brian and Jesse both use fire as their escape from facing the inevitable truth that they will never have the ability to cure Kate.
I scrutinized a kidney, a dog, and fire and found their importance throughout the story. Now, imagine that courtroom filled with all those people with supposedly opposing views. When looking closer, one can find all their views are sprouting from equivalent concepts that are the want for control and to save Kate’s life. ☺

10/10