My Sister's Keeper And The Five People You Meet In Heaven
Rachel
Summer 2006
Honors English
Perseverance Essay
In My Sister’s Keeper and The Five People You Meet in Heaven, characters demonstrate the quality of perseverance. To persevere is to “persist in a purpose, idea, or task in the face of obstacles or discouragement”, according to The American Heritage College Dictionary. Characters in each book go about different ways showing perseverance throughout their lives. Yet no matter what, perseverance in the characters always comes down to the bottom line of never giving up. My Sister’s Keeper is filled with examples of perseverance. Anna, the main character, is a matched donor for her older sister Kate who was diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) at a young age. Throughout …show more content…
her whole life, Anna has gone through numerous blood donations, bone marrow donations, and surgeries so that Kate has a chance at survival. After Kate’s kidneys start to fail, Anna’s parents want her to donate a kidney to her sister. Therefore, Anna files a lawsuit against her parents for medical emancipation so she can make her own medical decisions. Throughout the book, the reader is led to believe that Anna is pursuing this lawsuit because she has gotten fed up with being the one to donate parts of her body such as lymphocytes and bone marrow for her sister’s well being, but in the end the story twists. It turns out that Anna has gone against her parents wishes because her sister asked her to. Kate is sick of having to be in the hospital and doesn’t want to have to go through yet another surgery, she has accepted death. Anna showed perseverance because she never gave up in supporting and loving her sister. Even when Anna’s mom was upset with her about the lawsuit and even when Anna had to sell her most prized possession, the locket her dad gave her that she never took off, in order to hire a lawyer, she continued to do what she felt was right. The whole time Anna never lets out that it was Kate who convinced her to file the lawsuit in the first place. Other characters in My Sister’s Keeper showed perseverance in their actions too. Kate showed perseverance in how she faced the challenges of dealing and living daily with a serious illness. Kate loved her family and wanted to reduce the impact her illness had on her sister and family thereby asking Anna to file the lawsuit. Anna and Kate’s parents showed perseverance by constantly pursuing new treatment options to help cure Kate or prolong her life. No matter how many surgeries or transfusions it took, they wanted to try everything. Even Campbell, Anna’s lawyer, showed perseverance. He would tell people ridiculous lies about what his service dog, Judge, did for him, never letting anyone know that it was for his seizures. Campbell didn’t want people to feel sorry for him or treat him any differently than anyone else. Therefore, characters in My Sister’s Keeper showed the quality of perseverance. The Five People You Meet in Heaven has the quality of perseverance in it too.
The main character, Eddie, shows it throughout the whole book. The book starts with Eddie at an old age working at Ruby Pier. He is a hard worker, checking rides and their parts, always making sure that everything is safe with Ruby Pier as the head of maintenance. Then, when a ride breaks down after one of the cables snap, Eddie dies trying to save a little girl who would have been hit by the falling ride. After he goes to heaven, he meets and spends time with five people who affected his life and died before him, reliving his past and the pasts of others. As he relives his past, he struggles with remembering and discovering some hardships that he and others had to face throughout their lives. Yet with every person, he tries to find out whether or not he saved the little girl, never giving up on his question. As he goes from person to person, we are shown flashbacks of Eddie’s life that are filled with perseverance. One example is during his time as a soldier in a war. Eddie and the captain and some of his fellow soldiers were captured and taken as prisoners. The living conditions were horrible for them for months on end. They had to work in a mine, eat bug infested food, never shower, sleep in dirt and grime, and were at risk of being killed. One of Eddie’s comrades was even shot and killed after he got so sick that he couldn’t work in the mine. However, Eddie always looked for ways to escape. Finally, one day he saw one of his captors trying to juggle. Eddie took this as an opportunity, even though it was very risky, for escape. Eddie eventually got them all out of there after showing the guards his juggling skills and tricking them. No matter how tough life got for Eddie, he never gave up. Even after his father died and he was stuck working at Ruby Pier, he persevered. He continued to help support his mother and wife until they died. Even after his beloved wife died, he carried on, no
matter how painful life was without her. Eddie showed great qualities throughout his life and afterlife, including that of perseverance. Both books have characters showing perseverance in the sense that they get on with their lives, never giving up and never giving in no matter how hard it gets. Also, in both books, it becomes clear in the end why the characters kept on going and didn’t stop, and how their perseverance affected others. In My Sister’s Keeper, Anna died in the end of the book in a car accident, and her kidney ended up being donated to Kate anyways. Yet Anna’s actions in life showed how much she loved her sister. Anna did want to donate her kidney to Kate in the first place because she would do just about anything to save her sister. In The Five People You Meet in Heaven, Eddie finds out in the end that all life stories are intertwined. People died instead of him and he died instead of the little girl. When he finds out he saved the little girl, he thinks his death wasn’t for nothing after all. In the end, Eddie discovers that his life did have a meaning, despite what he had thought. He worked so hard at Ruby Pier, and by keeping the rides safe, he helped so many people stay safe while riding them. Eddie thought that he had lived a pointless life that had no value, but instead he had saved many lives without even realizing it. Both My Sister’s Keeper and The Five People You Meet in Heaven show characters persevering through life, and never giving up or giving in, no matter what.
Summer 2006
Honors English
Perseverance Essay
In My Sister’s Keeper and The Five People You Meet in Heaven, characters demonstrate the quality of perseverance. To persevere is to “persist in a purpose, idea, or task in the face of obstacles or discouragement”, according to The American Heritage College Dictionary. Characters in each book go about different ways showing perseverance throughout their lives. Yet no matter what, perseverance in the characters always comes down to the bottom line of never giving up. My Sister’s Keeper is filled with examples of perseverance. Anna, the main character, is a matched donor for her older sister Kate who was diagnosed with acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) at a young age. Throughout …show more content…
her whole life, Anna has gone through numerous blood donations, bone marrow donations, and surgeries so that Kate has a chance at survival. After Kate’s kidneys start to fail, Anna’s parents want her to donate a kidney to her sister. Therefore, Anna files a lawsuit against her parents for medical emancipation so she can make her own medical decisions. Throughout the book, the reader is led to believe that Anna is pursuing this lawsuit because she has gotten fed up with being the one to donate parts of her body such as lymphocytes and bone marrow for her sister’s well being, but in the end the story twists. It turns out that Anna has gone against her parents wishes because her sister asked her to. Kate is sick of having to be in the hospital and doesn’t want to have to go through yet another surgery, she has accepted death. Anna showed perseverance because she never gave up in supporting and loving her sister. Even when Anna’s mom was upset with her about the lawsuit and even when Anna had to sell her most prized possession, the locket her dad gave her that she never took off, in order to hire a lawyer, she continued to do what she felt was right. The whole time Anna never lets out that it was Kate who convinced her to file the lawsuit in the first place. Other characters in My Sister’s Keeper showed perseverance in their actions too. Kate showed perseverance in how she faced the challenges of dealing and living daily with a serious illness. Kate loved her family and wanted to reduce the impact her illness had on her sister and family thereby asking Anna to file the lawsuit. Anna and Kate’s parents showed perseverance by constantly pursuing new treatment options to help cure Kate or prolong her life. No matter how many surgeries or transfusions it took, they wanted to try everything. Even Campbell, Anna’s lawyer, showed perseverance. He would tell people ridiculous lies about what his service dog, Judge, did for him, never letting anyone know that it was for his seizures. Campbell didn’t want people to feel sorry for him or treat him any differently than anyone else. Therefore, characters in My Sister’s Keeper showed the quality of perseverance. The Five People You Meet in Heaven has the quality of perseverance in it too.
The main character, Eddie, shows it throughout the whole book. The book starts with Eddie at an old age working at Ruby Pier. He is a hard worker, checking rides and their parts, always making sure that everything is safe with Ruby Pier as the head of maintenance. Then, when a ride breaks down after one of the cables snap, Eddie dies trying to save a little girl who would have been hit by the falling ride. After he goes to heaven, he meets and spends time with five people who affected his life and died before him, reliving his past and the pasts of others. As he relives his past, he struggles with remembering and discovering some hardships that he and others had to face throughout their lives. Yet with every person, he tries to find out whether or not he saved the little girl, never giving up on his question. As he goes from person to person, we are shown flashbacks of Eddie’s life that are filled with perseverance. One example is during his time as a soldier in a war. Eddie and the captain and some of his fellow soldiers were captured and taken as prisoners. The living conditions were horrible for them for months on end. They had to work in a mine, eat bug infested food, never shower, sleep in dirt and grime, and were at risk of being killed. One of Eddie’s comrades was even shot and killed after he got so sick that he couldn’t work in the mine. However, Eddie always looked for ways to escape. Finally, one day he saw one of his captors trying to juggle. Eddie took this as an opportunity, even though it was very risky, for escape. Eddie eventually got them all out of there after showing the guards his juggling skills and tricking them. No matter how tough life got for Eddie, he never gave up. Even after his father died and he was stuck working at Ruby Pier, he persevered. He continued to help support his mother and wife until they died. Even after his beloved wife died, he carried on, no
matter how painful life was without her. Eddie showed great qualities throughout his life and afterlife, including that of perseverance. Both books have characters showing perseverance in the sense that they get on with their lives, never giving up and never giving in no matter how hard it gets. Also, in both books, it becomes clear in the end why the characters kept on going and didn’t stop, and how their perseverance affected others. In My Sister’s Keeper, Anna died in the end of the book in a car accident, and her kidney ended up being donated to Kate anyways. Yet Anna’s actions in life showed how much she loved her sister. Anna did want to donate her kidney to Kate in the first place because she would do just about anything to save her sister. In The Five People You Meet in Heaven, Eddie finds out in the end that all life stories are intertwined. People died instead of him and he died instead of the little girl. When he finds out he saved the little girl, he thinks his death wasn’t for nothing after all. In the end, Eddie discovers that his life did have a meaning, despite what he had thought. He worked so hard at Ruby Pier, and by keeping the rides safe, he helped so many people stay safe while riding them. Eddie thought that he had lived a pointless life that had no value, but instead he had saved many lives without even realizing it. Both My Sister’s Keeper and The Five People You Meet in Heaven show characters persevering through life, and never giving up or giving in, no matter what.