My Sister's Keeper

I've recently begun reading My Sister's Keeper, by Jodi Picoult. Although I'm only a quarter of the way through the book, I was intrigued after reading the first few pages. This fictional novel encapsulates so many compelling topics, woven into a very complex plot. Kate has had leukemia since she was a mere two years old. When her parents, Sara and Brian Fitzgerald, found out that their only son, Jesse, wasn't a match for a bone marrow transplant, Anna became their last hope for saving their only daughter. Thirteen year-old Anna Fitzgerald was born for the sole purpose of saving her sister's life. With each hospital visit, treatment, dialysis session and surgery Kate goes through, Anna comes along, endlessly giving for her sister without being given the freedom to make the choice herself. 

The tides turn when Anna takes a stand. When she makes the choice to sue her parents. She knows that Kate's cancer will never stop taking, sucking the life out of both her and her sister. Eventually, she'll have to supply Kate with a kidney and she's not ready to make that step. Anna knows the risks that come with what she's expected to do. And whether her rebellion comes from a place of fear or from her craving for freedom and purpose, Anna's decision is one that her family will not see coming. This book wraps around the legal, medical and emotional aspects of Anna and Kate's story. Each chapter is written in a different perspective, jumping back and forth between each member of the Fitzgerald family and Campbell Alexander, Anna's lawyer.

Anna has grown up with a storm cloud looming over her head. She knows that without Kate's illness, she wouldn't have been born. She's spent her whole life contemplating that fact, and every time she comes up with the same conclusions. She feels invisible in the shadow of her beloved sister. She's never been able to be her own person, using all of her energy to fuel Kate's life. She places her identity on a very unstable platform, constantly feeling alone as she realizes that the only purpose she's ever known could be stripped of her at any moment. Anna's thoughts and fears are verbalized in these lines:

It made me wonder, though, what would have happened if Kate had been healthy. Chances are, I'd still be floating up in Heaven or wherever, waiting to be attached to a body to spend some time on Earth. Certainly I would not be a part of this family. See, unlike the rest of the free world, I didn't get here by accident. And if your parents have you for a reason, then that reason better exist. Because if it's gone, so are you. (Picoult 8).

http://www.jodipicoult.com/my-sisters-keeper.html

The above link displays additional information about Jodi Picoult and My Sister's Keeper as well as an excerpt from the book. 

Satire

The above cartoon is an example of contemporary, Horatian satire. The picture portrays a recently hatched chick using Facebook on a laptop and the surprised reaction from its parent. It mocks how, today, technology is becoming increasingly present in the lives of children. In Horatian satire, the tone is more witty and accepting than in the angry, pessimistic Juvenalian satire.This cartoon is simply making fun of the new generation for its involvement with technology, not deeply scolding or criticizing it. Clearly, because this topic is fairly new and technology with the youth has not been an overarching, timeless problem for humanity, this cartoon is considered contemporary. This example of satire intends to ridicule the youngest members of society, as well as the generation who raised them, for the prominence of social media and technology in their lives. The author wants his or her work to be a call to action. How can children grow and experience the world around them, observing and exploring like the chicks in the background of the cartoon, if they're constantly staring at a computer screen?