Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in My Sister’s Keeper, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Bodily Autonomy
Siblinghood
Parenthood
Control
Illness and Isolation
Summary
Analysis
To the reader, Brian describes the recipe for a chemical explosive: bleach and potassium chloride, which will form crystals that need to be saved for later. At the courthouse, Brian waits for his turn to testify when his pager beeps, leaving him in a dilemma; after all, he’s scheduled to testify, but his job needs him immediately. He gets permission from Judge DeSalvo to leave, and when he leaves, he’s immediately bombarded with journalists. He struggles to keep his temper against “these vultures … who want to rip apart the bleached bones of [his] family.”
The recipe that Brian describes to the reader is not given much context, but its volatility sets the tone for the rage that Brian feels at the beginning of this chapter as he struggles through the journalists that are profiting from the Fitzgeralds’ suffering. As shown by Brian’s previous outburst at work, his ability to maintain control over his own emotions is becoming frayed.
Themes
Earlier that morning when Anna was missing, Brian went to search for her in Jesse’s room, where he found a recycling bin with a jug of laundry detergent. In the present, Brian investigates a new arson case at an elementary school, which was thankfully empty at the time of the fire. The fire was started by dousing couch cushions and paper in gasoline, and a window has been broken, presumably by the firefighters to vent the fire. Caesar finds a cigarette butt, which Brian takes, looking at the brand. On the way out from the scene, Paulie tells Brian that they weren’t the ones who broke the window. Brian realizes that the arsonist knew where to break a window to create a wind tunnel and feed the fire. He looks at the cigarette butt and crushes it in his hand.
In the scene where Brian investigates the fire, Picoult spends a somewhat unusual amount of time describing the specific clues he finds, such as the cigarette butt and the arsonist’s understanding of fire. These details seem to be connected in some way to Brian going up to Jesse’s that morning and finding laundry detergent, a seemingly insignificant item. Given that the reader already knows that Jesse is the arsonist, this slight shift in narrative style hints that these clues might be leading Brian to surmise the identity of the arsonist.
Themes
Returning to the explosive recipe, Brian explains that the crystals must be mixed with distilled water and cooled again, then ground into powder, combined in gasoline, and dipped in wax. He goes home and confronts Jesse in the room, telling him that he knows he's the arsonist. He lifts the laundry detergent and asks why he has it if he never does his own laundry. Jesse initially denies it, but folds when Brian shows him the cigarette butt: a Merit cigarette, the same that Jesse smokes. Jesse begins to cry, saying that he couldn’t save Kate. He asks if Brian has told Sara, and Brian realizes that Jesse wants to be punished. Instead, he hugs Jesse, realizing that he’s partially responsible for neglecting Jesse due to him not being a match for Kate. He vows not to report Jesse.
Brian completes the explosive recipe, further building on the tense tone of the chapter. In Jesse’s room, the clues that Brian has found converge and allow him to confront Jesse regarding his arson. Although this confrontation gives Brian an opportunity to send Jesse away to prison and give up on him once and for all, Brian choosing not to report Jesse represents him refusing to do this in order to give him a second chance. In other words, Brian’s decision signifies a major shift in his relationship with Jesse.
Themes
