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
As court convenes, Campbell’s hands are trembling from the nerves of calling Julia. However, Sara requests to call her witness, a psychiatrist, first. Dr. Beata Neaux takes the stand. At Sara’s request, Dr. Neaux has prepared an expert opinion about the mental harm Anna will face if Kate dies. The doctor claims that Anna defines herself as a member of an intact family rather than a broken one and cites studies that show that donor children have high self-esteem. Campbell doesn’t buy any of this, but Judge DeSalvo and Julia seem engaged. Sara asks if Anna can make her own medical decisions, and Dr. Neaux says no; her age means all her decisions will be looking at the short-term, so she needs someone to guide her. In Dr. Neaux’s words, “the parents need to be the parents.”
Dr. Neaux’s psychological analysis of Anna is ironic in that it contrasts sharply with Anna’s established characterization. Dr. Neaux says that Anna defines herself as an intact family, but throughout the novel, Anna has felt isolated from her family and often dreams of being raised by other parents. Dr. Neaux also cites donors having higher self-esteem, but Anna repeatedly expresses self-loathing for her conflicted feelings about Kate. This discrepancy ultimately casts doubt over Dr. Neaux’s final recommendation to deny Anna her emancipation.
Themes
Campbell cross-examines Dr. Neaux. He asks her what sort of psychological harm Anna will sustain if, after donating her kidney, Kate dies anyway. Dr. Neaux says that she trusts Anna’s parents to help her through that. Campbell then asks about the harm of Anna’s agency being taken from her. The doctor concedes that this harm matters, but that Anna doesn’t understand how her decision will play out long-term. Campbell points out that this is the same for Sara, who’s constantly reacting to Kate’s situation. Dr. Neaux grudgingly concedes this point. Campbell suggests that, since Sara defines herself by her ability to keep Kate healthy and makes choices in reaction to short-term circumstances, Sara is psychologically a “donor” for Kate and thus no more capable of making these decisions than Anna. Campbell then says that parents do need to be parents, but “sometimes that isn’t good enough.”
In his cross-examination of Dr. Neaux, Campbell flips her reasoning on its head by applying psychological analysis to Sara. His claim that she is constantly making short-term reactions and therefore is no more able to make rational decisions than Anna implicitly criticizes Dr. Neaux’s implication that, as a child, Anna is somehow less entitled to agency than an adult in the exact same psychological condition. In this way, Campbell successfully refutes the argument that Anna is psychologically incapable of making her own decisions.
Themes
