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
While on the phone, Campbell thinks about how everyone is beholden to their parents, but the question is how much. His mother vents to him about his father’s latest affair, and he wishes he had siblings so that he would not have to deal with her calls as often. He lies to her about having to go to court and takes Judge to Rosie’s, a coffee shop full of eccentric patrons. A server comes to his table and tells him that animals aren’t allowed; when Campbell says that Judge is a service dog, the server attempts to give him a Braille menu. Campbell declines it, and when the server asks what Judge is for, Campbell says he has SARS and Judge tallies the people he infects. The server, unsure if he’s serious, slowly backs away.
As usual, Campbell keeps a wide berth between himself and others—whether it’s a stranger at a coffee shop or his own parents. The detail about Campbell being an only child also puts him in contrast to characters like Anna and Sara, who can at least depend on the bonds of siblinghood during their struggles. Campbell’s closest ally continues to be Judge, but even Judge’s purpose at Campbell’s side continues to be a secret due to Campbell’s evasiveness.
Themes
Campbell can see the street through the window, so he people-watches while waiting for his order. As he watches, a black-haired woman drops coffee on her skirt. Campbell freezes. He thinks he knows who this woman is, but he can’t see her face to confirm it. He watches her, but a bus passes by and his cell phone rings—his mother again. When he looks back up, the woman is gone.
For the first time in the novel, Campbell seems to have a connection to another person—but the connection is fleeting and uncertain, with the woman disappearing as soon as she appears. A moment later, Campbell is left with a call from his mother, one of the bonds that does not fulfill him at all.
Themes
Campbell arrives at the office, immediately barking orders to Kerri. Anna is already there, polishing his doorknob—when Campbell asks what she’s doing, she tells him she’s doing what he told her to. One of Campbell’s phone line rings: it’s Sara, calling to tell him that she’s spoken to Anna and they’re going to drop the case. Campbell responds that he’ll have to hear this directly from his client and asks Sara if she knows where Anna is; she thinks Anna is out running. After hanging up, Campbell asks Anna if she’s really committed to the lawsuit or if she’s wasting his time. Anna answers that as long as he’s willing to represent her, she’s committed.
The discrepancy between Sara’s claim that Anna is dropping the case and Anna’s assertion that she is committed to her lawsuit illustrates the conflicting interests among the Fitzgerald family. Anna’s lie to Sara suggests that she is rejecting Sara’s offer to make the case go away, but the guilt she felt the night after Vern served the papers suggests that she might be more conflicted than she’s letting on to Campbell.
Themes
Campbell recalls the first time he sailed in a yacht club race with his father. His father didn’t want to sail with him since, for him, “if you weren’t perfect, you simply weren’t,” and Campbell wasn’t a talented enough sailor. When the two finally sail together, a storm comes in and makes Campbell seasick, making him essentially useless throughout the race. His father wins the race singlehandedly and goes ahead to drink at the yacht club to celebrate. When Campbell catches up, his father toasts to the victory and slams down the victory cup he won, breaking it. One of the sailors says it’s a shame; Campbell’s father, looking at Campbell, agrees.
In his flashback, Campbell is much less polished and more vulnerable than he appears in the present. Rather than the suave lawyer he’s become, he’s an awkward teenager vying for his father’s approval to no avail. His father’s coldness and cruelty, hinted at earlier in the novel, is made explicit here and provides some more context as to why Campbell struggles to be vulnerable around other people.
Themes
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Campbell describes the bumper stickers around town that memorialize the victims of drunk drivers, which he believes people put on their cars out of “secret joy that this tragedy did not happen to you.” One of these victims is Dena DeSalvo, someone Campbell knew: she was the 12-year-old daughter of Judge DeSalvo, who has now been assigned to Anna’s case. Campbell worries that a judge who has suffered such a loss will not be able to objectively judge a case involving a girl causing her sister’s death.
Campbell’s cynicism regarding the drunk driver stickers is harsh, but it expands on the novel’s idea that those who have suffered tragedy are often subtly alienated from those who have not had similar experiences. Ironically, however, Campbell himself imposes this on Judge DeSalvo by doubting his ability to be objective due to his daughter’s death.
Themes
Campbell arrives at the courthouse and—after deflecting a bailiff’s curiosity about Judge—finds Sara, Brian, and Anna. Sara is arguing with a clerk, who refuses to let her into the chambers since she is not an attorney. However, it turns out that Sara is an attorney who is representing herself. Campbell irritably asks Anna why she didn’t mention this; Anna says that he never asked. Sara is given an Entry of Appearance form and meets with Sheriff Vern. Campbell is dismayed to see that the two are on good terms, feeling that Sara “has all the public servants in the palm of her hand.”
Campbell’s first day at the courthouse, along with Judge DeSalvo being assigned to the case, bodes poorly for his odds of victory. Sara has more influence over the court officials than Campbell does, affecting his ability to control the outcome of certain decisions. More significantly, however, is the communication breakdown between Campbell and Anna, continuing the trend of the two of them not being on the same page.
Themes
Campbell enters Judge DeSalvo’s chambers. The judge briefly asks about Judge, but Campbell quickly moves past it after stating that he’s a service dog. Judge DeSalvo is surprised to see Sara practicing law again, and she explains it’s because the complainant is her daughter. Campbell briefly explains the nature of the case, but Sara interrupts and reassures the judge that Anna doesn’t actually want to go through with her case. She tells the judge that she just had a bad day and says, “you know how thirteen-year-olds can be.” The room goes very quiet—Judge DeSalvo’s daughter died when she was 12. Sara, mortified, quickly apologizes, but the judge rebuffs her.
Although Sara got off to a strong start in the courthouse, she struggles to conduct herself in Judge DeSalvo’s chambers. Although she is practicing law, her manner of arguing—and specifically the fact that she’s claiming Anna’s lawsuit is merely teenage rebellion—is that of a mother. This doesn’t go over well for her, particularly due to her maternal rhetoric clashing with Judge DeSalvo’s own tragedy as a parent. In other words, Sara’s primary identity as a parent does not always benefit her in a legal setting.
Themes
Judge DeSalvo asks Campbell when he last spoke with his client. When Campbell answers that she was in his office when Sara called to claim the case was a misunderstanding, Sara is shocked. Campbell attempts to use this as evidence that Sara is negligent, but Judge DeSalvo isn’t buying it; instead, he wishes to speak directly to Anna to clear the air. The three of them go out to the hall where Anna is sitting with Brian. Campbell wants to coach Anna before she speaks privately with Judge DeSalvo, since, as his client, she is supposed to follow his counsel. But when he calls her name at the same time as Sara, she turns to look at Sara, not him.
The end of this chapter, where Anna looks at Sara when she and Campbell say Anna’s name at the same time, encapsulates Anna’s emotional conflict. Sara represents Anna’s desire to stay close with her family without causing discord; Campbell represents her desire for agency and independence. That Anna looks at Sara suggests that her love for her family is shaking her willpower when it comes to continuing her lawsuit.
Themes
