One of the best qualities about My Sister's Keeper, in my opinion, is the way Jodi Picoult does not monopolize one point of view. Instead of narrating the novel through purely Anna's eyes, which would create a bias, she touched on each family member's thoughts and ideas. The first chapter of the book begins with Anna. A thirteen year old girl going through some intense internal, along with external, conflict. Reading on to the second chapter, a new narrator emerges. Cambell Alexander, the attorney to soon represent Anna for her medical emancipation, is slightly less vulnerable than a thirteen year old girl. By changing the narration, Picoult was able to portray the manner of which each character copes with conflict. 
With each new narrator, my opinion would slightly vary. Reading from Anna's point of view, I started off despising Sara. I thought, "what kind of mother neglects her children?" Although she may neglect Anna to some degree, she is doing everything in her power to keep her other daughter alive. Reading Jesse's point of view gave me the greatest sadness. Seeing how Jesse tried to make a difference for his family, and went unnoticed, brought back my hatred for Sara. I thought one of the hardest parts was when he was sitting with Julia in his room, telling her about the Christmas that Kate spent in the hospital. By cutting down a tree, and decorating it so that their spirits would be uplifted walking in the front door Christmas morning, he expected some sort of recognition. Instead, he got a toy car bought in the hospital gift shop.
His narration of this scene is devastating by the way he's telling this story, as if it were a every-day-thing, to this woman he just met.
Changing up the viewpoints may keep the story fresh, and entertaining. Jodi Picoult incorporating many subplots into My Sister's Keeper, making it a prime candidate for multiple viewpoints. Adding in Julia and Cambell kept the story going with a young love memory interfering with getting the job done efficiently. Creating multiple view points may be hard for many authors, but I believe Picoult executed this technique very well.
I absolutely agree that Picoult executed multiple viewpoints very well. I wrote about this in my last blog post as well and we touched upon a few of the same views and ideas. I also wrote about the section where Jesse tells Julia the story about Christmas and the tree, and it broke my heart! Stories incorporated like this one make me happy Picoult wrote her book the way she did because we get to find out so much extra information that helps really solidify the story.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with your statement that adding multiple viewpoints helps show how each individual character copes with conflict. This is super blatant while reading the story, you see Campbell walking away from Julia, Jesse hiding away and burning things down, Anna holding things in to her mother but sharing them with Campbell, etc. Overall, I really enjoy reading the book in multiple viewpoints and we seem to agree on this and other aspects of the book! Great post!
I love how you mention the author as well as the characters. The structure of the book is interesting by adding multiple narration viewpoints. Picoult addresses Anna as the main character by still showing all the sides to the other characters. It gives the reader an all-knowing perspective but Jodi Picoult still finds ways to add twists and shocks. I love the way the book is sort of vignette based rather than multiple views on the same exact story. I agree Jesse isn't a bad kid. He just wants to be praised and recognized by his parents. Going back to your last statement I agree that she executed the viewpoints well. Personally different viewpoints are hard to write and even difficult for professionals. Picoult has an extraordinary passion and talent for writing.
ReplyDeleteIn your blog you started off saying that Anna was being neglected and that thats' a bad thing but then your next sentence was but thats okay because she's trying to save Kate. Neglect is neglect no buts! She intentionally had a child and then neglected it. She knew the situation the family was in and what it took to take care of her sick child so there was no reason for her to have a child and then not take care of her. Although I don't really like a lot of the flashbacks the telling of that Christmas by Jesse really added a lot to the book. It gave you a good sense of all the abandonment and pain the children both went through over the years
ReplyDeleteI agree that using multiple points of view in the book enhanced the story. I also liked the way that we got to hear perspectives from all the characters so that we knew what everyone was thinking and feeling. I think your point that one viewpoint would create a bias was a good way of putting it. Had we only heard from characters like Jesse for example from Anna's point of view, the reader would likely just think he's a bad kid who's always acting out and trying to make his family's lives harder. However, through his narrative we learn about what his life has been like and why he turned out the way he has. I think that Jesse's chapters are my favorite to read because it's interesting to see how someone who is not directly involved in the conflict has been affected by it. I also find his situation devastating; he wouldn't seem like it at first but Jesse is truly a tragic character. I think this was a very good blog, Soph. I can definitely hear your voice through the writing and you make your points very clear. Nice job!
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