My Sister’s Keeper – Jodi Picoult

Author: Sarita Chitrapu
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There are books that transport you to a different world, there are books that make you wonder, there are books that make jerk you out of the dream that you thought was life, and then there are those that you make you ponder and there are books that make you question – question everything, that until the moment you had begun reading the book, believed to be your right, your very own right, your right to life, your own life.

I wrapped up reading this book last September and was left feeling overwhelmed with a mixture of emotions literally; it took me a while before I let myself calm down to make sense of all the feelings that seemed to come over and find a vent for them, a release onto something more concrete and the answer was right there … quill and parchment, never hesitate to beckon me!

It’s bizarre that on one hand, there is so much to talk about this book and on another, there isn’t much really, except that it is another story of a terminally ill patient. But the thin line of difference lies in the voice that narrates, or should we say the voices, we hear, as we flip through the pages of this multi faceted narrative?

Multiple First Person or the Individual I narrative (I prefer the second reference, which enjoys an instant connect with any reader, wishing to connect with the characters of the story), was something I was introduced to, through this book and needless to say, the impact , intended , was profound and one that hasn’t yet shown signs of fading away.

In what would seem cruel and more so brutal way, stories or narratives about terminally ill patients, turn these suffering mortals into some sort of heroes, that are fighting a losing battle against life, never once bothering to pay a more detailed eye and ear to the family that loves this patient; expecting the family to stand by and sacrifice everything is implicit expectation of the rather seemingly cruel world and the families of terminally seem agree only too happily, playing the sacrificial lambs without complaint.

But every once in a while, a voice dares to question – question choices, to defy – the seemingly inevitable, to stand up for its right – its right to choice, its right to life.

The family , is every so busy trying to save the life of terminally ill, defying the inevitable, their own choice bearing down on the patient like a burden heavier than the wretched life itself, leaving them no choice but to fight, fight death – against their own will. Don’t the terminally ill have a right to choose – choose between a life with prolonged pain and painless death? Does anyone one, even their loved ones, do they even have a moment, a thought to spare, to what the tortured body and the desperate soul within wished?

Facing death and fighting it, for a few breaths, the terminally ill patient has every right to be considered brave, but braver are those who stand by, facing guilt of standing helpless, gambling everything they have to save their loved one, gambling emotions, life – life of their own loved one, turning into nothing short of the most cruel souls that walked this earth, playing with life, defying the other, the very freedom, nature has granted us.

Love has no boundaries, be it soul mates, or kith and kin, and yet how far, would one go to save their loved one?

Would you disregard another life, to save the life of your kith and kin?

The advancement of medical sciences would save a few breaths for a terminally ill patient, but can it give grant you life back, in its wholeness?

The book ends into a ringing silence, echoing thoughts in the line of – “What would you do?” questioning everything that we’ve been raised to believe and accept as the inevitable, ‘but natural’ or ‘for the better good of mankind’ –

Medical Advancement
Freedom of choice
The ‘Right’ & The ‘Wrong’
The eternal conflict
Devil and Deep Sea exchange places with Moral Ethics and Emotions

…. And ‘Life’ itself

Here is a story that makes you sit up and think – there is never one hero, there never is; there never was one loser anyway.