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40. Wednesday: Julia
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
Campbell feels confident that Julia isn’t going to veto his petition. At his side, Judge is frantically tugging at his coat, but Campbell ignores him. Julia answers the judge and admits that she doesn’t know what her recommendation is. She understands Sara and Brian’s decisions but wants to respect Anna standing up for herself. She tells the judge that she doesn’t feel comfortable tearing apart a family. Suddenly, Anna tugs at Campbell’s sleeve and tells him that she’s willing to testify. Judge begins to whine. Anna stands up and tells Judge DeSalvo that she has something to say.
In a parallel to Brian’s testimony, Julia finds herself incapable of committing to a solution for the Fitzgeralds’ situation. The fact that multiple characters have been left at a loss reflects how ethically complex Kate and Anna’s predicament is, and how there is no answer that will result in a happy ending. The reality of this, it seems, propels Anna to finally decide to speak for herself.
Themes
