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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
Jesse describes how he played with matches as a child. He would steal them from above the refrigerator and start fires with his parents’ bath solution; the fire would burn blue. One day, Anna came into the bathroom while he was doing it. Jesse wrote her initials in the solution and lit a fire, expecting her to run away to tell on him. Instead, Anna squirted more solution onto the floor and told him to do it again. Jesse cites this as evidence that, although he and Anna seem to be polar opposites at first glance, they’re both misunderstood by everyone around them.
The introduction of Jesse’s point-of-view highlights a crucial part of the Fitzgerald family: although Anna is seen by her parents as a point of stability and Jesse as a wild card, both of them crave a disruption to their unhappy lives. In other words, although they seem to be very different, both have been deeply wounded by Kate’s illness and how it has minimized their own emotional pain in their family.
Themes
Jesse speeds recklessly down the freeway, angering drivers around him. He thinks about how many problems would be solved if he crashed; after all, he’s an organ donor, and he feels he’s worth much more dead than alive. However, he arrives safely at his destination, which is an underpass. There lives a homeless man named Duracell Dan, who earned his nickname by collecting batteries. Jesse brings Dan a McDonald’s meal, which is payment for Dan watching his stuff: barrels full of flammable liquids. Jesse takes a pillowcase of sawdust he’d stashed there. Dan tells Jesse that “they” gave him a message: “Think twice,” or maybe “drink twice.” Jesse jokingly says he might follow the latter advice, then leaves.
If Anna’s identity has been formed by her ability to save Kate, Jesse’s identity has been formed by his inability to do so. This fact is clearly illustrated by Jesse’s lack of regard for his own life, to the point that he feels he would be worth more as an organ donor who could help other sick people like Kate. As a result of his low self-worth, Jesse has turned away from his family to the fringes of society, hence his relationship with Duracell Dan.
Themes
Jesse goes to an abandoned storage facility and goes inside, bringing the pillowcase of sawdust with him. He picks the lock of the facility, then writes his initials, JBF, in sawdust and dribbles acid over it. He smokes a Merit cigarette, then, when it’s almost done, tosses it into the dust to start a fire. He runs quickly out of the building, knowing that any evidence he’s left behind will be destroyed alongside the building. From his car, he watches through binoculars as the firetrucks arrive. As he does, he thinks of the first time he saw Sara cry. He’d asked her what she was doing and misheard her answer as “morning” rather than “mourning.” The sky now is thick with smoke, and Jesse spots Brian arriving among the firefighters.
The revelation that Jesse is the town arsonist positions him as the foil to Brian, his firefighter father. However, the fact that Jesse thinks of Sara crying after he sets his fire implies that his motive for setting fires is connected to Kate’s illness and other related issues in the Fitzgerald family. In this way, Jesse’s motive for setting fires isn’t that different from Brian’s motive for putting them out: both of them are attempting to reclaim a sense of control in their chaotic and painful lives.
Themes
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Jesse gets home to find Sara in a panic; Kate has begun vomiting blood. Jesse picks her up and carries her to the car, while Sara explains that she had to break in the room’s door because Kate wouldn’t let her in. As Jesse drives to the hospital, he thinks of earlier that day when he wouldn’t let Kate watch her show, wishing now that he had. Although this moment has come many times, the feeling of “Is this it?” never lessens for him. As soon as they arrive at the hospital, Sara grabs the nearest nurse and demands platelets for Kate. They take Kate out of Jesse’s arms, leaving him emptyhanded and aimless.
Although Jesse thinks little of himself since he is not a donor match for Kate, his ability to react quickly in a moment of crisis shows that he is clearly an important part of his family despite what he—and everyone else—seems to think. His regret over being unkind to Kate also shows that he cares for her. However, Jesse’s helplessness when Kate is taken away from him implies that his contributions to his family are invisible to others.
Themes
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Once Kate is through intake, Dr. Chance confirms that Kate is suffering the symptoms of end-stage kidney failure. Sara asks if they can still do a transplant, not acknowledging Anna’s lawsuit. Dr. Chance responds that he’s not sure Kate could survive the surgery, but Sara asks if he'd do it if there was a donor. Jesse pipes up to volunteer, but he isn’t a match. After Dr. Chance leaves, he explains to a surprised Sara that he just wanted to make sure—but internally, he’s embarrassed that he ever thought he could be worth something to his family. Kate wakes up and mouths to Jesse: Tell Anna. When Brian bursts in, smelling of smoke, Jesse slips out of the room and lights a cigarette. He doesn’t know what he’s supposed to tell Anna.
Jesse attempts to find some way of being useful to his family by offering his kidney, but in a twist of cruel irony, the sibling that actually wants to donate his kidney isn’t a match. Once again, Jesse struggles with this reality and feels worthless since he cannot give anything from his body to help Kate. His lack of self-worth is exacerbated by Sara, who seems to judge him for attempting to volunteer his kidney at all. But despite Jesse’s supposed uselessness, he’s the one Kate reaches out to when she wakes up.
Themes
