final...just backing it all up!

Amanda Russo
June 3, 2008
Period 1
Curriculum Consultant


When the reader can connect with a novel and its message, it is considered a truly valuable book. Students especially need to have the opportunity to relate to what they are reading; it gives them a better understanding of the subject. Jodi Picoult’s novel, My Sister’s Keeper, and Sandra Cisneros’ short collection of vignettes called The House on Mango Street contrast greatly. In both novels, the protagonist is put into a situation where she has to make a difficult decision between what is right and wrong. The main character in My Sister’s Keeper, Anna, is her sister Kate’s lifeline in her battle with Leukemia whenever she needs a stem cell transplant, but she has had enough of her parents making these decisions for her. Now that Kate needs a kidney transplant, Anna’s reluctance toward donating her kidney puts her sister in a life or death situation. Meanwhile, Esperanza, The House on Mango Street’s main character, must decide whether or not to move away from the house that she had lived in since she was twelve. While Picoult’s novel illustrates relationships that are found in most families and covers current moral issues throughout a moving story, Cisneros’ book falls short because it fails to create an emotional hook for a teen reader.
Sister to sister and mother to daughter relationships are the two main themes that are discussed throughout the novel My Sister’s Keeper. Even though Anna and her sister have an inseparable bond, Anna wants to be noticed as an individual person and not just as her sister’s keeper. “Through all the things her family goes through with the trial, Anna still realizes that her bond with her sister is too great to break, and she can't live without her,” (Alanna’s English 10 Blog). Another relationship that is developed in the novel is between Kate and her mother, Sara. No one is able to let go of the children they love, especially a mother. Ever since Kate was two years old, she has been struggling to defeat her illness, and her mother’s unquestionable support is what convinced Kate that it is worthwhile to fight back. Conversely, The House on Mango Street doesn’t discuss any strong ties amongst characters. For instance, the relationship between Esperanza and her sister never develops. Their bond is portrayed as less familial and more causal. During the fourteen years that her daughter has been at war with Leukemia, Sara has stayed positive and helped her daughter be the strongest that she could be even when almost all hope was lost. That relationship exemplifies how one person’s illness effects numerous people in all different ways, which is practical to reality. Themes of interpersonal relationships are easy for high school students to connect to since they are dealt with everyday, making My Sister’s Keeper more intriguing than The House on Mango Street.
My Sister’s Keeper is based on a storyline that many people can relate to. It is sadly commonplace to need to deal with a loved one’s illness and then be willing to sacrifice anything to cure them. The controversial issue of creating perfectly designed babies to help cure someone’s illness is the story’s main focus. As science has improved over the past few years, advances such as the creation of “designer babies” have come about, causing great debate. A current example is that of a British couple who wanted to create a “designer baby”, also known as a “spare parts baby,” to save their oldest son who was suffering with a fatal blood disease. After having this special baby, procedures were carried out to donate his stem cells to his sickly brother. This brought up questions such as, “ how would a child feel, knowing that he was conceived for the sole purpose of saving his sibling’s life,” and “where would a donor’s own rights begin and his responsibility end?” (Arie). The only way to save their child’s life was to treat him with his newborn brother’s stem cells, but if complications arose, who knows what else he would be required to donate to his older brother. This statement relates right back to My Sister’s Keeper. At first, just like in the newborn’s case, Anna was conceived only for the purpose of donating stem cells to her sister, but as time passed, she was in the hospital undergoing procedures almost as often as her sister Kate was. Her responsibility went from donating stem cells, to eventually contemplating a life-saving kidney transplant. Anna explained this when discussing her parents and what it was like to be a donor. She said, "they don't really pay attention to me, except when they need my blood or something. I wouldn't even be alive, if it wasn't for Kate being sick," (Picoult, 33). The honesty of this statement pulls the reader into the novel on a deep emotional level. As much as she loved her sister, there was a part of Kate that wanted to be set free, just as many people who are in her position probably feel but might never admit.
On the contrary, The House on Mango Street lacks a theme that is current and poignant, making it unappealing for students to read and study. Although the collection of vignettes creatively explains the life of a young girl maturing, its only theme is change. Depending on how this theme is explored through the narrative, it can be meaningful or insignificant. In this book however, the theme of change proves itself to be minor compared to what the author could have constructed. The book’s purpose is clearly expressed by the author, but its ideas are not easily discussable like those in My Sister’s Keeper.
Since there are so many issues that people debate about, the curriculum of PHHS should include a book that revolves around a current controversial topic. When comparing the two books, the idea of creating “designer babies” is much more intriguing than that of a person growing up and changing. When one compares the two types of change that these female characters go through in their respective books, it is apparent that My Sister’s Keeper goes well beyond just the idea of the protagonist, Anna, changing. From Anna wanting to change her life, the bigger story evolves. Books do not always have to teach a life lesson, but typically in our school’s curriculum, they tend to discuss significant messages or themes that students can relate to. By reading a book that relates to a problem in the world, students get a better understanding of the issue and are able to relate better to it. From this, it is safe to conclude that The House on Mango Street’s theme is not as fully developed as My Sister’s Keeper, and it should therefore, be removed from the curriculum.
The two books seem so different, but when you really take the subjects apart, My Sister’s Keeper and The House Mango Street have similar ideas, but these themes are not explored with equal strength. Throughout the novel, My Sister’s Keeper illustrates the inseparable bonds connecting a mother to her daughter and also one sister to the other. By just examining the critical issue that the book revolves around, it is apparent that My Sister’s Keeper would, without a doubt, be a strong and worthwhile addition to the English curriculum at Pascack Hills High School or any other high school at this time.