My Sister's Keeper
Blog 1
Parenting is different, physically and ideologically, for every set of parents. Everyone has their own values and beliefs so it is very hard to tell someone that their style of parenting is bad or incorrect. Some things, such as physical and verbal abuse, are obvious indicators of bad parents but it is not always so simple.
In My Sister's Keeper, by Jodi Picoult, the parents definitely straddle the gray line between good and bad parenting. They did everything they did because they were just trying to help their daughter overcome cancer. They clearly care about their children but they also make it seem as if Kate is their favorite. Having a favorite, or most important, child is going to destroy the other children psychologically.
http://www.cancer.net/coping-and-emotions/communicating-loved-ones/family-life
This page discusses how cancer effects family life. It explains how a cancer diagnosis changes individual roles and responsibilities within a family. Once Kate was diagnosed Brian and Sara had to switch their jobs from raising her to keeping her alive. They did the best that they could to keep her alive but they disregarded the effects it would have on the rest of their family. Anna is forced to struggle with the internal conflict of whether her parents love her or just want to use her for Kate. The article explains how honesty and communication are the two most important things to keeping a family together but in order to have those there needs to be trust.
I agree with your paragraph about Kate being the favorite child. It really is unfair to Anna and Jesse and now they are both acting out because of it. I believe Sara and more so Brian are good parents, but they get distracted by Kate's illness. Brian takes the time to listen and spend alone time with Anna, something that every child needs. Jesse needs attention from his parents, but they act like he is a lost cause. I also agree with your last paragraph about honesty and communication. Anna and her mother are not able to communicate fully because Anna is never completely honest when discussing the court case. She tells her mother that she wants out but the opposite to her lawyer.
ReplyDeleteI like how you started off your blog talking about how parenting it different. Being parents is hard because every way has their own way of parenting. I agree that they show Kate as their favorite. A parents should never choose favorites but they have been showing her most of the love because of her illness.I like how you connected a website to My Sisters Keeper.
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