Ok sophomores, hopefully My Sister's Keeper has lit some kind of fire in you!
You have probably noticed that fire plays quite a large role in the novel. When considering Brian and Jesse and their relationships to "fire", what do you think "fire" represents to each of these characters? If you use a literary device or two to prove your analysis, well, that might just fire me up enough to reward you on Monday. Dig deep and wow me with your thoughts.
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ReplyDeleteFor Brian, fire means escape. He is able to step back from his troubling home life, and help others with their problems. I believe this is why he started living with Anna at the firestation. Brian had been looking for an escape route for a long time. He saw an opportunity and he ran with it. "I have often wondered why I get more rest in a place where, for the most part, I'm roused out of bed two or three times a night. I think it is because in a firehouse, I don't have to worry about emergencies happening-they're supposed to. The minute I walk through the door at home, I'm worrying about what might come next" (142).
ReplyDeleteJesse is rather interesting in the way that he uses fire to his advantage. The response of most would be to defeat the fire and claim the victory. Jesse chooses rather to create the fire and flee from glory. In a twisted way, fire is used as a tool for attention. Jesse had been neglected most of his life. Even though he moved out, he still needed that love and attention, of which he had been deprived. For Jesse, fire is recognition, attention, and a desperate cry. "At the police station, when my dad came to get me, he asked what the hell I'd been thinking. I hadn't been thinking, actually. I was just trying to get to a place where I'd be noticed" (247).
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ReplyDeleteFire plays an important role in the novel. Brian, as a firefighter, his job is to save people from fire. The author mentioned at the beginning of the novel that Jesse liked playing with matches when he was young and set fires all over the city. I think the reason is he wants to win his father's attention. He thinks that his family's attention is all on Kate. He tried to use this way to tell his parents he is also important. Meanwhile, I think fire represents Kate's dangerous situation. The author use metaphors to emphasize Kate was in danger and she was dying. Although she wants to live and stay with her family forever, she felt powerless. She suffered surgeries agin and agin. At the end of the book, the only way to save Kate is for Anna to donate her kidney. Due to a car accident, Anna died and donated her kidney, Kate survived.
ReplyDeleteJesse is a very troubled kid. Just with his drugs ,friends ,and family I can see why he sets stuff on fire. He really just wants attention not just from his dad but from his family. He was kinda forgotten as a child and the times he was called was for Kate. His really wants attention from his dad and you can see throughout the book he doesn't get it finally Anna mentions that he is never home and they really don't have a family any more.
ReplyDeleteI think fire is like the bridge between Jesse and Brian. Jesse looks angry because he thinks Sara and Brian care about Kate and Anna more, but no one really cares about him. He sets fire everywhere because he wants to earn his parents' attention. And also, I think the fire represents the conflict between their family: Sara wants to save Kate, so she has to sacrifice Anna; Brian is like a peacemaker, he is hesitating between helping his wife or Anna; Jesse tries a lot of bad things to get Sara and Brian's attention; Kate is the patient and also the receiver in the family, she can't stop her mom, but she doesn't want to hurt her sister Anna; Anna is the donor and the most wise person in the family, she wants to help her sister, but she also wants to make her own decision about her body. They love each other, but they're also struggling in their own problems.
ReplyDeleteThe fire is a perfect excuse to make both Brian and Jesse get attention or make others get focused them. In my words, I think Brian was lonely, who, just like Jesse, nobody cared about his feelings. Kate took away his lover, so fire was a release to him that he can step back from his home a little bit and find somewhere to save more people in order to feel he is still a human being. Same for Jesse, he sets fire and makes messes, so he can feel like a person. He feels excited when he does these things, which is a perfect excuse to escape the problem in his family. He does not need to think about which side he should stand. Also he can earn more of his family's attention when he does these things. For jesses, fire means escape and a way to express his anger.
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ReplyDeleteI think fire represents Brian as a problem solver. We all know that Brian is a firefighter, and he has to fight against the fire all the time. Fire represents anger for Jesse. In the family, Jesse cannot get any attention because he is not a donator or receiver. Although he loves his family, he still wants his parents to love him more. In the past, his family always pay attention to Kate or Anna like they're watching them on a monitor. However, he feels he is the outsider of this family. Fire also represents the arguments in this family, Kate's issue makes this family nervous over and over again. However, this issue wasn't solved in a peaceful way, and they use the law to solve this problem.
ReplyDeleteThere is no such thing as a coincidence in this world, there is only the inevitable.The son of a firefighter becomes a guy who likes setting fire everywhere in the city, that have been caused by some reasons we don’t know.In my opinion, fire means job and responsibility to Brian, which means, as a firefighter, Brian has to leave his family anytime there is a fire. Fire to Jesse means completely different things in comparison to his father, he loves setting fire around the city. One of my guesses about the reason why Jesse likes setting fire is he wants to get attention from his father.As a teenage boy he doesn’t get enough attention because of his sister, setting fire becomes not only just the way of getting the attention from his father, but also the way of getting rid of his stress and the action of setting fire shows his anger about the family. Moreover , Brian is not only a firefighter when he is doing his job, but also when he stays with his family. As a coordinator in the family, he has to face many problems. These problems are just like fire that grows too fast for him to put out, such as the mental problems of Anna, Jesse’s problems and the treatment for Kate. So ’fire’ also means problems to Brian.
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