angry with her because she conceals Taylor’s death, Kate’s boyfriend. To avoid Kate’s condition from getting worse, Sara chooses not to tell about Taylor’s death.
She is afraid if it breaks her spirit to fight her illness. Consequently, Kate becomes very angry that she accuses Sara as a liar and does not want to talk to her for a
week Picoult 385-386. Kate’s anger by accusing and ignoring her for a week indirectly shows us how great Sara feels sad and hurt. It means that she sacrifices
her feeling again.
2. Care and Responsibility
According to Fromm 41, in a motherly love, there are two affirmations aspect of child’s life and needs. First is care and responsibility. They are necessary
for the preservation of the child’s life and his growth. Second is the attitude which instills the sense of his aliveness in the child.
Fromm as quoted by Warga 315 states that caring concerns about the loved one’s health, growth, stability, and welfare. While responsibility means
responding to the one’s needs. In this part, care and responsibility show how great Sara’s love toward Kate is. Thus, love can also mean care and responsibility. As
Helena Deutsch defines that motherliness refers to the emotional phenomena that seems to be related to the child’s helplessness and need for care 18, Sara’s
motherliness refers to her care of Kate’s life. For Sara, care means concern about Kate’s health and her happiness. It is the feeling of anxiety to the beloved
daughter. In this case, the more Sara cares about Kate’s health, the more anxious she will be. While responsibility for her means doing something in order to fulfill
Kate’s needs. As a mother, Sara has a duty to preserve her dying daughter’s life from any dangers of her illness and to give everything for her happiness.
As Sara perceives that the meaning of love is about care, she always concerns with and worries about her dying daughter’s health. To show how much
Sara cares about Kate’s health, she pays attention to the sign that appears on Kate’s skin. No matter what signs of her illness are, Sara is always worried of
Kate’s health and indicates them as the symptoms of her relapse. For example, when Kate is wearing her dress, Sara sees a bruise the size a half-dollar on the
back of her thigh. She is worried that it is the sign of her daughter’s recurrence. But Kate tells that it is just a bang Picoult 197-198. Finding a small bruise on
Kate’s thigh means that Sara really cares her daughter not only in dealing with the big thing, but also a small one.
Besides that, Sara’s care about her daughter can also be seen when she feels worried because Kate complains that her feet hurts. She thinks the pain
indicates her relapse from a bony pain. Thus, she rushes to the doctor and finds the reason that Kate’s hurting is caused by her tight sneakers Picoult 198. The
way Sara is worried about Kate’s bony pain recurrence portrays how much she cares her daughter.
Another evidence that shows how much she cares about Kate is when Kate plays two-on-two football with her father and siblings. Sara worries if something
wrong happens to Kate when she plays. Indirectly, she does not allow Kate to play but her husband convinces that nothing will happen. Her worry shows that she
cares too much over her dying daughter.
“Tell me,” she said, “that I’m hallucinating.” She didn’t have to say anything else – we’d all seen Kate tumble like an ordinary kid and wind up
bleeding uncontrollably like a sick one. “Aw, Sara.” My dad turned up the wattage on his smile.
“Kate’s on my team. I won’t let her get sacked.” . . . “Trust me,” he said, and then he threw the football to Kate Picoult
166. Sara’s care is also seen when she has free time with her sister, Zanne, to
have fun and to refresh her mind away from her sorrow over Kate’s illness. The fact is that she can not truly enjoy her spare time because she keeps thinking and
worries about Kate’s condition. The way Sara gives attention whenever and wherever she is shows how much she cares about her dying daughter.
“As long as it’s not all the time, Zanne says. “Honey, Kate is not going to die sooner because you have one more glass of wine, or because you stay
overnight in a hotel, or because you let your self crack up at a bad joke. So sit your ass back down and turn up the volume and act like you’re a
normal person” Picoult 212.
On one occasion, Sara’s care can be seen from the way she takes decisions on behalf of Kate’s health. First, Sara decides to conceal Taylor’s death from
Kate. She is afraid if it breaks her spirit to fight against her illness and will cause her health to get worse. Because of her care about Kate’s health, she keeps it until
the day Kate is well enough and feels better to live without Taylor Picoult 384. Next, Sara decides what should Anna do based on Kate’s need. It is
proved from Alexander’s speech, Anna’s lawyer. He says that Sara’s choices are independent because they are concerning on Kate’s health care Picoult 435. This
proof indirectly shows us that Sara lays her decisions on behalf of Kate’s health because she really cares about her.
To show her love, Sara does not only care about Kate’s health, but also her daughter’s happiness. It gives us a sense that love for her means caring for Kate’s
happiness. It can be seen through her understanding when she lets Taylor hold up the edge of Kate’s hygienic mask. Although Sara realizes that it is not good for
Kate’s health, she keeps him doing that because she cares about her daughter’s happiness and wants her to have beautiful memory in her life.
Taylor dips his head toward Kate’s, and she sways closer, and I realize that this is why I followed them. I knew this was what I would find . . . one
that I might worry between my fingers like a piece of sea glass. Taylor lifts up the edge of her blue hygienic mask and I know I should stop him, I
know I have to, but I don’t. This much I want her to have Picoult 383.
The meaning of Sara’s love to her dying daughter is not only care. For her, love also means responsibility. In any case, Sara takes a great responsibility for
Kate’s life. Her responsibility can be seen when Sara has the chores like a doctor and nurse to keep an eye on what is happening with Kate at home. After Kate
undergoes the chemotherapy, Sara controls on what is happening with Kate and checks her dying daughter’s pillow every morning to make sure whether her hair
is falling out again or not. “This part scoured Kate’s pillow every morning, even after her hair started to grow back with its frizzy, burned ends, just in case it
started falling out again” Picoult 120. Sara also takes part in giving growth injection because Kate needs it the
days after enduring transplantation. One day, Kate’s white blood cell counts begin to drop that cause her in reverse isolation. After white blood cell transplantation,
Kate needs growth inoculation. Sara is responsible for giving her growth injection and practices hardly how to give the right injection.
Brian and I sit outside the anteroom, waiting. While Kate sleeps, I practice giving injections to an orange. After the transplant Kate will need growth
factor shoots, and the chore will fall to me. . . The drug I will be giving is subcutaneous, injected just under the skin. I need to make sure the angle is
right and that I am giving the proper amount of pressure Picoult 126.
Even it is not easy for Sara, who does not have skill and experience on medical, she keeps being responsible for Kate’s safety. Thus, she keeps on practicing to
take the right angle and to give proper pressure in her injection so that Kate will not hurt.
Sara’s responsibility from is also proved when she has another parent replaces her task in charge of the punch and looks for Kate who leaves a prom
party. At that time, Sara has a role to be responsible for the punch when the hospital held a prom party for the Leukemia patients. Realizing that Kate and
Taylor have left the prom room, Sara asks another parent to take over her position and searches where her daughter is. The way she reacts describes her
responsibility to protect her daughter from a threat of her illness recurrence. . . . I have promised myself I wouldn’t be overprotective, but there are too
many children here for the staff to really keep track of, I ask another parent to take over my punch station and then I search out the ladies’ room. I
check the supply closet. I walk through empty hallways and dark corridors and even the chapel Picoult 382-383.
From all the proofs above, we know that Sara proves her love by caring
Kate’s health and happiness. For this reason, Sara always concerns Kate’s pain and the sign which appears on his skin. She also takes decisions based on her
dying daughter’s needs. Furthermore, Sara’s love also means responsibility. Thus, she is responsible for Kate’s life.
3. Struggle
