Anna's Sacrifices In Jodi Picoult's Novel My Sister's Keeper
CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION 1. 1. Background of the Study There are many ways to express idea and feeling. One of the ways to express
idea or feeling is by writing a literature. Rene Wellek and Austin Warren (1997: 5) said that literature should be creative, an art and what an author has produced. Not have much different meaning from Wellek and Warren, Julien D. Bonn (2010: 93) said that literature in a broader aspect, literature can be define as any written or spoken material but the term most often refers to creative works. While according Robert dan Henry (1993:1) Literature refers to compositions that tell stories, dramatize situations, express emotions and analyze and advocate ideas. Although they have different meanings, but the writer concludes that literature is a creative work which contains beauty that arises out of the human ability to create language.
Wellek and Warren also said literary language has an expressive function, indicates the tone and the attitude of the speaker or writer. Literary language tries to influence, persuade and eventually change the attitudes of readers. The most important in literary is a sign language, the sound symbolism of words. There are many variety techniques created (e.g. alliteration and sound patterns) to attract the reader’s attention to the literary work (1997: 15). Literature itself has functions; it entertains the reader, it provides knowledge such as history, culture, social life and it is give us moral teaching. Literature is to please and to teach the reader. Literary works may please their listeners or readers. It has an element of entertaining or to afford pleasure or we can say that many stories attract our interest. Some literary could stir our feeling and emotion. As the result, we may feel sad, happy, or angry after listening or reading a story.
Edgar V. Robert and Henry E. Jacobs (1995:2) classified literature into four categories or genres: (1) prose fiction, (2) poetry, (3) drama, (4) nonfiction prose.
Prose fiction or narrative fiction includes myths, parables, romances, novels and short stories. Poetry expresses a conversation or interchange that is grounded in most deeply felt experiences of human beings. Drama is literature designed to be performed by actors. Beside, non-fiction prose is literary genre that consists of news reports, feature articles, essays, editorials, textbooks, historical and biographical works and the like, all of which describe or interpret facts and present judgments and opinions.
The fiction that will be discussed in this thesis is a novel entitled My Sister’s
Keeper written by Jodi Picoult. Rees’ ( 1973:106 ) stated that novel is a fictitious
prose narrative of considerate length in which characters and action representative of real life are portrayed in a plot of more or less complexity. The novel My Sister’s is one of her works which became a New York Times bestseller. Beside that
Keeper
she has published many novels; there are Salem Falls, Plain Truth, Vanishing Act and many more. Picoult’s novels usually deal with ethical issues and are told from a variety of viewpoints, with each chapter written in a different character’s voice. Abrams (1981: 20) stated that characters are the persons in a narrative of dramatic work of art such as novel, play or film, that are interpreted by reader as being enclosed with moral and dispositional qualities expressed in what they say – the dialogue – and what they do – the action.
As we know that character is one of an important aspect of the novel. There are many characters in My Sister’s Keeper novel, the characters are: Sara Fitzgerald is a mother of three children, Jesse, Kate and Anna. She made decisions for Anna and taking control of her life, Brian Fitzgerald is Anna’s father. He is a fire fighter captain. Being a good parent, facing a difficult problem and take care all of the broken family is not easy for him, Anna Fitzgerald is a younger daughter of Fitzgerald couple. She was born for a specific purpose, to save her sister life, Kate Fitzgerald is an older daughter of Fitzgerald couple. She diagnosed had a leukemia, but in case of Kate she had an Acute Promyelocytic Leukemia, one of rare leukemia disease, Jesse Fitzgerald is a son of Fitzgerald couple. He is a broken home child, Campbell Alexander is a lawyer. Anna hires him to sue her mother her rights over her own body, Julia Romano is a guardian al litem. A GAL is chosen by a court to be a child’s advocate during a legal proceeding that involves a minor. From the description of the characters, the writer decided to choose one of the main character named Anna Fitzgerald.
Anna Fitzgerald is a thirteen years old girl was born for specific reason to save her sister life. Anna should be an allogenic donor for her sister because her sister has leukemia. By newborn, she used to do sacrifices for her sister, Kate. Actually, Anna is not sick, but she might as well be. By age thirteen, she has undergone countless surgeries, transfusions, and shots so that her older sister, Kate, can somehow fight the leukemia that has plagued her since childhood. Then when she reached aged thirteen, Anna tries to get her rights over her own body, she wants a freedom from being her sister donor, Kate. Anna tries to tell her mother to stop using her body to save her sister. But on the other hand, her mother does not want to lose her daughter Kate and Anna. Her mother should sacrifice one of her daughter’s life to save the other. Her mother action is not exactly cruel, but cannot be said as good, either.
In this thesis, the writer will analyze the sacrifices found from the character Anna in My Sister’s Keeper written by Jodi Picoult. The writer chooses one of Jodi Picoult works because the story was interesting especially about the sacrifices of Anna. Generally, sacrifice was come from the heart. No one should be forced to do it. But different in Anna’s story, she should sacrifice herself from newborn until her death. And we know that every people have a moral, even it is good or bad. The moral value in this novel deals with the human problem in life. This story can be a good lesson for reader; they can see how to be a good person by being more tolerant of other people’s feelings, minding their attitude and responsibility in society.
1. 2. Problem of the Study
Every thesis has a problem, as a purpose to complete this thesis, the writer will focus the analysis to the leading characters named “Anna”. Through Jodi Picoult’s novel My Sister’s Keeper, the writer will try to explain her sacrifice, the way she did it and also about her struggle to get her rights over her own body. In order to doing the analysis, the writer would like to put forward the problems as follows: 1) What are Anna’s sacrifices to save her sister’s life? 2) How does she sacrifice to save her sister’s life? 3) What are Anna’s struggles to get her rights over her own body?
1. 3. Objective of the Study
The objective of this thesis is to find out and explain the sacrifices, the way she did it and the struggle which Anna faced as portrayed in the novel My Sister’s
Keeper. Then the writer also explains Anna’s fight in order to get her rights over her own body as reflected in the story of the novel.
1.4. Scope of the Study
In this novel, the story showed us not only about sacrifice, but also about human struggle to get rights. Jodi Picoult’s novel My Sister’s Keeper has that part which will be analyzed in this thesis. By doing so, the writer restrict the scope of analysis in portraying the sacrifices, the way she did it and the struggle of Anna who is the leading character in the novel.
1.5. Significance of the Study
The significance of this study is to enrich literary studies especially in literature through novel as one genres of it beside drama and poetry. Another significance of this analysis is to understand about the sacrifices portrayed in the main characters, Anna. The writer also hopes that this thesis will be useful for the readers or people who need this thesis as a reference.