My Sister's Keeper Thesis

Thesis: Campbell Alexander in Jodi Picoult’s My Sister’s Keeper is initially a cold, calculating, opportunistic lawyer who has gone to great lengths to build walls between himself and the people in his life. His relationship with Anna and her case, along with his reconnection with Julia allow him to finally open up and connect with others, as well as to come to terms with his own illness.

Argument #1
- When we are first introduced to Campbell, he is very clearly repressing most of his emotions.

• When Anna first meets Campbell, even before they talk, she notices certain aspects of his appearance and body language that allude to this. “He’s got black hair and he’s at least as tall as my dad -six feet- with a right angle jaw and eyes that …show more content…
“I walk into the kitchen as I am knotting my tie. My apartment, it is a work of art. Sleek and minimalist…” (page 75) This observation is made early in the book, before his transformation, when he was uncaring and unfeeling. 325 pages later, Campbell and Julia discuss his apartment. “She sits down cross-legged beside me and touches her fingers to the plate of glass. ‘Campbell,’ she says, ‘I don’t know how to tell you this.’ Everything inside me goes still. ‘Fast, I suggest.’ ‘I hate your apartment.’ I follow her eyes from the grey carpet to the black couch, to the mirrored wall and the lacquered bookshelves. It is full of sharp edges and expensive art. It has the most advanced electronic gadgets and bells and whistles. It is a dream residence, but it is nobody’s home. ‘You know,’ I say. ‘I hate it, too.’” (page 400) This shows us that Campbell now sees his past self in a new light, and he doesn’t like the sort of person he …show more content…
He keeps me away from magnets." (page 18) or "I have SARS. He's tallying the people I infect." (page 77) However, after his change of heart, when he is asked this question, he says this, “‘Sorry. My son’s going through a canine stage. Can we pet him?’ ‘No,’ I say automatically. ‘He’s a service dog.’ ‘Oh.’ The woman straightens, pulls her son away. ‘But you aren’t blind.’ I’m epileptic, and this is my seizure dog. I think about coming clean, for once, for the first time. But then again, you have to able to laugh at yourself, don’t you? ‘I’m a lawyer, I say, and I grin at her. He chases ambulances for me.’ As Judge and I walk off, I’m whistling. (page 408) Now, although he is doing what he did before, it is done with completely different intentions. He is no longer

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