Prompt Revision #1

     One of the strongest human drives seems to be a desire for power. Write an essay in which you discuss how a character in a novel or a drama struggles to free himself or herself from the power of others or seeks to gain power over others. Be sure to demonstrate in your essay how the author uses this power struggle to enhance the meaning of the work.

          In Jodi Picoult's My Sister's Keeper, the protagonist Anna faces the decision of saving her sister's life or saving herself. Her parents originally only had two children, Anna's sister Kate and her brother Jesse. After Kate was diagnosed with leukemia, her parents need to find someone who was a genetic match to her so they could donate bone marrow and keep Kate alive. We first see the struggle of power develop with Kate when she develops cancer--she loses the control of her own body and her own life by being dependent on someone for her own survival. 
          After finding that no one in the family could provide the blood for Kate, her parents decided to have another baby, only this time they selected genes for the child that would ensure a genetic match for Kate. Almost instantly after Anna is born, transfusions begin. Right from the start, Anna has to sacrifice herself for the sake of her sister. 
          Years of painful treatment pass and Anna continues to supply Kate, often having to miss school, losing friends along the way. Seemingly, Anna has had enough of the treatments, and the book begins with Anna asking a lawyer for the rights to her own body over her parents. 
         The story continues with the fight over the custody of Anna's body between Anna and her parents. Anna is trying to free herself from the control of her parents, and argues that she doesn't need to put up with the transplants and longer. She is losing everything and is left with  a family that seems to only care about Kate's survival rather than hers and as a last resort, Anna sues her parents for the rights to her own body.  Anna's mom decides to defend herself in the court case, which causes a divide in the family. 
         As the story goes on, we eventually see that Anna was not selfishly trying to save herself from the pain and her sacrifices, but instead her sister's. Kate had already tried to commit suicide because she was tired of living in such a helpless way, and when a vital kidney transplant was required, Kate made Anna promise to just let her be, which is why Anna began fighting in the first place. Kate wanted the power to choose death herself instead of relying on her sister for everything. 
         In this novel, we see boundaries of ethics stretch and the simultaneous struggles over power. Anna is the result of a genetic enhancement. Is it right to choose what traits your child will have? Essentially, Anna's existence is because of Kate. Is it right for Anna to have to endure these treatments, even if it is to save Kate? When is saving a child's life wrong? This novel transcends the plot by evoking these types of ethical dilemmas in the reader's mind. The struggle for power illustrated here may have readers reconsider what is right and what is wrong.