Comparative Essay -- Sarah and Sara

          Not only do these two characters have the same name, Sarah from Sarah’s Key and Sara from My Sister’s Keeper both have and embrace their determination that is fueled by hope. In both of these tragic stories, Sarah and Sara fight for family members, sparked by that little sliver of hope of their family staying alive. These characters in both books are made up of a similar recipe – large amounts dedicated to determination and small portions of giving up.   

            These two characters care about probably one of the most important things in my life, their family. Sarah and Sara are dedicated to keeping their family safe and bound together. Once Sarah in Sarah’s Key finds herself being taken away from her house, home, she is asked by Michael, Sarah’s brother, to lock him in the cupboard. Hesitantly, Sarah does what she is told, and turns the key thinking this is for the best. On the way to the concentration camps, all Sarah can think about is her brother probably starving in the secret room. Her dedication to believing that her brother was alive brought her to Michael eventually; they found him in the cupboard – dead. Similarly, in My Sister’s Keeper, Sara’s daughter, Kate, is diagnosed with cancer at three. Throughout the novel, Sara struggles to preserve Kate and preserve the tears she will eventually cry at her daughters’ funeral, but Sara forces herself to put the thought of Kate’s death out of her mind. By the end of the book, Kate doesn’t end up dying, rather, her sister Anna who has been working hard to sue her parents for not rightfully taking her blood and cells, but Anna’s story comes to an end.

            These two characters don’t just save their family; they are bound to keep them safe and together. With Michael left on the side of the road, the road of Sarah’s past, Sarah is not letting go of her parents. Her parents are all Sarah has left, all there is tracing to the life she used to have.  Yet, her parents are also the main source of depression on Sarah’s life. Sarah’s determination comes into play here, being the ball of energy she is, as she tries to bring her parents out of despair. She has hope that she will stay with her mom and dad although her brother may be gone out of the picture. Sarah, similarly, is doing just that – keeping her family united not just physically but mentally. After Anna sued Sarah and Brian, Sarah feels as she is the knot of the rope that ties the Fitzgerald household together.

            Although these characters are similar in many ways, they both have one major difference that makes them differ so; Sarah from Sarah’s Key wants to face the truth, face the death of her brother, while Sara from My Sister’s Keeper on the other hand, runs from the possible death of Kate. Another difference between the two determination filled characters is that Sarah lives in her future, wishing and planning for what is next. On the other hand is Sara who hides from her future, and she lives in her past.

Sara and Sarah’s determination and dedication have yet to leave a mark on your soul. Their intriguing personalities pull you into their story, and leave in a state of despair. Although these two characters endorse in hope, having too much is not good medicine for the heart, as it may just leave you with a tragic story to tell and with death lingering in the air around you.

Sarah's Key

Author's Note: In this piece, I am retelling Sarah's Key. (Retelling is focusing on the major parts of the story.) A very tragic story... please enjoy!

 

          A key turning in the lock of a cupboard locks Sarah's little brother, Michael, into a state of misery and despair which unlocks the past; the Holocaust. In the July of 1942, French Policemen pounded on Jewish families homes, taking innocent ones to death camps,  one of them being Sarah's family. When Sarah heard the knocking on her front door, she knew her family was in for a dangerous and life changing ride. Michael, full of innocence and curiosity, pleads Sarah to lock him in the "secret room," a small cupboard equipped with water, food, candles, and complete with a brass lock. Through smells of excrement, and sights of dirty and naked bodies, all Sarah can think about is her brother locked in the secret room. Sarah's determination motivates her to escape the grasp of the French Policemen, in hopes that she will find her little brother -- and she does end up finding him; dead.

A Flourish of Hate

A flourish of hate,

Here.

Blooming from love,

Why.

A single thread hanging on for,

You.

One voice a dagger to,

Night.

A flourish of hate,

Love.

Why.

Innocence -- Lemon Chiffon

          Before my adoption, my life was cheap, pointless, and without-a-doubt, ruthless.  Sitting on my bed in the orphanage every night, I would gaze out the window in search for a wishing star with hopes that my dream would come true. Every time though, a blanket of pollution clouded the night sky, sending my soaring hopes crashing to the ground. Frustrating as it was, I was persistent, until one day it paid off; I had a family to call my own.  To this day, I wish on shooting stars, though this time, wishing to undo what I have done-- found a family.

          Laying in bed the night of my 15th birthday, I was awakened by a series of crashes and thumps. Knowing already what kind of monster would be awaiting me if I left my room, I just rolled over on my side, and tried to ignore the pounding in the kitchen and in my heart. Life repeated itself, and mom was drunk constantly until, one night, things stopped. In tragic lives, there are words for  orphans like me, there are words for someone who loses  biological parents, but, in life, there are no words for when someone loses the only thing giving hope and determination to keep a family bound together.

         Everything fell apart after my mom's suicide, including my sister.  It seemed as though my sister had grown so far away from me, when I say her name,  there is a pang in my heart as "Megan," seemed so foreign. One day though, she took a turn that wasn't going in the right direction-- at all. This one day, life seemed to be a movie put on pause, as someone went to get popcorn; except now it wasn't popcorn, replacing it was a knife. "Kill me," was all I heard the 26th of June, and it rang in my ears for days. My sister. Asking me. To. Kill. Her.

          After weeks of being haunted by Megan's statement, I decided it was time to end my worries. Baking a cake that afternoon, I knew what I was going to do. A lemon chiffon cake, innocent, harmless, and smothered  with ignorance. Everyone would think differently of lemon chiffon now.  Choosing  not to follow the ingredients shown in the recipe, I reached for a small vial, and drop by drop imagined my sister lying motionless on her bed, all she had wanted.  After cutting a sliver of lemon chiffon, I found a doily, daintily placed it on mom's best china plate, and crept up the stairs in search for my sister. I sat in her bedroom and watched her eat my cake.  I smelled, in her bedroom, death lurking in the distance. I listened, in her bedroom, to her last words. Not only did I end my worries that day, I ended my sister's life. I. Killed. Her.

For You

It is said that history repeats itself,

But if that is to be true,

I wouldn't be here right now,

Really, I wouldn't have you.

They say your life won't be the same,

 And you could never turn,

But if you hadn't shown up here,

My heart couldn't ever yearn.

Waiting for Love

Lindsay hurriedly dodged  coming students, head hung low as she scurried to math. She couldn't stand being the center of everyone's love life; she couldn't watch everyone give lovey-dovey looks, or see people's hands entwined-- it brought a twang of pain to her heart. Not that anyone would have feelings like that for her; Lindsay was the girl. The dreaded girl.  The one.  No one would help Lindsay change this-- not her mother, not any teacher, not her only friend, Carissa. The life that was given to her was meant to stay… or so Lindsay thought.

There was one boy though. One boy who seemed to change everything. One boy who could change everything; Ethan.  Just saying his name brought tingles to Lindsay "Ethan," she whispered, and she shivered with delight."Brrrrrring!" Rang the bell; the whole class jumped out of their seats and started collecting their things, while Lindsay was already out the door. Lunch was the one time Lindsay could attempt to make social contact as social contact= more opportunities, more opportunities= friends, and friends= potential BOYfriends. Lindsay understood this circle of social contact; in fact, she lived it, dreamt it… this could be a new way of life! Lindsay approached Ethan, preparing herself to ask a question about the "math homework," when she froze in her tracks. Ethan was already talking to Annabeth, the freak of the school (well, really she wasn't a freak… she was just freaky popular.) "Okay…" Lindsay thought, "She might just have a question about math homework too." Lindsay tried to convince herself of this the whole time Ethan and Annabeth walked hand in hand down the hallway. "Freak."

That afternoon, Lindsay raced home from school only to find her mother and father sitting at the kitchen table. “Dad,” Lindsay hugged her father “What are you doing here? I thought that you weren’t coming back from Arizona until Thursday!”

“Well, I was given the chance to leave early, so I did!”

“What about you, mom?” Lindsay asked, “Don’t you get off from work at 5:30?”

“Yes, honey, but we have very important news.”

“Oooh, is it good news?”

“Well, it might trouble you a bit, but-“

“-We’re moving!” My dad interrupts.

Lindsay’s eyes widen, “Really?”

Her mother warms Lindsay in her embrace whispering “Yes honey, we are moving to North Carolina two weeks from now. Your father got a job transfer.”
“Seriously?” Lindsay questioned.

“Yup—now I know this might break your heart but-

“Whohoo! We’re leaving, we’re leaving!” Lindsay raced up the stairs, “I’m gonna start packing!” She shouted to her parents.

“Don’t take this too hard!” Her father called after her jokingly.

When Lindsay was out of earshot, her mom mumbled, “Did you think she was going to take it that well?”

“I could have guessed,” her father replied with a smirk plastered on his face.

                The two weeks have passed but Lindsay hadn’t told yet one person about the move; no one would even notice she was gone, what was the point?  Lindsay had just collected her algebra homework nonchalantly, and quietly listened to her history teacher ramble on about a research project on Abraham’s Assassination in the year 1865. To everyone else, this was what they thought of Lindsay, this was normal behavior.  But inside, this wasn’t normal for Lindsay, she felt as if she was soaring! This is what she had wanted ever since she got to this ugly little town, and now she’s got it. A new life was on its way, no one was even going to notice that she had gone for the better. There was one person though. One person who knew something was about to change; Ethan. Ethan had broke up with Annabeth a few days before, knowing, knowing in his heart, that something was going to happen for him. He knew in his heart, that this, that this was love. But for whom, he couldn’t tell. One day though, just one day is all it took, for him to understand. Lindsay briskly walked past Ethan in the hall, and Ethan, felt a wave of courage sweep over him as he called after her, asking her if they could talk. Lindsay just kept strutting down the corridor with her head held high. And so, that night, Ethan had sent out a box; a small, black box with a grey ribbon attached on top.

And, that night, Lindsay’s family finished up last minute packing.

And, two days after, the box sat on her doorstep, waiting.

Waiting for love.

Promises are Never Kept

Author's Note-- This piece was to show that you shouldn't look forward to everything promised in life, not all of them will happen or come true.
They say they will be true to you, that they have sworn,

But every time it happens, it leaves your heart torn.

You have one half of the affection, the one that's on your locket,

They don't show the other one, hidden in their pocket.

They say that the relationship is meant to be and pure,

But then, they leave you in the dust-- a heartache with no cure.

Struck by emotion, feeling needles piercing your heart,

They just push you down again, sending you back to the start.

Irritation and exasperation replace what was sympathy and care,

Though, your tender compassion won over, taking the dare.

As you slowly rebuild what there was before,

They glance your direction, but just ignore.

Coming to a sense of realization, you see,

Everyone who becomes attached, were really meant to flee.

Pain and sorrow washed over you as you wept,

Knowing that such promises can never be kept.