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Riley Macpherson's Suicide In The Silent Sister By Diane Chamberlain

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I have just finished reading The Silent Sister by Diane Chamberlain. This book is about Riley MacPherson who grows up in a loving but sorrowful family consisting of her mother, father, and her brother, Danny. She believes that her sister, Lisa, commited suicide as a teenager when she was only two. Riley returns to her childhood home following the death of her father, and she starts to discover secrets about her sister. Riley finds out that she is still alive, and makes it her mission to find her so she can be apart of her life. In this journal I will be evaluating and questioning. Riley MacPherson has two different sides to her; depending on the situation, she can be either relentless or understanding. There are many examples of Riley’s …show more content…

That question was does Lisa make the right choice by faking her suicide? The first possible answer to this question is yes, she made the right decison. There are two major positive results that come out of her faking her suicide. The first result is that her siblings got to live a normal life. She did not go to trial or jail, so the case was basically forgotten. Thus, her siblings did not have people scared of them due to their sister, and they got to live their lives like they would have if this whole situation would not have gone down. Another positive result of faking her suicide is that she got to start a new life. She did not have to go to jail, and she still got to attend college and start a family. There are great benefits to each of these positive results. If she would not have faked her suicide, Riley and Danny would have been the gossip of the town. They would have been pointed at and whispered about for being the siblings of a murderer. However, she is able to spare them of having to suffer from her mistakes by faking her suicide. Also, if she had stayed and went through with the trial, she would have not been able to have a future. She would have spent the majority of her life behind bars, and even when she would get out, it would be almost impossible to get back on with her life. Another answer to this question is no, Lisa does not make the right choice by faking her suicide. There are many negative results as an effect of her faking her suicide. The first negative result is the sadness that plagued both her parents and her. Her parents are filled with sorrow and depression after realizing that they will never see their daughter again, and she is depressed because she knows she will never see her family again. Danny also goes off the deep end after her fake suicide and becomes moody and easily irratible. Essentially, the whole MacPherson family dynamic is ruined after her fake suicide.

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