Struggle And Pain In Kim Edwards The Memory Keeper's Daughter

Normally, the cause of struggle and pain is the result of an irrational decision made by one person. A selfish choice, a choice made without completely thinking it through. That single choice can cause a chain reaction and cause harm to anyone connected to that situation in any way. Throughout Kim Edwards novel “The Memory Keepers Daughter” it becomes evident that the choice made by David Henry to give away his daughter, Phoebe is the illuminating incident that opened the window to struggle and pain in the lives of David, Paul and Norah Henry.

It is clear that the illuminating incident of David choosing to give away Phoebe opened the window to pain and struggle in his life, when it is known that David keeps the photos of the different girl.

First of all, Paul lives with the pain of knowing he got to live over his sister and he believes it was his fault. He questions his mother and asks why she died and Norah responds in a reassuring manner to exclaims “It wasn’t your fault, she said fiercely. It was nothing to do with you. But he hadn’t really believed her” (Edwards, 213). By Paul not believing he was not the cause of the death, just the thought alone that he could have been the cause brings him pain and struggle through life. Another event that occurs that makes it known that Paul lives with this struggle of losing his sister at birth, is that he continuously wonders what kind of Phoebe would have been. We realize he feels like this when Rosemary asks if he ever thinks about her and he responds with “Not about her, exactly. I mean, I never knew her. But about what she might have been like” (Edwards, 284). Paul has to struggle with having all these questions un answered and have this curiosity about something that he has no control over. Lastly, Paul struggles with the knowledge of his mother cheating. We realize how Paul feels about this happening when he has a private conversation with his father. Paul questions “You just get through the days, no matter what. You don’t even give a damn about that Howard guy” (Edwards, 200). Paul recalls the fact that his

She goes through many different phases throughout the novel where she grieves in different ways. One of the factors that shows Norah’s struggle and pain is how she is in a constant state of feeling alone. She believes David does not relate to her sorrow about the loss of their daughter. One of the examples that show Norah feels this way is when she is in conversation with David and she claims “It hadn’t been the same since Paul was born and phoebe died. And yet you still won’t talk about her. It’s like you want to erase the fact that she existed” (Edwards, 114). By feeling this sense of loneliness, Norah becomes angry with David and it creates a barrier and loss of connection between them. Another reason it is clear that Norah experiences struggle and pain due to the loss of Phoebe is when she fails to remain faithful to her husband. We realize why Norah engages in such acts when we are told “Norah had walked into each of her affairs with sense of hope and new beginnings” (Edwards, 293). Norah engaged in her affairs because she was so unhappy with her life, they make her feel as if she has a fresh start away from everything else she has been through like the loss of her daughter, which was the cause of the lack of connection between Norah and David. Lastly, another important factor that is an example of Norah’s struggle and pain is that she acknowledges the relationship herself and David once