The Memory Keeper's Daughter Analysis

The Memory Keeper's Daughter offers a look at a world where a secret can ruin not just one, but two families. Throughout this novel by Kim Edwards the characters Dr. David Henry and Caroline have to forever live with fear , distrust, and emptiness by harboring a secret. This story shows how by keeping a secret you can forever regret it and never forget it. When David's wife is in the process of giving birth he realizes one of two of his twins has down syndrome and thinks he is doing the right thing by getting rid of her. This deed is the simple act that shapes both his and Caroline's life.
David does not just have to live with the thoughts and memories of that snowy night in his clinic but his wife, Norah, and son, Paul have to live with

the incomprehensible emptiness. Although Norah and Paul are not aware of the situation, Norah senses that something is not right in her life and Paul feels like a part of him is missing but cannot put a name on it. Even Though David's family is suffering he is the one with the most affliction of guilt and remorse of leaving and bailing out on his daughter. Though the doctors intentions that night weren't to cause such torment, and had his reasons, he is the one who has to live with the reminiscence. Instead of having a heart-ache free life, unlike his own, by getting rid of Phoebe his secret inflicts more pain. The communication between Dr. Henry, his wife and son grows distant in the beginning and exasperated throughout the story all because of the secret David is veiling. These certainly weren't David's objections when asking Caroline to do the absurd thing of taking his daughter to an institution.
Caroline's life is then also changed forever in the sense that she has to keep the secret of having a daughter that is not hers from birth and stop from letting Phoebe know this. Caroline instantly has to become a mother because she cannot bear just the thought of leaving a defenseless and powerless baby in an institution and has to annihilate her entire life so that her secret won't spill and Phoebe will not be taken away from her. Having to keep not just someone else's secret but her own as well, Caroline's life is filled with despair and skepticism. However, having Phoebe in her life is more than enough reimbursement for this secretive way of living and is able to eventually tell David, “You missed a lot of heartache, sure. But David, you missed a lot of joy.”