So what is the theme of The Memory Keeper’s Daughter?

The biggest theme that I took away from this novel was one that should be universally known and one that I think is a very important on which is our society needs to learn how to accept and becoming more accepting towards those who have intellectual disabilities and provide them with the opportunities that they deserve.

The entire novel begins because David Henry is unwilling to accept the challenge and provide Phoebe with the opportunities that she deserves in her life, he believes that she will be too much work and sends her away to go live with Caroline. Although Caroline takes wonderful care of Phoebe, Phoebe was still denied the right to be with her true family, she was unable to grow up with her brother and she never had a true relationship with her real family when she was growing up. Although Phoebe was denied all these from her real family Caroline took her in and raised her as if she was her own, and we need more people like that in this world.

For me personally this theme hits close to home, I am heavily involved with Special Olympics it is very evident that there is not enough support and there is a very negative perspective in the world revolving around those with intellectual disabilities, and this novel does a good job touching on the truth and revealing the stigma around intellectual disabilities. The novel mostly shows the negative stigmatism in the beginning of the novel when David gives Phoebe away. Unfortunately, there are any cases where the parents no longer want the child so they give them away and even more unfortunate many of them do not receive the opportunities that Phoebe has, often cases people are not prepared to have a child with intellectual disabilities and they do not know how to care for them.

I personally believe that his novel could be used as a teaching advice to show what happens to not only the children with the disability but those who gave up the child and those around them and how they are affected. This novel does a good job of showing the regret and the negative effects that give away Phoebe had on her biological family. If more people were to read this novel it could shed a light on intellectual disabilities and on how to become more accepting towards them.