The Memory Keeper's Daughter Character Analysis

Everyone faces tough decisions in their lives; some decisions are more life changing than one would think though. Dr. David Henry in ¨The Memory Keeper 's Daughter¨ delivers his own children. Twins were unexpected, but having one of the twins born with Down Syndrome was even more of a surprise. David Henry had grown up with a tough life; he had a sister with a heart condition, and she had died at an early age. He watched his parents grieve over his sister´s death, and he decided to make something of himself in the world; he became a doctor. Because of what he experienced in his life, he decided he did not want his wife, Norah, to go through the same heartbreak that his mother and father had to go through losing his sister at a young age. He made the quick decision to have a trusted nurse, Caroline Gill, take his baby girl, named Phoebe, to an institution and drop her off. He then would tell his wife the biggest lie of his life: Phoebe had been a stillborn baby. David Henry thought he was saving his family from future heartache, but it seems this …show more content…
He wants to help Norah, but he does not know how to. He begins to bury himself in photography; he spends a lot of his free time in his darkroom, developing pictures. His alienation from his wife and son make them believe he is unemotional and only cares about himself. David knows about the affairs, even though Norah does not know that knows. Nothing is ever said about the affairs because of the guilt of his secret that he had been hiding for many years. ¨He 'd keep the silence because his own secrets were darker, and because he believed his secrets had created hers,¨ (203). David´s way to try and protect his family from heartache backfired because his marriage is ruined, his son Paul does not bond with him, and David feels lonely. The family may feel more heartache now than they would have with Phoebe in their