Media Analysis

Children with Differing Abilities

Kelsey Webber

Memory Keepers Daughter

Movie Overview
1964
Dr. David Henry delivers his own twins with his wife
Norah. Come to find out that the little girl has Down
Syndrome. He makes a quick decision to give their baby girl
to his nurse, Caroline without Norah knowing. He then lies to
Norah and tells her that their daughter, Phoebe, died at
birth. David soon figures out that Caroline did not take
Phoebe to an institution but she decided to raise her herself
after seeing what it was like. That same night, after Caroline
decides to keep Phoebe, Caroline meets Albert, or Al and
he helps raise Phoebe. They eventually get married.
1970
A few years pass and Phoebe, despite her disability,
grows up into a healthy, bright child. While raising Phoebe,
Caroline and her friends spend their time trying to petition to
let children with disabilities attend public school.
1988
Norah and David end up getting a divorce because
David is so consumed in his lie about Phoebe that he
becomes extremely distant and only focuses on his
photography. By this time, Paul, Phoebes twin brother,
becomes a traveling musician because he cannot stand his
home life.
Phoebe has a boyfriend, who also has Down Syndrome.
They want to get married and move into a group home. Now
that Phoebe is 24, she wants to be more independent but
Caroline is scared for her and isnt ready to let go.
David dies of a heart attack and while cleaning out his
dark room, Norah and Paul figure out that Phoebe exists.
They make a plan to go meet her and find that Phoebe is

very excepting and warms up easily when she finds out she
ha a brother and another mom.

Character Analysis
David Henry (father/doctor)
Dr. David Henry is the main character in The Memory
Keepers Daughter. He is a doctor, is married to Norah and is
Phoebes father. David delivers his own twins on a snowy
night in 1964 with the help of his close friend and nurse,
Caroline Gill.
David suddenly realizes that Norah is having twins but
when the second baby girl is delivered, he notices that she
has Down Syndrome. In a quick decision fueled by denial, he
tells Caroline to take her to an institution because he doesnt
want Norah to go through the pain of losing a child, like his
mother did when his sister passed away. David tells Norah
that they had twins but the baby girl, Phoebe, died at birth.
Little does he know that the pain of giving his daughter up
would eat him alive on the inside for the rest of his life.
David tries to run from his own guilt of giving away
their daughter by withdrawing into photography and using
that as his outlet. He spends all of his time escaping into his
photography and resigning in the depression stage of
acceptance. He feels things such as fear, regret, and
sadness and tries to cope by occupying most of his time in
his black room.
David is definitely not a resilient person. He seemed to
never let go and move on with his life like Norah and Paul
were trying to do. This drove a wedge between their
relationships and ruined the family.
David eventually died of a heart attack most likely
caused by all the stress he held inside and never got a
chance to tell Norah the truth about Phoebe.

Norah (birth mother)

After Norah finds out that her daughter Phoebe died at

birth, she longs to move on as a happy family by having a
funeral. She fails to fully grieve until shes said goodbye to
her unseen daughter. Norah feels this will help with closure
and she will accept what has happened. But David, who is
not strong enough to let go, does not want to have a funeral.
Norah eventually goes into her own depression because
David is never around for support. The wall that has formed
between her and David starts to affect Paul as well.
Feeling lost, Norah deals with her emptiness by having
multiple affairs and working constantly. This shows that, like
David, she is not a resilient person. It also shows that this
family has no support for each other because David knows
about Norahs affairs but feels too guilty of his own lies to do
anything about it.
After Davids death, Paul and Nora come across the
pictures that Caroline was sending to David on updates of
Phoebe while cleaning out his black room. As she reads
through the letters, she finds herself in the stage of grief.
Norah is almost in shock knowing that David kept such a
huge secret from her all these years. She changes quickly
from guilt to anger by taking boxes of photos and throwing
them over the balcony and lighting them on fire. She is then
in the stage of acceptance after Paul finds a letter stating
that Phoebe lives in Pittsburg. Norah takes Paul and they
travel together to find Phoebe. I believe if David had decided
to help Phoebe I think Norah would have been quiet resilient
with Phoebe and a patient and supporting mother.

Paul (son/twin brother)

At a young age, Paul could see that there were
problems within the marriage of his parents. He grows up
without a truthful or supportive relationship with his father
and mother. Paul grows to resent his father for not being
encouraging of his musical dreams and learns to hate his
mother because she is sleeping around.
He shows his anger and frustration with his broken

family when he goes into Davids black room and begins

to wreck everything. Although, later Paul returns to help
David clean the black room, Davids isolation severely
affects Paul and the way he feels about his family. The
Henry family lacks a sense of unity, support and forward
positive thinking, which makes Paul act out in so many
negative ways. Paul begins to blame himself for Phoebes
death and thinks he could have done something to save
her. When hes older, Paul tries to escape his broken
family by traveling abroad to study his music and find a
new life.

Phoebe Henry (Gill)

Phoebe grows into a healthy, caring person and even
though she learns at a slower pace, shes very resilient and
high spirited. She becomes very independent and even takes
the bus on her own to and from her job. Even though she
knows shes different, she figures out that everyone is
different and she doesnt let that stop her! Phoebe seems
very happy and has close relationships with Caroline and Al.
Phoebes Down Syndrome is a more mild form. She can
dress herself, feed herself, and she even gets a job when
shes older. She also has a ton of family support from
Caroline and Al. Not only do they provide her with a loving
home and support, but they arent afraid to let her be
independent, like when Phoebe gets a boyfriend and a job.

Caroline Gill (Nurse/Adopts Phoebe)

Caroline is a nurse that works with David. I think that
Caroline had feelings for Dr. David but is too shy to say
anything. When David asks Caroline to take Phoebe to the
institution, she is shocked by Davids wishes but does as
shes told. Once she realizes how awful the institution is, she
decides to keep Phoebe and raise her on her own. This new
life changes Caroline and she becomes very outspoken and a

strong women. She starts to fight for Phoebes education and

medical care along with other parents and friends with
disabled children. Caroline is a very resilient person and
proceeds into the acceptance stage almost immediately.
Instead of grieving for Phoebe, she focuses on how to make
her life happy and full of opportunities.
Caroline eventually marries Al and they become awesome
parents for Phoebe. Even though Caroline turns into a strong
independent women, you can see that she still feels guilty
for taking Phoebe away from Norah and helping David lie.

Albert "Al" Simpson (Adopts Phoebe)

Al meets Caroline in a parking lot when she runs out of
gas on that same cold night that she decided to keep
Phoebe. He offers her a warm truck and they end up falling
in love and getting married. Al went right in to the
acceptance stage with Phoebe and became an amazing
father figure for her. He was also an awesome support
system for Caroline, who thought she would be starting this
new life all on her own. Al seemed like a very resilient person
who always saw the positive in things. He really shows his
acceptance and resiliency when Phoebe wants to move to a
group home but Caroline is skeptical. Al tells Caroline that
shes ready and she should at least try to be on her own.