The Memory Keeper's Daughter June 1970 Summary & Analysis

Summary: June 1970

In Pittsburgh, Phoebe is six years old and enjoys her life. She has developed into a sociable, high-functioning child, enthusiastically engaged with her world. She takes pride in her appearance and has strong opinions. Leo March dies, and Doro requests Caroline to stay. Doro does not know the truth of Phoebe’s parentage, and Caroline lets her believe that Caroline is Phoebe’s biological mother. A comment from Leo sticks with Caroline, about Phoebe having a temper similar to Caroline’s. Phoebe has thrived in preschool, but now Caroline faces the challenge of elementary schooling. Her community of like-minded parents, the Upside Down Society, agitate for mainstreaming their children into regular public schools. Caroline makes the case for inclusion of Down syndrome children in public schools to the Board of Education.

Al Simpson still drives for a living, visiting weekly. He has asked Caroline to marry him, but Caroline has declined, worrying that he didn’t have the same commitment to Phoebe that she did. He presents her with an envelope of cash picked up from post office boxes around the country, which Caroline tells him is from Phoebe’s father. He has been doing this for five years, and Caroline has saved about $7,000. Al is noncommittal about the money, but Caroline has dreams she is robbing Norah’s home and coming upon Norah sadly gazing out the window.

Phoebe gets stung by a bee and goes into anaphylactic shock. At the hospital, a nurse offers the option of withholding treatment because of Phoebe’s having Down syndrome, enraging Caroline. Al shares her outrage, proving his love for Phoebe. Caroline accepts his offer of marriage.

Analysis: June 1970

Caroline created the fiction that she is Phoebe’s biological mother, which Leo and Doro March continue to believe and Al Simpson continues to accept. Leo and Doro remark on resemblances they find between mother and daughter that Caroline knows have no basis in genetics, such as similarity in hair. Leo’s comment about Phoebe sharing Caroline’s volatile temperament particularly puzzles Caroline, who doesn’t have the self-awareness to see the strength of character and steely resolve she has acquired in the past six years while protecting Phoebe. Committed to seeing that Phoebe has all the advantages available to help her reach her potential, Caroline prepares to do battle with the Board of Education to advocate for groundbreaking policy mainstreaming children with disabilities into classrooms. The Upside Down Society’s attorney Ron Stone makes an appeal to the Board’s compassion and sense of fairness, but the Board cannot see beyond the consequences to normal children, whose quality of education might be affected. They are poised to rule against the Society when Caroline stands up and makes a case for inclusion based on constitutional guarantees of universal education. Stone uses the Civil Rights Act to argue that the law requires education for Down syndrome children.

As the Board deliberates, Al offers support for either eventuality, attendance in school or not. After advocating so vocally for Phoebe, Caroline’s reluctance to marry Al comes into focus. She realizes she doubts Al has a father’s love for Phoebe. Al keeps his own counsel about the truth of Caroline’s claim on Phoebe, dutifully collecting the money that David sends in response to Caroline’s letters. Apparently she has a network of post office boxes around the country to frustrate any attempts to find Phoebe. Only in her dreams does her subconscious speak to her of having stolen Norah’s child, whom she keeps under false pretenses.

The episode of Phoebe’s brush with death after the bee sting corrects Caroline’s perceptions of Al’s devotion to Phoebe. The nurse’s offer to withhold treatment reflects the prevailing attitude of the day that children with Down syndrome were better off dead. That a member of the medical profession could propose a mercy killing shocks and angers Caroline and Al. The moment marks their shared vision and their united front against the conventional wisdom. Caroline, completely convinced of Al’s love, formalizes their engagement.

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