Bio-Ethics in Jodi Picoult's The Storyteller

Abstract

The major thrust of this research is the empathetic concern and ethical concern with the question of death. In Jodi Picoult's novel, The Story Teller, Weber is an old Nazi soldier who was involved in genocidal violence and harsh practice of anti-Semitism. In the prime of his youth, he was intentionally or whimsically involved in atrocious practice like crimes in holocaust concentration camp. In the later part of his life, he comes to know that his life is a beast of burden. To lighten his repressed agony, he befriends a lady and seeks her assistance in his voluntary death. As their relationship deepens, he expects cooperation from her. But she enters complicity with another man who harbors retaliatory action against former Gestapo army. With her help, he succeeds in imprisoning the old man. His wish to die in a legal way is not heeded by Sage. It is the human insensitivity, indifference, and vindictiveness that deter the natural growth of bioethical concern. Sage Singer befriends an old man who is particularly beloved in her community. Josef Weber is everyone's favorite retired teacher and Little League coach. They strike up a friendship at the bakery where Sage works. One day he asks Sage for a favor: to kill him. Shocked, Sage refuses and then he confesses his darkest secret. He deserves to die, because he was a Nazi SS guard. Sage's grandmother is a Holocaust survivor.