For this article I read the novel The memory keeper's daughter by Kim Edwards, this novel is told over 25 years, it is told by two characters David and Caroline, who have different lives but are linked by a past decision. The story begins in 1964, when a blizzard occurs, forcing the main character, Dr. David Henry, to give birth to his twins. During the birth, the son named Paul is fine but the daughter named Phoebe has something wrong. The doctor realizes that her daughter has Down syndrome, he is shocked and the age reminds her of her childhood, when her sister was always sick, her early death and the effect this had on her mother. He didn't want this to happen to his wife, so David told the nurse to take Phoebe to an institution, so that his wife wouldn't suffer. Nurse Caroline didn't think it was right, but takes Phoebe to the institution anyway. Once Caroline sees the institution in a terrible state, she leaves with the child and these ethical dilemmas were an important part of the novel's story and caused most of the conflicts that arose in the novel. One of the ethical dilemmas was David telling the nurse to take his daughter to an institution. Making the decision to send her daughter away based on her past experience with her sick sister and assumptions about what the future will look like. This connects to the ethical theme of Joseph Heath's neutralization techniques. He uses an excuse to show that his decision wasn't immoral when in fact it was. According to the technique of denial of responsibility, he believed he had no choice in sending Phoebe away, David saw it as the only option because he was so focused on his past experience. She imagined what Phoebe's life would be like and the likely toll caring for her would have on the family. It made him see Phoebe as a threat, with only one option to solve the problem