Group Reflection On The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks

This colorful and vibrant woman impacts the world through the contribution of her cells to science as well as by the kindness beheld within her heart for her family, a kindness that permits the emergence of a story untold before, of the woman responsible for the way of the world. Henrietta, although a woman of many treasures, withholds vital information of her daughter Elsie, so as to protect her and the rest of her family. This, the news of her cancer, and other such secrets define Henrietta, yet have no waiver on the view of her family of her. Famous to her family, and cherished by all who know her, Henrietta made an impact greater than her cells, though secrets kept from the sharing of this impact with the family. “...she raised the vial and touched it to her lips. “You’re famous,” she whispered, “Just nobody knows it” (263). As Deborah holds onto the cells, she holds onto the long dreamt memory of her mother, and onto the secret of her identity, the identity that the family knows; this identity connects to the unique human side of her mother, the one for which includes secrets, treasures, anguish, and

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks The author’s overall theme in the book “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” is about poverty, medical research, and racism. In some parts of the book it talks about how the Lacks family was living in poverty and their family’s slavery history. Medical research was also a theme in this book. Talks about how scientists were trying to find cures for diseases.

The non-fiction book The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, written by Rebecca Skloot, details the happenings and life of Henrietta Lacks, an African American woman and tobacco farmer who became a medical miracle in the 1950’s. The book is written in an attempt to chronicle both the experiences and tribulations of Henrietta Lacks and her family, as well as the events that led to, and resulted from, research done on Henrietta Lacks’ cells. Henrietta was a very average African American woman in this period; she had only a seventh-grade level education, and followed traditional racial and gender roles by spending her time has a mother and caretaker, as well as working on farms throughout her life until the involvement of the US in World War II brought her and her husband, “Day” Lacks, comparatively better work opportunities in industrial steel mills. However, after her death in 1951 Henrietta became much more than average to doctors at John Hopkins when the discovered that cells extracted from her cancerous tissue continued to live and grow much longer than any other tissue samples. Further investigation and isolation of these thriving cells led to the creation of the first ever immortal human cell line in medical history. The incredible progress in medicine made possible by Henrietta Lack’s tissue cells were not without downfalls, though. The treatments and experiences received by Henrietta and the effects it had on her and her family demonstrate both racial and gender

Grey and his actions. Zakariyya holds onto to these damaging emotions which causes him to act out in rage and violence. Deborah and Zakariyya have very different ways of reacting and handling their emotions, however all the emotions they are feeling are valid in their obscure and painful situation. Henrietta’s life is the prime example of the level of racism in the healthcare system in the 1950s. The struggles that blacks faced during this time period were only made worse by the poor treatments from the doctors or even the complete disregard for their black patients. According to Skloot the issues relating to blacks seeking medical care could include being hospitalized later in stages of their sickness, fewer pain medications, and higher mortality rates. These facts that came from the racist healthcare system greatly influenced Henrietta’s life, by causing her more pain since the doctors kept sending her away without the appropriate treatment. This surely wouldn’t have happened if Henrietta was a middle class white woman. No one can know for sure, but perhaps giving Henrietta the proper care and treatment from the beginning would not only ease her suffering, but also her

In the book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. She has composed this biography of Henrietta Lacks to inform her readers about the hard reality that the Lacks family went through. In order to grasp a better understanding about this novel we will first uncover some details about Henrietta and her cells. Next, we will discuss how she came from a large family and that they were originally from Virginia. Finally, we will examine what she did after she moved to Baltimore and what happened after the move throughout the first two chapters.

Studying the economic context of Henrietta from birth to death, it is clear to say that she belonged in the low socioeconomic status category. Having only her father to provide for her and her other nine siblings was an automatic failure from the start. His line of work did not give him enough money to meet the needs of all his children. Johnny made the right choice in using human resources in which his family separated the children among themselves.

“The scientific enterprise is all about failure; I mean, you learn so much from failure. And you learn almost nothing from success.” This scientist is stating that one cannot gain any knowledge without failing. This is not true. Once one obtains success one now knows exactly what to do to achieve success, thus opening doors and further experiences for them. The novel “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” by Rebecca Skloot, due to the success of tissue culture researcher Dr. George Gey can further dispute this quote. His success in tissue culture led to further discoveries, and became one of the most important breakthroughs in modern medicine. The world was

Racism wasn’t far from this case the doctor in Henrietta’s case figured that telling her what they were doing would only confuse her and her family even more so they just figure to not tell her or her family at all. This case started in 1951 and the research on the cells still goes on till the present.

Also, I love that Henrietta changed the medical field forever. I like how Skloot tried to make me feel like I was experiencing this with Henrietta Lacks and her family. What I did not like was how Henrietta Lacks was treated by the doctors because she was a poor black tobacco farmer. However, I do not like the vocabulary that is used in this book. Also, it was wrong that Henrietta Lacks married her first cousin. Plus, Lacks had many cousins’ therefore, it is hard to keep track of all of the names and relationships. If my family experienced this, I would be furious that the doctors did not tell me or my family what was being done. Eventually I think my family would be tolerant because my cells would be helping people around the world. I think that is how Henrietta’s family felt after a couple of years after they found out about “HeLa” cells. The main person who stood out so far is Henrietta’s daughter, Deborah because she got so upset about the doctors taking her mom’s cells that she had to take medicine to calm down. I hate that Lacks had to live in a time when white people and black people were segregated. White people had nice fancy bathrooms while black had nasty bathrooms. I thought that it was a little weird that people rubbed the Jesus statue’s toe before they saw the doctor but why his toe

What if you had the ability to save several lives through something only you had ? Wouldn’t you like to be told and given proper credit? Well unfortunately that is not case for Henrietta Lacks. Henrietta held a powerful and significant key which has helped as a cure for many things and is still being used till this day . I choose to write about Henrietta due to the fact that she is one of histories and science unsung hero’s.

The story took place in Baltimore in the early and mid 1900s, when prejudice was prominent and black people were not treated fairly or equally by white people. Moreover, the entire black community was terrified of night doctors, who would kidnap black people for scientific testing, and the book states that “fear of the night doctors only increased in the early 1900s, as black people migrated north to Washington D.C., and Baltimore” (166). This shows that the setting of the story had a huge impact on the book, as black people were taken advantage of routinely against their will. This is what happened to Henrietta, as she had to drive miles and miles to go to the only hospital around that would serve black people just to have her cells were taken without her consent by white scientists and used for the benefit of others. The author also uses many changes in point of view in the story to provide more background and portray the many different ideas and views of different people. For example, Skloot starts off telling the story from Henrietta’s point of view, showing her family and her struggles through her time with cancer. Then, she switches over to the eyes of a scientist who was working with Henrietta’s cells in a lab and working to grow the cells to benefit the scientific world. Finally, the author tells the story through her own eyes as she had to acquire information about Henrietta’s personal life through Henrietta’s family and the struggle she went through to get it. The setting of the story and the changes in point of view used by the author improve the story

The 1950s are very different times in America, especially for blacks that are seeking medical care from hospitals or clinics, where racial discrimination is still quite widespread. The struggles that blacks face at this time period are only made worse by the poor treatment from the doctors and the sheer disregard for black patients, in comparison to white patients, “But several studies have shown that black patients were treated and hospitalized at later stages in their illnesses than white patients. And once hospitalized, they got fewer pain medications and higher mortality rates” (Skloot, 64). Henrietta’s life is greatly affected by the racism in

The family connects the HeLa cells with poverty, racism, ethical issues, and tissue ownerships. They’re encouraging readers to read The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks to educate people about Mrs.Lacks.

After her death in 1951, for six decades, Henrietta Lacks did not exist in the eyes of the society, but her cells did. How? Well, the answer is quite simple. HeLa Cells are the first immortal human cells. These cells never die and multiply every twenty-four hours. After spending 10 years to perfect her first book, author of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot essentially captured the life, the death, and aftermath of Henrietta Lacks’ life. With controversial issues regarding science, ethics, race, and class Skloot takes us on an extraordinary journey. From the “colored” ward of Johns Hopkins Hospital in the 1950s to stark white laboratories with freezers full of HeLa cells, from Henrietta’s small, dying hometown of Clover,

The family feared what they believed were "night doctors who abducted black people for medical research"(Skloot). Because there was still discrimination then, they feared the worst. In my opinion the Lacks family was angry with the scientists using HeLa cells from Henrietta without the family's consent. I think they wanted everyone to know that Henrietta didn't donate her cells, they were taken without asking and without telling the family what was going to happen to them.