Henrietta Lacks Purpose

Rebecca Skloot’s purpose in The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is to present Henrietta and her family’s story while presenting issues regarding science, ethics, race, and class in Henrietta’s story. Skloot also had a major goal of teaching people about Henrietta’s case so that it could be learned from in the future. This purpose can be broken down into three sub-purposes: showing the world the woman behind the science, discussing the roles of race and class, and critiquing science and ethical issues. By informing the reader about Henrietta Lacks’ cells that have changed the medical world and about the controversy surrounding them, Skloot is successful in presenting her purpose. All of these smaller purposes come together to create a novel that makes the reader think, feel, and want more of the Lacks’ riveting story. The first sub-purpose that the reader encounters is Skloot’s mission to tell the world about the woman behind the cells. Because Henrietta was not fully recognized as the donor of the cells that have shaped the medical world until just recently, Skloot makes it her duty to tell the real story. Towards the beginning of the novel, when Skloot is discussing a potential book with Henrietta’s daughter, Deborah, she says, “Everything was always about the cells and don’t even worry

Her main goal was to present the story of Henrietta and her family while also discussing science, race, class, and ethics. She did so by combining three sub-purposes: showing Henrietta’s true story, discussing race and social class, and critiquing the scientists and their ethics. Overall, Skloot told Henrietta’s story and helped to educate in order to prevent something like this in the future. As one of Henrietta’s family members says at the end of the book, “This is their story now. They need to take hold of it and let it teach them they can change the world too” (Skloot