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Summary: The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks

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The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, written by Rebecca Skloot, is a pivotal novel in the world of scientific research that has not only shaped science, but society as a whole. From growing up as a poor tobacco farmer, to becoming a part of one of the most essential researches in medical history, Henrietta's story is highlighted for the person she was so more people can become knowledgeable of the life she lived before she became well known for her extraordinary cells that cured many lives. Rebecca Skloots portrays these elements of literature in order to reflect and tell her story in a new light, using many different tactics and techniques that allow the reader to grasp and focus on these small, important details that make all the difference …show more content…

Dating back to the 1840’s, enslaved African American women were experimented on and underwent gynecological procedures that they were either not aware of or did not consent to. Intersectionality intertwines all of these components into one. Ultimately, it is the way in which systems of inequality are formed, whether that be gender, race, class, etc. go hand in hand with one another to create different types of dynamics for an individual or group of people. The baseline of Henrietta's story is simply that her cells were taken without her consent and she was not told what they were doing with said cells, the doctors used these cells beyond looking for the reason why she was having cervical pain. Beneath that baseline, lies a deeper analysis that ties into intersectionality. Henrietta Lacks was not given the full care benefits as she was being treated due to the hospital poorly segregating its patients. Although it was one of the nicest hospitals to be in, they still did not offer African Americans the full care and assistance that were given to white patients. Henrietta's family is not being taken into consideration

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The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is the biography of Henrietta Lacks, her children, and her cells, and the whole premise of the book is based on the injustice committed on them (Skloot). As explained in the book, the Lacks family have suffered great injustice from five angles; first, researchers collected cancer cell samples from Henrietta Lacks without receiving, or even requesting, consent, and tried growing them in the lab where they were found to be immortal (Skloot). Second, no one asked permission of the Lacks family to use the cells for research, or even notified anyone in the Lacks family that cells collected from Henrietta were still alive until 15 years later (Skloot). Third, after finally informing the Lacks family that Henrietta

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In her work, Skloot reveals Henrietta Lacks to be an African-American woman whose cervical cells were biopsied without her consent. These cells, known as HeLa (a combination of Lacks first and last name), have since been shared among various scientists and researchers and been the framework for ground-breaking research. Unlike other works on Henrietta Lacks, Skloot set out to tell

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726 Words | 3 Pages

So, when they went to institutions for treatment they were often just seen as things that the doctors and scientists could tinker with. Skloot writes a bit on the Tuskegee syphilis study, which lead to white doctors abusing their patients for “research” and to later state “the news spread like pox spread through the black communities: doctors were doing research on black people lying to them, and watching them die (50). Skloot stated that when Henrietta went in for her cancer treatment, the doctor preforming the treatment did not even tell, nor ask her if she wanted to be a donor of cells, instead he just cut the samples from her cervix and sent them off (33). Had she been a white female going through the same treatment, the protocol would definitely have been different, the doctors would have gotten consent from the patient before doing anything of that nature. All of this adds together to show how Henrietta was objectified for the use of

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613 Words | 3 Pages

Would people in 1951 feel any different if they knew black people could produce lifesaving cures with technology? Henrietta Lacks was a black woman that got cervical cancer and went to Hopkins hospital because it was the closest segregated hospital around. While Henrietta was as Hopkins, they were doing tests and during that process, Dr. Gey took Henrietta’s cells without her consent. Henrietta was diagnosed with Cervical cancer doctors took samples without her consent. She had five kids and died at Hopkins hospital on October 4, 1951 being only 31 years old.

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Not long after Henrietta’s round of radiation, she complained to her doctors, “that she thought the cancer was spreading, that she could feel in moving through her” and the doctors ignored her complaints (63). They told her nothing was wrong and sent her on her way. According to Skloot, that was common practice, especially during the segregation era. Patients did not question doctors because it was assumed doctors knew better and “black people didn’t question white people’s professional judgement” (63). It wasn’t until Henrietta’s forth visit in just a few weeks that they listened to her and took an X-ray of her abdomen that they found a large, inoperable

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551 Words | 3 Pages

I first heard about Henrietta Lacks story after noticing and advertisement of Oprah Winfrey directing or possibly playing the role of Ms. Lacks. Reading the caption underneath the picture posted I decided to inquire more about the Henrietta Lacks. Ms. Lacks was an African American woman who found out in 1951 after a biopsy, Lacks was diagnosed with cervical cancer. The manifestation of the tumor was unlike anything that had ever been seen by the examining gynecologist Dr. Howard Jones. Henrietta Lacks was treated at the segregated John Hopkins Hospital with radium tube inserted and sewn into her body, a standard treatment at that time sewn in her body.

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During the time Henrietta was growing up the rise of Ku Klux Klan and Jim Crow took place, as those who were of color faced enormous challenges every day. It is quite clear in the novel that Henrietta

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1437 Words | 6 Pages

However; the family very strongly disapproves of their research ethics. The book discusses Henrietta’s contribution to science and of the ups and downs of research with HeLa. Scientists around the world used and are still using the cell line today and while they were essential to many experiments they also contaminated other projects. The book also shows the struggle of Henrietta’s family before her death and after her death. Henrietta’s

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1444 Words | 6 Pages

Language Arts Question 4 In the beginning of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, the author, Rebecca Skloot, stated her goal and reason of writing the book. Learning biology in college, her professor mentioned Henrietta and her cells very briefly. Fortunately, this was enough to catch Skloot’s curiosity. She desired to learn more about the woman responsible for so many scientific breakthroughs.

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638 Words | 3 Pages

Removing Henrietta’s cells without her consent seems to be a very rare scenario and this can tell how the medical community mistreats the Black Americans. A woman of black America origin, Rebecca Skloot managed to surface other different stories of maltreatment directed to the African American community. Blacks in America were taken as people with unequal rights even in a situation like this that talked about right to life. She explained horrific experiences on experimentation of African Americans, stories that were enhanced by fear seen in Henrietta’s relatives refusing to visit hospitals even for necessary treatment. In this regard, the paper will give a response to the immortal life of Henrietta Lacks.

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657 Words | 3 Pages

Imagine getting a different treatment from a hospital just because of the color of your skin. This is exactly what Henrietta Lacks, a black woman, had to go through all her life. Not only this, but Henrietta also got robbed. She was robbed of her spirit, her life, her soul, and her cells. In the biography “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” (2/2/2010) written by Rebecca Skloot, a very important theme in the book was racism.

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474 Words | 2 Pages

This reading consisted of an excerpt from The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. In this excerpt the author has visited the home of the living relatives of Henrietta. They show distaste and skepticism towards her due to her being white and asking questions about their mother, Henrietta Lacks. However they seem to warm up to her and tell her about what had happened to their mother. Henrietta awas a cancer patient, and when she died the doctors had asked permission to use her cells, on the premise that it would help prevent her children from dying from the same illness.

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774 Words | 4 Pages

Statistically, African American women in the United States suffer from complications or death 243 percent more than white women during maternity. This is a common occurrence that many women and children face, but shouldn’t have too. Rebecca Skloots book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, is an example of the inequality shown to African-American women in the medical world. Specifically, the unequal medical care Henrietta Lacks received, which many other black women experienced. In her book, Skloot suggests that African-American women suffer from psychological effects after receiving unequal medical care, do not receive equal medical treatment during maternity, and are more likely to die from maternal complications.

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1020 Words | 5 Pages

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks tells the story of Henrietta, an African-American woman whose cells were used to create the first immortal human cell line. Told through the eyes of her daughter, Deborah Lacks, aided by journalist Rebecca Skloot. Deborah wanted to learn about her mother, and to understand how the unauthorized harvesting of Lacks cancerous cells in 1951 led to unprecedented medical breakthroughs, changing countless lives and the face of medicine forever. It is a story of medical arrogance and triumph, race, poverty and deep friendship between the unlikeliest people. There had been many books published about Henrietta’s cells, but nothing about Henrietta’s personality, experiences, feeling, life style etc.

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743 Words | 3 Pages

Racism in The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Imagine your mother, sister, wife, or cousin was diagnosed with cervical cancer and you believed the doctors were doing everything in their power to help her. Only later you discovered her cells were used for research without consent and she was not properly informed of the risks of her treatment due to her race. This story happened and is told by Rebecca Skloot in The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Skloot use of narrative and her writing style enhances the understanding of the story. Henrietta Lacks was a young black woman who was diagnosed with cervical cancer at John Hopkins Hospital.

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