Chris Drown The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Project Double Entry Journals Quotes

Lord, it just feels like that blackness be spreadin all inside me. -Henrietta Lacks Chapter 5 | Page 48 | Last Paragraph

Responses
While reading this section, I felt as though there was such a vivid sense of imagery. Here she is comparing her cancer to a blackness that has taken over her life and her body. It shows exactly how she felt, and that the cancer was truly killing her. Sadie had been Henriettas friend for a very long time. She was very familiar with her, so she knew when something was wrong. I could imagine Henrietta lying in her hospital bed, looking as well-kept as she always did. Everything looked as though she were perfectly healthy. Except her eyes. This, I felt, set a very macabre theme throughout the rest of the chapter. It started to feel as though she were an actual person. Not just the cells that I thought this book would be about. It reminded me of what it feels like to see someone wither away. Not just physical, but to see there soul wither away through their eyes.

Hennie didnt just fade away, you know, her looks, her body, it didnt just fade. Like some peoples be sick in the bed with cancer and they look so bad. But she didnt. The only thing you could tell was in her eyes. Her eyes were tellin you that she wasnt gonna be alive no more. -Sadie Sturdivant Chapter 8 | Page 64 | Last Paragraph

Voodoo, he whispered. Some peoples is sayin Henriettas sickness and them cells was man- or woman-made, others say it was doctor-made. -Hector Cootie Henry Chapter 10 | Page 82 | Paragraph 1

This quote shows strong belief of things beyond natural power in the south. People in the south, as said by many resources, tend to more superstitious than there northern counterparts. If you look at the way he sets apart doctormade from man- or woman-made it shows that he believed that the doctors had actually cast a hex on her, or at least given her the cancer, showing how superstitious people were in the south.

Lord, Emmett told me years later. Henrietta rose up out that bed wailin like she been possessed by the devil of pain itself. -Emmett Lacks Chapter 11 | Page 85 | Paragraph 4

This quote gives us a vivid look at how she felt at the time and how others perceived her pain. When reading this, I could truly imagine her bringing her torso up into the air with her arms and legs still restrained to the bed in such a violent motion. I feel it also alludes to modern day horror movies that involve exorcisms and possession, and how the actors moves and how it compares to Henriettas true pain that she felt on her death bed.

Sometimes she would beat Joe for no reason while he lay in bed or sat at the dinner table. Shed hit him with her fists, or whatever she had close: shoes, chairs, sticks. She made him stand in a dark basemen corner on one foot, nose pressed to the wall, dirt filling his eyes. -Rebecca Skloot Chapter 15 | Page 112 | Paragraph 2 What in the world happened to my sister? And who was my mother? What happened to her? Day just said the same thing again and again: Her name was Henrietta Lacks, and she died when you was too young to remember. -Deborah and David Day Lacks Chapter 15 | Page 117 | Last Paragraph Lillians skin was real light, even lighter than mons, Gary explained. She married a Puerto Rican somewhere in New York. Since she could pass, she disowned her blacknessconverted to Puerto Rican because she didnt want to be black no more. -Gary Lacks Chapter 16 | Page 126 | Last Paragraph

This quote really explains why Joe/Zakariyya ended up like he did. Children who are abused tend to end up doing bad things like he did. It is really sad how he was treated as a child, and how awful Ethel treat him, and the other Lacks children. It is awful that this child abuse went unnoticed when today, nothing like this would happen if the child sought help.

Deborah never got to know her mother. Scientists couldnt really do anything to save her, even with all the painful radiation treatments. The importance of this quote is very simple: it shows Deborahs emotional pain she suffered everyday with her mother disappearing when she didnt even know it.

This quote shows how Lillian felt about her background. She felt as though being Puerto Rican would help her lead a better life than being glad. Even though she couldnt really change who she was, she felt that even pretending to be a different race would help her in life.

Dont put your hand back on me no more! Deborah screamed, her hand shooting out of the dishwater gripping a serrated steak knife. -Deborah Lacks Chapter 19 | Page 150 | Paragraph 5

This quote shows the desperation in Deborahs situation. She has gone through a lot in her life, and her husband beating her has thrown her over the edge. There is only so much stress one person can take, and as we see later in the book, Deborah has a strong tolerance for stress, but that can only go so far.

Theyre going to get rid of disease, he said. Theyre a miracle. -Lawrence Lacks Chapter 21 | Page 161 | Paragraph 6

Her cells have got rid of many diseases, however, they can only go so far with science. This selection shows Lawrences optimism throughout the whole situation. Lawrence has very little throughout the story, but this shows part of how he felt about the whole situation. The other feelings of his feel as though Johns Hopkins had stolen her cells and sold them for profit which he felt very strongly against.

Back then they did things, Sonny said. Especially to black folks. John Hopkins was known for experimentation on black folks. Theyd snatch em off the street -Sonny Lacks Chapter 21 | Page 165 | Paragraph 6

This quote shows how scared many black people were at the time of being taken off the streets and experimented on. There is much documented evidence of this happening in the past, because scientist tended to be very racist in their studies, because they knew African Americans tended to be less educated at the time, and they took advantage of that. For example, the Tuskegee Syphilis studies. This selection shows Lawrences very reasonable frustrations throughout the entire situation. In my opinion, it is very unfair for the scientific institutions to make millions of dollars each year and the Lacks dont even get to see a penny of it.

Hopkins say they gave them cells away, Lawrence yelled, but they made millions! Its not fair! Shes the most important person in the world and her family living in poverty. If our mother so important to science, why cant we get health insurance? -Lawrence Lacks Chapter 21 | Page 168 | Paragraph 4 If they are willing, she said, I wouldnt mind to go back and get some more blood. -Susan Hsu Chapter 23 | Page 190 | First Paragraph

This shows the relentlessness of the scientific community for the progression of science. Some scientists develop a sense of insensitivity to how people are feeling and

think that everybody should look towards the betterment of technology. It was so clear they hadnt been treated well, Rogers told me. They truly had no idea what was going on, and they really wanted to understand. But doctors just took blood samples without explaining anything and left the family worrying. -Michael Rogers Chapter 24 | Page 192 | Paragraph 5 Unfortunately, the Lacks family were very uneducated about the whole situation. Deborah, for one, actually thought that Henrietta was actually alive. Other members of the family thought it was voodoo, others considered it a theft. Deborah was the only family member who was absolutely desperate to learn all about the HeLa cells and Henriettas life.

Who knew her favorite hymn? Who knew her favorite scripture? Who knew her favorite color? Who knew her favorite game? -Courtney Speed and Deborah Lacks Chapter 28 | Page 223 | Paragraph 2

This quote shows how Courtney Speed only cared about the superficial things in Henriettas life, which is something that not everybody, like Deborah wouldve wanted to know. Deborah wanted to know things a daughter should know, however, she never got find these things out because she never got to know her mother. She didnt care about the things everyone seemed to want to know; she cared about the things a daughter should care about.

Theyre beautiful! She yelled from the porch. I never knew they were so pretty! She walked back inside clutching the picture, her cheeks flushed. You know whats weird? The world got more pictures of my mother cells than it do of her. -Deborah Lacks Chapter 29 | Page 235 | Paragraph 2

This is another quote about how Deborah wishes she had more memories of her mother, and more pictures. But once someone is gone, they are truly gone, and no more pictures or memories can be made. All that is really left of her is the cells. And that is very sad for Deborah because all she want to do is know her mother, and that is impossible. If you look throughout the story, Deborah hopes that the cells would be able to bring her mother back to life, but that is impossible.

She whipped around, her eyes still panicked, I dont know who to trust, she hissed, then ran out the door, slamming it behind her. -Deborah Lacks Chapter 29 | Page 240 | Paragraph 3

None of the things Deborah had been told had been explained very clearly throughout the course of her life. Scientists had lied to her about blood screenings, a documentary had been made, but it hardly mentioned Henrietta, her troublesome family life. It is very reasonable for her to have the trust issues she faced with Skloot.

We all black and white and everything else. This isnt a race thing. Theres two sides to the story, and thats what we want to bring out. -Deborah Lacks Chapter 31 | Page 250 | Paragraph 2

This quote shows how Deborah felt about the theft of her mothers cells. She didnt consider it that the white man stole from the black woman. She thought of the situation as being unfair. Millions of dollars were being made off of her mothers cells and her impoverished family didnt get to see a penny of the money made. She thought it was just unfair.

Youre famous, she whispered. Just nobody knows it. -Deborah Lacks Chapter 31 | Page 263 | Paragraph 1

This quote shows how Deborah felt about her mothers cells and Henriettas fame. Even though Henriettas cells are very famous, Henrietta herself is not famous at all. She is only famous under pseudonyms like Helen Lane. And this is what Deborah was alluding to. Deborah, at this point, had no way possible to fulfill her dreams of going to college, because there was just no way to pay for it. It was too late for her dreams to come true, and for her brothers too. It was up to her children and her childrens children to carry on her dreams.

Its too late for Henriettas children, she told me over the phone. This story aint about us no more. Its about the new Lacks children. -Deborah Lacks Chapter 37 | Page 302 | Paragraph 4 Shes in a better place now. Sonny told me. A heart attack just after Mothers day- She wouldnt have wanted it any other way. Shes suffered a lot in life but now shes happy. -Sonny Lacks Chapter 38 | Page 308 | Paragraph 2

Deborah dying was horribly sad for Skloot, because she didnt get to say goodbye to her, or Clover. Deborah had a sad and tragic life, growing up and living in poverty, finding out all of the things about Henrietta and Elsie, abuse, and so many other things. Sonny explained that she need some rest after all of the things she went through, and how she is much happier now with her mother and sister.

Essay
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is a very important book for the development of scientific awareness and the effects of scientific progression for a large family in the south. The book shows the story of a struggling reporter starting out on a large project about the immortal cells taken from a woman without her consent; however, it largely follows the story of Deborah Lacks, the daughter of Henrietta Lacks, a woman who never got to know her mother, and is struggling to learn everything about her and her cells. It tells a story about how religious faith and science help complete the Lackses response to the information they receive about HeLa, and how the authors religious and scientific views progress throughout the story. Religion helps the Lacks family cope with all of the information they receive, and results in the amelioration of the scientific and religious views of every person involved in this book. The book starts out with the author describing a picture she has hanging on the wall. It is a picture of Henrietta Lacks; the woman whose cells have remained living throughout the century, and have been considered immortal. This womans daughter is Deborah Lacks, a main focus throughout the story. When Deborah first found out about the cells, she actually thought that her mother was alive, yet she was very disappointed when this was not the case. As Deborahs life progresses throughout the book, she is very hungry for learning more about Henrietta. The science is very confusing for the Lacks family and they have no idea what to do about all the information. They believed that the doctors at Johns Hopkins Hospital were responsible for her death, and that they had removed her cells for the soul purpose of profit. When the family finds out about all of the things about Henrietta and her cells, they dont know what to do. At first, and still now, they believe that the proper way to handle this is to sue Johns Hopkins Hospital for stealing the cells from Henrietta. But for Deborah, all she wanted to do is figure out what happened to her mother, learn about her life, and learn about her as a person. With the help of Skloot, she goes around digging for information, perusing documents

and textbooks, and demanding information from experts about HeLa. Unfortunately all of the stress that comes along with all of this is too much for Deborah, and she gets sick and confused, only to be healed by faith in Chapter 35. After all of the stress, she decides to give up on all of the HeLa research and died a couple of years later a week after mothers day. Skloots attitude toward the relationship between faith and science evolve as a result of what she had seen from the Lacks family. Before she met the Lackses, she had had very little religious background and had never prayed before as stated in Chapter 32. She based everything she saw in the world on science. Later in chapter 32 she made a big deal about rubbing the toe on the statue of Jesus outside of the hospital. Later, in Chapter 35, when Gary prays for Deborah, she doesnt even know what to believe. She had sat there completely speechless about what had happened to afterwards. It was amazing how much she improved just by being prayed for. After reading The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, I felt much moved from Skloots memoir of her experiences from writing this book. From all of the science to the accounts of Henriettas and Deborahs life, this book has a strong story and is a lovely work. Even though science takes the Lacks family by surprise, they use religion to help them through such a tough time in their lives, and progress rapidly throughout the pages of the book.