Society ensures the presence of both weak and strong individuals, not as a measure of strength, rather, a measure of the level of education as well as one’s authority and ability to exercise power over others. Differences between them remain inevitable. Conflicts arise when regarding encounters between classes of individuals who embody differences in education and power, specifically in the medical field where all individuals must place their trust in the hands of experts of the field. Written in the early part of the 20th century and set as an expedition throughout the life of one of the most influential individuals in scientific history, Rebecca Skloot presents the contemporary biography The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and evokes sympathy
In the novel, Skloot emphasizes the lack of education, specifically among individuals of the black community, to demonstrate how preconceived notions form hostility and animosity towards other individuals, and, in this case, medical officials. One of those such notions remains the infamous Legend of the Night Doctors; the legend states that doctors and medical officials stole both living and dead bodies for scientific purposes, mainly experimentation and observation, so as to prevent slaves from escaping the restricting bonds of slavery. Although the myth remains an obvious method of deceivement, many individuals, specifically Henrietta’s sons (Zakariyya, Sonny, and Lawrence) regarded it as truth, or a further reason to feel hostile against doctors. Additionally, Skloot develops the strengthening theme of inequality when regarding education when Deborah Lacks begins to educate herself with her mother’s incredible life and legacy: “[Deborah] was terrified and couldn’t stop wondering if the parts of her mother they were using in research could actually feel the things the scientists were doing to them”(Skloot 188). Skloot creates a deep sense of pity and sympathy when she eloquently describes the obviously unrealistic ideas thought by Deborah. As a result of a complete lack of education, Deborah struggles when she hears of her mother’s “ongoing” procedures and fears irrationally. Skloot demonstrates how individuals weak in knowledge suffer themselves, as they face great disadvantages and hardships even in the most seemingly simplistic of situations, and she evokes sorrow so as to call for a change. Deborah proves to represent the majority of her family in terms of education throughout the novel. During and after the life of Henrietta Lacks, her family “truly had no idea” as to the existence of HeLa cells and
In The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot mainly focuses on three areas, the life of Henrietta Lacks and her family, ethics in the medical and research fields, and scientific advances due to HeLa cells. Skloot integrates examples of ethical controversies regarding the HeLa cells and related topics, and sociological benefits
...and the great scientific achievements that followed were very interesting to me and very well written by Rebecca Skloot. But what made it all so real for me, was the personal story of Henrietta and her family. The frustration of the family and the lack of information that was given by the scientists really made me angry. These people suffered from so much injustice, why did no one made a small effort to explain it to them all? Reading about the health problems The story of the Lackes really visualizes the problems in science before, and the need to resolve them. In the end, the most important lesson learnt is that human tissue used for research shouldn’t be used in such a materialistic way, but it should be handled with in a respectful and ethical way.
Even in the medical field, male doctors were dominate to the hundreds of well educated midwives. “Male physicians are easily identified in town records and even in Martha’s diary, by the title “Doctor.” No local woman can be discovered that way” (Ulrich, 1990, pg.61). Martha was a part of this demoralized group of laborers. Unfortunately for her, “in twentieth-century terms, the ability to prescribe and dispense medicine made Martha a physician, while practical knowledge of gargles, bandages, poultices and clisters, as well as willingness to give extended care, defined her as a nurse” (Ulrich, 1990, pg.58). In her diary she even portrays doctors, not midwives, as inconsequential in a few medical
Henrietta Lacks is not a common household name, yet in the scientific and medical world it has become one of the most important and talked names of the century. Up until the time that this book was written, very few people knew of Henrietta Lacks and how her cells contributed to modern science, but Rebecca Skloot aimed to change this. Eventually Skloot was able to reach Henrietta’s remaining family and through them she was able to tell the story of not only the importance of the HeLa cells but also Henrietta’s life.
The novel, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot is divided into 3 sections: life, which tells the reader about Henrietta’s life and the birth of HeLa; death, which consists of times after Henrietta’s death, and lastly; immortality, which discusses how Henrietta’s cells have become immortal. Overall, the book is based on Henrietta and the lives of her children and how they cope with the way medical science has treated their mother. Though the book is not written in chronological order, Skloot does a good job of organizing her information according to its section.
Judith Walzer Leavitt's Typhoid Mary details the life of Mary Mallon, one of the first known carriers of the typhoid disease. Leavitt constructs her book by outlining the various perspectives that went into the decisions made concerning Mary Mallon's life. These perspectives help explain why she was cast aside for most of her life and is still a household catchphrase today. Leavitt paints a picture of the relationship between science and society and particularly shows how Mallon was an unfortunate example of how science can be uneven when it is applied to public policy. This paper will focus on the subjectivity of science and its' interaction with social factors which allowed health officials to “lock[ing] up one person in the face of thousands”, and why that one person was “Typhoid Mary” Mary Mallon (Leavitt p. #).
The first of four views in the book is Henrietta’s life and family. Henrietta was a black woman born August 1, 1920 in Roanoke, Virginia. She had her first child when she was 14 with her cousin Day. She then has a baby girl and then married when she was 18 on April 10, 1941. It all started after Henrietta’s fifth child was born when Henrietta said that she felt a knot inside of her womb. Her friends said it was just her baby, but Henrietta knew it wasn’t. She decided to go to the hospital and had a biopsy taken of a lump the size of a nickel in her cervix. She ended up being right; finding out that she had cervical cancer. Back then radium was used to treat cancer so they put a radium tube in and sent her home. While all of this was going on, Henrietta took her mentally challenged daughter to a mental institute hoping she’ll have a better life with more care. Henrietta then started receiving spot radiation treatments to try to get rid of the cancer. Her skin started to char af...
Imagine having a part of your body taken from you without your permission, and then having those cells that are a part of your body grow and are being processed in labs around the world and then ultimately being used for the highest of research. That is what happens to Henrietta Lacks. In the book, The Immoral Life of Henrietta Lacks, we see Henrietta Lacks and her families story unravel, the numerous hardships that they faced, and the shocking revelation that their relative cells were being used for research without her consent and theirs.
In “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks,” Rebecca Skloot describes the life of an African American woman named Henrietta Lacks whose “immortal” cells changed both the field of science and her family’s lives forever. When Henrietta Lacks passed away due to cervical cancer at the young age of 31, her family accepted the fact that she was gone forever. However, little did they know that during her treatments, George Gey, a doctor at Johns Hopkins Hospital, took a sample of Henrietta’s cells and named them HeLa in hopes of finding one that multiplied infinitely. Suddenly, worldwide factories began to grow HeLa and began selling them to scientists for testing. During this process, Henrietta’s husband and 5 children had absolutely no idea that Henrietta’s cells were still alive because few knew the actual name of the patient who HeLa came from. Eventually, they found out and were furious at Johns Hopkins and refused to speak to anyone who wanted information on Henrietta. Throughout the book, Rebecca Skloot struggles
The credibility and trustworthiness of a person can be achieved through their achievements and titles. Writers have the ability of achieving this by appealing to the rhetorical strategy ethos. Rebecca Skloot’s inclusion of her knowledge in science to provide her credibility and numerous information of all her characters in the novel helps develop the rhetorical strategy of ethos. Skoot’s implementation of appealing to ethos aids in emphasizing on the credibility of both herself and all the other characters in the novel. She demonstrates this rhetorical strategy by indicating titles and achievements her characters in the novel. In The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot develops the rhetorical strategy of ethos through the use of her characters in the novel consisting of Skloot herself, George Gey, and the virologist Chester Southam.
“To be interested in the public good we must be disinterested, that is, not interested in goods in which our personal selves are wrapped up”(Mead). A constant debate arises between the importance of one’s own good, against the importance of the public good. Every person finds their own way of achieving the good life considering these two sides. Whether private good appears to be more important than the other, or whether a balance between the two must be reached; there is no right or wrong. Between the readings of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot and Antigone by Sophocles, having a balance between public good and private good in life conveys the impression of a typical good life. With that, It is essential to create a balance
In this novel, Shelley focuses on the debate between scientific discoveries, religion and the moral ethics of how far man should pursue his desire for knowledge, which reflects the society of the 19th century’s concern of where the scientific advancements were going similarly to the present day debate on whether stem cell research is valid.
Can your cells change medical history? If you are like me then “No” would be the assumed answer. For Henrietta Lacks that answer would come to be “yes.” Today, I would like to tell you about who Henrietta Lacks was, her diagnoses and later death, and what impact her cells had on modern science. I have read several articles and a book on her brief life while researching this speech. You might ask yourself why I should know this. The answer to that would be because your cells are important. Henrietta Lacks did not think she was anything other than a wife and a mother but later came to be known as medical breakthrough.
What they could expect, and what wasn’t granted to them was proper justification from the rest of society in response to their using of Henrietta’s cells. The Lackses note that “[Henrietta’s] the most important person in the world and her family living in poverty.” They wonder, “if our mother is so important to science, why can’t we get health insurance” (168). The strength of the common good is crucial, and without it, society would be hard pressed to make improvements such as cancer treatments. But there must be a balance, a tipping point when those giving to the common good aren’t receiving enough back. In Henrietta Lacks, this comes in the form of health insurance, and in Never Let Me Go, it comes in the form of respect. Never Let Me Go is another perfect example of what can go wrong when the balance is grossly out of place. Also centered on the medical field and solutions to deadly diseases, the book focuses on a group of students who have given way too much to the common good. Created by science, students, or “clones”, at Hailsham grew up with knowledge of gloomy days ahead. But only when they had truly discovered their talents and fallen into loving relationships did they realize their lives would be cut short. Although the students at
Education is a tool to advance an individual and a society; however, education can become a means to gain power when knowledge is used to exercise control over another. In Frankenstein, knowledge becomes the downfall of both Victor Frankenstein and the Monster. The novel explores the consequent power struggle between Victor Frankenstein and his creation, the dichotomy of good and evil, and the contrast between intellectual and physical power. Finding themselves in mirroring journeys, Victor Frankenstein and the Monster are locked in a struggle for dominance. Through these two characters, Mary Shelley explores the consequences of an egotistical mindset and of using knowledge to exercise power over others.