Henrietta Lacks, Her Immortal Life

Let me introduce you to the great immortal Henrietta. Just to let you know, she was a beautiful African American woman, who works in the poor tobacco farmer. She led a very happy, generous life with many kids, until she felt a knot inside her. The doctors have told her that she was fine, but was surprised to see that she did indeed have a tumor exactly where she said it was. The story goes on with one of the doctors in Johns Hopkins taking a sample of her tumor (of course, discreetly but not illegally) and giving her therapy. She becomes worse and eventually dies... However, her cells known as the HeLa cells (HEnrietta LAcks) outlives her and still survives to this day.

I borrowed the book from my science teacher, Mrs. McDonough, after hearing her talk about how her cells were extracted without asking, and how it truly revolutionized the medical world. This touches upon the Bioethics unit that we've done in Gifted, as these types of cases are still happening!

It's just a really sad story if you think about it, because no matter how annoying and illegal those doctors may seem, they did find cures for many many illnesses with her cells, and that is how we are able to live the way we do. In fact, I bet all of us have unknowingly received aid from Henrietta's cells. That is why it is a tragedy, as none of her family is able to live the way they do, as they are poor. (And the doctors said by doing an autopsy for Henrietta will help their children!!!!)

The book is written in a very unique way, as it is not chronologically written, and it doesn't feel like a biography of Henrietta Lacks. Though it does create a voice for Henrietta's children, families, and relatives, the introduction is more about how the author got interested in Henrietta and her journey to write the story. Truth be told, I'm more interested in Henrietta than the author, but I think she does a nice job of introducing new characters and connect them with Henrietta to reveal their significance.

Adieu, East of Eden

East of Eden. I do not know what to say about it. I loved it, I hated it, I loved all the characters, yet all characters had despicable and hateful aspects. It’s just so mesmerizing and beautifully crafted that I cannot say anything other than “read it”. I really wish that we could read it as a class, because I’m curious what everyone would say and think of the plot and the characters. I keep on saying this over and over, if I have enough time, I would love to read detailed analysis on this book, whether it be a biblical one, or just literary devices. I think that would open up my eyes to understand deeper meanings and messages. As I don’t want to ruin the book for anyone, I think I’ll just post about what I found particularly interesting, or mind-blowing. As a Christian, I read bible every night, but it never occurred to me that the slight variation in different bibles can mean a complete different message. The word “timshel” in Hebrew is mentioned throughout the book, which means “thou mayest”. That got me wondering… if different bibles have different meanings that mean different things, which on are we supposed to believe and follow? Lee, a Chinese servant, studied with older scholars to find the true meaning of this word by studying Hebrew. He reminded me of a close family friend who studies Latin, Hebrew, and other languages to feel the true meanings of certain words. He told me that when a language is translated, its full meaning and connotation is lost. It was really fun for me to see a parallel between one of the characters and someone who is close to me in real life.

In the past posts, I have mentioned that there are not that many biblical references, except I was wrong. Obviously, one of the main character’s name is Adam (I can’t believe I missed on that one!) and the passage of Cain and Abel is a recurring theme. The 1^st generation of Adam and Charles represents Cain and Abel, where Charles is driven mad of jealousy, and tries to murder Adam. Though Charles gives expensive gifts to his father, the father simply neglects it and adores Adam’s gift, which was a puppy. Later in the story, where Adam has children of his own, his twin sons, Aron and Cal, is similar, where Aron is the adored one and Cal is always the one who is thirsty for love. This only proves to show that the blood of Adam and Eve, Cain and Abel is all running through us, which makes the human tendency to be jealous, angry, and flawed.

Also, I saw the relationship between Adam and his wife as the common relationship between God and the people. Adam, who is very forgiving and pours out his endless, great love for his wife does not want anything back from her, except a mere show of affection. However, Cathy continues to sin, and refuses to love him back. Adam’s care, forgiveness, and promises for a bright future was strikingly similar to how God portrays his love for us as well. Furthermore, the meaning of Eden, where Adam talks of the land that he is going to build for his wife and children was just like the intention of Eden and possibly even Heaven as well.

The best character in the story would have to be Lee. I do not know if it is simply due to the fact that I am also Asian, but I could relate to him a lot. For example, he can speak perfect English, yet he speaks like a Chinese person would by saying “Me talkee Chinese talk”. I think the way he described it was so beautiful. "It's more than a convenience, it's even more than self-protection. Mostly we have to use it to be understood at all.” ~ Lee. He was talking about how the society expects some things by a simply judge of your appearance, and if you don’t act accordingly, people do not understand you, or even accept you. The things that he say is just so philosophical, and everything he does is so gentle, compassionate, and good-willed. His existence was what made me attached to the story even more.

This story is very deep, yet it is not at all hard to read or push through. There are so many events that happen that you just cannot put the book down. You are practically glued to this book until you reach the end. What I thought was unique about this book was the way it was chronologically written, and how different characters merge and a new generation is born. It is really interesting and true how though the characters are changed, the human nature of jealousy, hatred, and love still remains, and it is ultimately the same story over again. Just to put it out there: Thank you, John Steinbeck!

Cycle One: Glued

John Steinbeck. Oh my, is he a writer! I am quite ashamed to know that it took me this long to understand why people for many years say his name with awe. His writing is so easy to read and yet so interesting and engaging. I had no trouble flipping through pages, chapters, and pushed myself to find out what happens. More than the story, I think the characters are very well made. When I say well-made, I don't mean that they are likeable people; rather, I wish to never meet most of them in my life! However, they portray variety of aspects of the world, and I feel guilty for admitting that I can't help but wonder what other crimes each character will commit. (Especially Cathy. She is such a character!) It struck me during class when my fingers were lingering on the cover, wanting to find out what happens next. I am really glad I chose this book. Pat pat, good job Sun.

I want to share with you some of the main characters. Charles, Adam, Mr. Edwards, Cathy, Lee, and Samuel are the ones I remember as of now. I would spit out what happened detail by detail, but I don't want to spoil the fun. I'm just going to say that Steinbeck does a great job of transforming a certain character from an amiable person to a sudden murderous villain, and change him back to a sane, ordinary person again! By doing so, he depicts an image of sin and how a monster is within everyone, whether it be jealousy, or just their cold nature. Cathy, though, is what makes this book so interesting to read. She is causing the demise of virtually all characters. Her beauty captivates most of the main male characters, from kind Adam to Mr. Edwards. She really is a demon, and though I despise her for her detestable actions and lies, it is what keeps me glued to this book. From the beginning, I could predict very easily who she was going to prey on and how it was going to end. In the beginning, I have guessed her to split Charles and Adam's brotherly bond that they've managed to make by captivating both. Though it wasn't quite accurate, she did break the brothers apart, and led Adam to his ultimate end. (I found this highly ironic, as Adam had fallen from his wife, Eve, as well.) She also captivated the good old Samuel, and I have a feeling that something will happen.

One thing I did not like about the story was when the narrator suddenly bursts in and stops the flow. It just made me stop wanting to read on, because it was not what the narrator thought that I wanted to know about, but what the characters were going to do and how they were going to interact with one another. However, I guess he establishes ethos by saying he is related to the Hamiltons. Still, I hope he doesn't come out too often.

Though he scripted many themes and messages in this book, I believe I understand less than 5% of what he has put in. However, one of the things he got me to think was the idea of monster. He wrote, "I believe there are monsters born in the world to human parents. Some you can see, misshapen and horrible, with huge heads...no arms, no legs...three arms...tails... They are accidents and no one's fault, as used to be thought. And just as there are physical monsters, can there not be mental or psychic monsters born? To a man born without conscience, a soul-stricken man must seem ridiculous. To a criminal, honesty is foolish. You must not forget that a monster is only a variation, and that to a monster the norm is monstrous." (Steinbeck, 71)

The narrator is referring Cathy to a monster, despite her perfect physical appearance. I have always thought the same way as he did, where in other books, the term "monster" refers to their outer appearance rather than how they think or act. This concept still carries on in today's society, where people with odd appearances are neglected, whereas beauty is idolized and misunderstood as innocence and purity. However, if one really looks inside, the monsters often have very tender hearts and if they are at all vicious and cold, it is from the wound of the society's outcast, not because they are naturally evil. It also occurred to me that every one possess a monster, where it could easily be suppressed from their loving environment, or easily be sprouted into a villain. It makes me wonder then, is Cathy a true monster? She was raised under loving parents, yet she has grown into a monster who takes advantages of others and ends up killing her parents and many more for her own benefit. I have no idea why she is doing what she is doing, and wonder if she was after all born with invisible flaws, where her beauty hides them all.

I have just read up to the point where Adam marries Cathy and leave Charles. I have just read about Samuel and Lee, and I'll get back to you to let you know what I think of Cathy. Hopefully she changes her mind and repay Adam's forever love and kindness. (Or, Adam could suddenly not be blinded by Cathy's beauty and realize that he is very foolish. But, of course, that is highly unlikely to happen.)

Cycle One: Eh-den or E-den?

"Finally" is the word that popped into my mind when Mr. Perlman announced the third marking period project: reading books. It has been a while since I read for fun. Instead of reading, I found myself sleeping or watching TV during the time I should be flipping through the crisp papers. As people always say, you always need a little "push" to get things done. When I arrived at the library, I glimpsed through few books here and there, until I came across the East of Eden written by the famous John Steinbeck (Did you know he won a Noble Prize?). Sorry for being off-topic, but this guy is very interesting. I did not know much about him before, but apparently he had three wives, wrote 27 books, and was a heavy smoker... I could tell the last one, since the picture of him on the back page also had him with a cigarette in his hand. Anyway, I remembered buying this fancy book and never reading it. That's what I always do. Buy the books, and hope I have time to read it. For example, I read half of the novel Count of Monte Cristo few years ago, and never actually finished it. I stopped reading after school began and when I picked it up to read it again, it was just TOO MUCH. Hopefully that won't happen with this book. I'm actually really excited, except for the fact that I don't know how I would be able to read 700-some pages within two cycles. Yikes. Lots of reading. But hopefully it would be worth it.