The last post was more about the scientific approach in how Henrietta's immortal cancer cells were able to really benefit the world, and especially science/medical fields. One mistake I made was that I thought they were actually using her cells to produce medicine and antibiotics, so I told my friends that almost every medicine they are taking contains her cells. I creeped them out by saying, "So, yes, in a way you are drinking this poor woman's cells and that's apparently fighting off those bad diseases." However, when I continued to read more, I was making the same mistake that her family was! One of the biggest reason why they were really upset was because when they read headlines such as "Half-human, Half-plant Creature Made from HeLa Cells", or the fact that her cells contributed to developing new medicine, her children thought that Henrietta was being cloned everywhere in the world, and that sick people were digesting part of her (like the way Catholics believe they are eating Jesus's flesh and blood). However, Henrietta's cells are not used for that; it's what the scientists test on Henrietta that makes her cells so special. Here's how it works: scientists or doctors in some cases, develop medicine or a cure that could potentially save a specific population struck with a disease. However, without knowing if it is actually lethal or not, they cannot start giving it out to the public. That is where Henrietta comes in, where her cancer cells act exactly like the regular cells. By injecting the medicine in the cell, the scientists are then able to see if 1. it is helpful or not and 2. if humans can actually use it.
In this book, I expected it to be more of a scientific approach, where the author talks about Henrietta's contribution, and why the family are upset over it. However, Henrietta is barely mentioned after Part I. She creates the scene where even though you have just learned EVERYTHING about Henrietta, from her big warm personality to her motherly affection to all of her kids, you see Henrietta through the eyes of her children and the scientists who have worked with her cells. The children, especially someone like Deborah or Zakariyya, their mother has passed away when they were just little babies. And as they barely knew about her mother before HeLa cells were known to be Henrietta's cells, their life is different. The author truly does a nice job of speaking for a person in details and show how their lives have contributed to their perspectives on this controversial topic.
Unlike most of the other non-fiction books I have read, this one flows more like story, where I often forget that this is a true story that the author is trying to reveal to the world! Each and every one of these lives seem so unrealistic and made-up. Also, it is true that non-fiction books have to be "true" and contain no lies, but it contains all the crimes and sins that the Lacks family had committed.
Also, it sheds light on the Lacks' character where through all the difficulties and quagmires, they still have spirit and a strong mindset to continue on, no matter what they are going through. For example, the author wrote, "'You promised me' Bobbette said. 'You fight them if they try to get with you-I don't care if you have to hurt them. Don't let them touch you.' Deborah promised she wouldn't. 'You just got to go to school,' Bobbette said. 'Don't mess with boy cousins, and don't have babies until you're grown.'" Just to give more background, Deborah is Henrietta's daughter and she was just a newborn baby when Henrietta passed away. Her last word was "Take care of Deborah." When she was young, her cousins would try to sleep with her because she was pretty. She couldn't really fight back, as she was too little and too weak, and she said that she liked him better than her own father anyway, since they gave her presents. This really shows what kind of lifestyle the Lacks children are leading, where they are constantly abused by the lady who is supposed to "take care of them" and older men who are like their "fathers" but would force Deborah to sleep with them. The other thing Bobbette mentioned was of incest, which was common back then, and of course, Henrietta's husband was indeed her cousin. They are later educated that that is a "bad" thing, and one thing they tried to spread in the family was "education". However, all of the Lacks children have struggled in school, because they all had hearing problems and simply could not pay attention in school.
I have so many incredible things that I want to share about to share this story of Henrietta, but I guess I'll save it for the next time. :D
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