As derived from the title, this book revolves around the subject of a woman named Henrietta Lacks. The interesting thing is that this woman's cancer cells are what make her known. The author learns about these cells in her high school biology class and is immediately intrigued. She ends up spending ten years of her life to uncovering the mystery behind the origin of these cells. Skloot describes her experiences she had while gathering information to write this book. Her persistence led her to a relationship with the Lacks family and through them is where she learned the true story behind Henrietta Lacks. The book jumps around between Henrietta's childhood, her cancer and death, her children's early years, their adulthood, the journey of her cells, Skloot's struggles with the family, her relationship with them, advancements in science, and much more. All of these story lines, places in time, and controversies tie into a comprehensive explanation to where these immortal cells come from and where they are today.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks relates to being human and Christian in an interconnected world in a couple of ways. First off, the human aspect ties in to the obvious fact that the book is about human cells tying in biology and anatomy to explain the concept of immortal cells, and how and where they got them. Also with the human perspective, the treatment of Henrietta and the Lacks family needs to be considered. As a human onlooker to this story, it's usually questioned how humane Henrietta's experience at John Hopkins Hospital where she was neglected and not cared for until it was too late. The controversy of something that came from you but isn't apart of you anymore still your property needs to be considered. Moving on to her succeeding family, there is a lot of controversy with their treatment growing up. For example, her daughter Deborah being molested and abused on a regular basis definitely would violate her rights as a human being. Then there is the big issue of how Henrietta's cells are a valuable and groundbreaking part of science and medical research for the whole world, yet her own family doesn't have medical care. From a human perspective, questioning these aspects of the book and if society should let these things happen in our world is crucial to reading this book. These events and circumstances convey that our definition of humanity is less humane then we would like. We tend to break our human race into different categories and treat them all differently. In this case, race and financial situation play a huge part in this. Now being Christian in an interconnected world relates in a different way. For a book about science, the religion aspect pops up in everybody's mind. It makes society think of their morals and beliefs and question what they think is right and wrong. The family members of Henrietta, being Christian, wrestle with ideas of her spirit, her cells, God, and how all of these things tie together. The book challenges the Christian perspective in the sense that it is primarily about science therefore told from that perspective. Also something needing consideration is that the writer is not so religious, which would make the reader think that her words are not going to be reinforcing Christianity in anyway. But what's interesting is through her long journey with the Lacks family and exploring these cells, she can't help but consider the faith factor and how it relates to this story. Skloot does a good job at putting these clashing perspectives head to head in this book. It's interesting to think that the cells of a dead black woman, from a time where she wasn't respected or treated equally, can affect people from across the planet 50 years later.
Now it's my turn to tell you what I think. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks challenged the way I think of being a human being and a Christian in this world in a way that made me think of my place on the chess board of life. I thought about the role that I play in society and how that fits into who I am. The book really made me think of how I fit into this interconnected world. If Henrietta was able to make a large footprint on this earth when she thought no one would remember her name, then what kind of a mark am I going to leave on this place? This book gave me an idea of what the course was going to be about. I discovered that we would be looking at things from different perspectives, and analyzing them in a different way than I ever have before. It prepared me with a head start to the success of this class and helped me adjust my thinking to become a better college student. Through the story of this woman, I have learned that there are so many ways to be remembered and make a difference in this world and you don't always have control of it. So sometimes, you have to just let God do his thing.
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks relates to being human and Christian in an interconnected world in a couple of ways. First off, the human aspect ties in to the obvious fact that the book is about human cells tying in biology and anatomy to explain the concept of immortal cells, and how and where they got them. Also with the human perspective, the treatment of Henrietta and the Lacks family needs to be considered. As a human onlooker to this story, it's usually questioned how humane Henrietta's experience at John Hopkins Hospital where she was neglected and not cared for until it was too late. The controversy of something that came from you but isn't apart of you anymore still your property needs to be considered. Moving on to her succeeding family, there is a lot of controversy with their treatment growing up. For example, her daughter Deborah being molested and abused on a regular basis definitely would violate her rights as a human being. Then there is the big issue of how Henrietta's cells are a valuable and groundbreaking part of science and medical research for the whole world, yet her own family doesn't have medical care. From a human perspective, questioning these aspects of the book and if society should let these things happen in our world is crucial to reading this book. These events and circumstances convey that our definition of humanity is less humane then we would like. We tend to break our human race into different categories and treat them all differently. In this case, race and financial situation play a huge part in this. Now being Christian in an interconnected world relates in a different way. For a book about science, the religion aspect pops up in everybody's mind. It makes society think of their morals and beliefs and question what they think is right and wrong. The family members of Henrietta, being Christian, wrestle with ideas of her spirit, her cells, God, and how all of these things tie together. The book challenges the Christian perspective in the sense that it is primarily about science therefore told from that perspective. Also something needing consideration is that the writer is not so religious, which would make the reader think that her words are not going to be reinforcing Christianity in anyway. But what's interesting is through her long journey with the Lacks family and exploring these cells, she can't help but consider the faith factor and how it relates to this story. Skloot does a good job at putting these clashing perspectives head to head in this book. It's interesting to think that the cells of a dead black woman, from a time where she wasn't respected or treated equally, can affect people from across the planet 50 years later.
Now it's my turn to tell you what I think. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks challenged the way I think of being a human being and a Christian in this world in a way that made me think of my place on the chess board of life. I thought about the role that I play in society and how that fits into who I am. The book really made me think of how I fit into this interconnected world. If Henrietta was able to make a large footprint on this earth when she thought no one would remember her name, then what kind of a mark am I going to leave on this place? This book gave me an idea of what the course was going to be about. I discovered that we would be looking at things from different perspectives, and analyzing them in a different way than I ever have before. It prepared me with a head start to the success of this class and helped me adjust my thinking to become a better college student. Through the story of this woman, I have learned that there are so many ways to be remembered and make a difference in this world and you don't always have control of it. So sometimes, you have to just let God do his thing.
