The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Themes
The main themes in The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks include medical ethics, family, and race.
- Medical ethics: In 1951, Henrietta's doctors took tissue samples of her cells without obtaining permission or even informing her. Today, this would be illegal, and Skloot traces the various medical scandals that resulted in the reformulating of medical ethics.
- Family: While familial ties kept Henrietta’s children close, they did not spare Sonny, Deborah, and Joe from the abuse of Ethel, Henrietta’s cousin.
- Race: Many of the Lackses’ challenges in life can be linked to racism and systemic oppression, such as their inability to afford health insurance.
Themes: All Themes
Themes: Medical Ethics
Medical ethics is one of the central themes of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. In the 1950s, when Henrietta was diagnosed with cancer, doctors and medical researchers were not required to obtain informed consent from their patients or subjects. Henrietta Lacks was never informed that her cells were harvested, and for many years her family was not informed, either, leaving them in the dark about her contribution to science. Rebecca Skloot...
(Read more)Themes: Disease
Cancer isn't the only disease represented in Skloot's The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Cootie, for instance, contracted polio as a child and was only able to receive treatment because his doctors lied about his race, passing off his light skin as White in order to get him in an iron lung, which at that time was reserved for White patients. Sonny, Henrietta's son, underwent a quintuple bypass on his heart, which left him with $125,000 in...
(Read more)Themes: Family
Henrietta's family members are the primary characters in this book. Her husband Day and her five children (Lawrence, Elsie, Sonny, Deborah, and Joe) feature prominently, as do various cousins of Henrietta's. The Lackses are bound together by love, blood, and financial circumstances, which at times require them to move in together to save money and raise children. This was unfortunate for Henrietta's children, because it resulted in Henrietta's...
(Read more)Themes: Race
Most of the Lacks family's problems can be linked back to racism and systemic oppression. Their skin color put them on the wrong side of segregation in the 1950s, and the Lackses were consigned to a life of prejudice and poverty, despite popular belief that they descended from wealthy White slaveowners named Lacks who set aside property for the illegitimate children they had with their Black slaves. Racism nearly prevented Cootie from getting the...
(Read more)Themes: Immortality
The theme of immortality in The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacksis central to understanding the impact of Henrietta's cells, known as HeLa. These cells have achieved a form of immortality through their continuous growth and reproduction, contributing to numerous medical breakthroughs. The book explores the dual nature of this immortality, highlighting both the scientific advancements made possible by HeLa cells and the ethical issues surrounding...
(Read more)Expert Q&A
Themes, Significance, and Setting of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot explores the ethical and racial issues surrounding the use of Henrietta Lacks's cells in medical research. The book reveals how her cells, taken without consent, became crucial to scientific advancements while her family remained impoverished and uninformed. It highlights the exploitation of marginalized individuals by the medical industry and emphasizes the need for informed consent and ethical practices. The story is set against the backdrop of racial and economic disparities in mid-20th-century America.
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