Ryan Relief

I found that knowledge was big theme throughout the story. The theme maily focuses on the scientists throughout the story but there were some other people in the book who this theme can be tied to. The scientists relate to theme because of all of the knowledge they obtained as a result of running experiments on the Hela cells. Another thing that I noticed in the book was that Henriettas family had no knowledge of the fact that scientists were using one of their family members cells for experimentation and profiting from it, while they struggled and lived in poverty.

https://www.trackinghappiness.com/why-self-awareness-important/

Self-awareness and knowledge go hand in hand. And in the article the author talks about how being aware of whats going on around you can be helpful. He says that there are external factors that we cant control but being knowledgeable about these factors and the effects they might have on us is important. Just like how Henriettas family couldnt control the fact that Henrietta had died but even though they couldnt control it they could have bee more aware of what was going on scientifically in respects to her death and maybe that way they might have been able to profit from the scientific experiments conducted on her body.

The whole story begins with the death of Henrietta Lacks and throughout the story, the theme of death is repeatedly brought up. Henrietta died but even though she herself is no longer alive, there are parts of her that still live on. Even though her cells are considered immortal she, herself is not. The person “Henrietta Lacks” is long gone and I dont think that she can be considered “alive”. Her family had a problem dealing with her absence. The husband had to find a someone to take care of the kids in her place. Which resulted in the physical and mental abuse of the children. What I really got out of this story was that there are many things that come with a persons death and that its the job of the people left behind to deal with them.

https://www.cancer.net/coping-with-cancer/managing-emotions/grief-and-loss/coping-with-change-after-loss

This article kind of focuses on the loss of someone due to cancer but the things that they talk about apply to death due to any cause. It talks about how relationships among the family that was left behind can be affected by a persons death, and in the book Henriettas children are abused and treated inhumanely due to her absence. Not only that but, the responsibilities that her family had before her death have changed; for example the husband had to have a cousin and his wife help take care of the kids in place of Henrietta. The main things that I got from the article is that people have to change their lifestyles in order to adjust to the loss of a loved one.

A theme that I noticed in the book was a theme of legacy. Henrietta wasnt very old when she died and she wasn’t famous or anything like that but despite all of that she left behind a legacy. After she died her cells were used for revolutionary scientific advancements. Hela Cells were known by people all over the world and they left a long lasting impact on the world.

https://hellobestow.com/blog/how-to-leave-a-lasting-legacy/

In the article it talks about how leaving a legacy is when you pass something of significance onto the next generation. It could be anything, a gift, knowledge, or even a fortune. In Henriettas case she left behind cells; living tissue that from her body that behaved in a way that was unprecedented. Her unique cells led to many scientific discoveries and a ton of knowledge about diseases that helped saved countless lives. Most people dont have immortal cells that can lead to groundbreaking discoveries, but anyone can leave an impact in some way.

Family Relationships was a big theme in the book. Henrietta had a complicated family situation, seeing as how she had a lot of children and her husband was cheating on her and there are a lot different feelings and emotions that can come with things like this. She was most likely dealing with a lot of stuff that she felt she couldn’t tell her family about. She didn’t like to talk about the lump that she found, with her family and it eventually led to a life threatening situation for her. The lack of communication that occurred in the story was really shocking.

https://child.unl.edu/family-relationships

This article talks about the many different ways that can support strong and healthy, family realtionships. While reading this article I realized that some of the things that they reference are exactly what was missing in Henrietta’s relationship with her family. She didnt have very, much if any, postive communication with her family, seeing as how when she told them about the lump she had found they completely dismissed the idea that it could potentially be dangerous. Another thing that was missing was commitment. From what we know about her husband it seems like he wasn’t very committed to his wife. He would go out and sleep with other women and then come home and sleep with Henrietta like nothing was wrong.

Early on the story we discover what type of person Henrietta Lacks is because of the way that she copes with what she is feeling. She discovered for herself that she had a tumor but when she told people and they said that it wasn’t anything to worry about she kind of left it alone even though she knew deep down that what she had found was probably detrimental to her well being. She seemed to do that often, considering that when she had STD’s and other diseases she neglected to go to the doctor and when she did go she decided to skip the follow up appointments. Henrietta seemed to in denial of the fact that her situation was actually really serious. She chose to go a long time without seeing a doctor and ultimately her choice to deny the gravity of her situation cost her, her life and a great deal of suffering.

https://lifehacker.com/how-denial-negatively-affects-your-choices-and-what-yo-5972649

In this article it talks about how denial is a defense mechanism and even though it can be helpful in some situations in can also be harmful, and in Henrietta’s it was the latter. Denial can negatively effect the choices that we make and can lead to ignoring signs that could save us a lot of trouble. Henrietta decided to deny the reality of her sitaution and the red flags that were raised in her mind and only when it was too late did she do anything to help herself.

At the start of the story it became clear that segregation was going to be a big theme throughout the story. Early on in the story they talk about how Henrietta had to go to the doctor, because she was worried about the lump that she found. She had to go to a specific hospital that was the only official hospital nearby that allowed black people to be treated there, and even though they allowed African Americans in the hospital they separated them from the white people by putting them in different wards.