Analysis Of The Immortal Life Of Deborah Lacks

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Accompanied by Deborah Lacks, Rebecca explores the world of science and medicine in order to better understand the scientific perspective on Henrietta Lacks and HeLa. Given that Henrietta’s immortal cell line has played such a crucial role in the evolution of modern science and medicine, Skloot understands that her narrative account would be incomplete without consideration thereof. However, Rebecca also considers that the scientific knowledge of Henrietta and HeLa began to develop even before her death, and grew just as quickly as the cell line did, thereby proving one of the most thoroughly-developed and collected sources of knowledge about Henrietta. A final consideration for Skloot is that the rapid advances in scientific knowledge occurred unbeknownst to the Lacks family. Therefore, Skloot’s exploration of science pertaining to Henrietta is at once a historical, medical, and reparative effort that acknowledges various disparities of information and …show more content…

It reminds that “We must see in every person a universe with its own secrets, with its own treasures, with its own sources of anguish, and with some measure of triumph.” In Skloot’s narrative attempt to piece together this universe of Henrietta Lacks, she realizes and expresses the challenges of this attempt. Skloot’s work is an effort to represent and depict Henrietta as she lived, rather than just as a line of immortal cells or untold stories. It is an attempt to restore personhood, wholeness, and voice to a fragmented picture. It is an attempt to reconcile various, sometimes competing versions of knowledge, each of which lends to, but also complicates the greater understanding of Henrietta’s story. It is an attempt to appreciate the complexity and depth of life and to encourage constant exploration

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