Rebecca Skloot's The Immortal Life Of Henrietta Lacks

Truly great literature appeals to emotions in order to be most effective. If the novel does not resound with the reader’s heart and soul, they will have no incentive to care or relate to the story. Thus, love and empathy for a character’s personality makes them infinitely more real. During the 1900s, ethically controversial studies were being carried out in the name of scientific progress. Rebecca Skloot investigates the thought process of the researchers and patients involved in these studies and brings a sense of humanity to their actions. In “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks”, Rebecca Skloot compels a sense of compassion far more effectively through pathos than she does through either ethos or logos. The author manages to bring Henrietta Lack’s personality to life through her motivations and goals, whereas Skloot’s credibility in the subject is weaker and the facts presented are not

as strong.
The book’s prelude emphasizes the author’s sense of ethos by documenting every part of her research process.

Skloot first heard about Henrietta almost thirty years ago, as she explains that she “was sixteen and sitting in a community college biology class” (8). Although Henrietta’s immediate relatives were hesitant to speak with outsiders, Skloot was very stubborn to let the world know the Lacks family’s story. Not every author would wait years for an interview, yet the content and research in “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” was carefully constructed over nearly a decade. While Skloot’s research is very thorough, however, the accuracy of her sources can sometimes be questionable. A primary source of information that is used throughout the book comes from an old man named Cootie. He is quoted as he mutters “‘I know I got some information on Henrietta in here somewhere,’ … from under the mattress” (Skloot 62). However, referencing Cootie only leaves a minor blemish on Skloot’s otherwise detailed research and does not heavily detract from the content of the

novel.
Content and accuracy in a documentary are key, and the facts presented in “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” support its logical reasoning well. The author not only lists an explanation of what she is doing, but also why she is doing it. In the chapter Night Doctors, there are seemingly wild accusations from the Lacks family regarding John Hopkins kidnappings of black residents. Instead of dismissing the abductions outright, Skloot presents evidence to the reader to give plausibility to their claims. Recounting historical events such as “doctors tested drugs on slaves and operated on them … without using anesthesia” allow the family’s argument to have ground to stand on. (Skloot 166). Furthermore, in many other situations, arguments are logically organized and follow a clear train of thought. Because of the logical consistency contained in it, the logos of the book is strong, while still not being quite as excellent as the emotional appeal.
There is no better way to relate to one another than through compassion; Skloot’s work invites all who study it to join in on the Lack’s journey through love and loss. The emotions displayed by the characters feel incredibly realized, and there is a tangible feeling of a real, loving family. The Lacks family's motivations and dreams are displayed proudly, and elevate the sense of ethos into something more powerful than either facts or research could provide. Deborah’s sense of frustration and sadness is understood in just one sentence, when she visits her mother’s grave while holding a picture of her dead sister. As she asks for a picture and softly says “It will be the only picture in the world of all three of us together”, she transforms herself from a faceless woman in a story to a real, living person (Skloot 287). Getting to know each of the Lacks family members, and watching them struggle through hardship, allows them to be more than just a name in a book. For that reason, the sense of ethos in the novel is proven to be undeniably well done.
Skloot juggles between incorporating ethos, logos and pathos in “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” to allow the book to appeal broadly to all audiences. While her execution of ethos and logos are strong, her implementation of pathos is what makes her work excellent. It is impossible to forget the sadness in Deborah’s desperate words:“I imagine what it would be like to have a mother to go to, to laugh, cry, hug” (Skloot 309).