Henrietta Lacks Research Paper
Tran 1
Sophia Tran
Miss Calahan
AP Language
1st period
26 August 2013
The Unknown Woman One of the main themes in The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is justice. I feel this is so because Henrietta along with her family were not well-aware that Henrietta's cells were being taken from her without her consent to use in scientific research while she was only seeking help for her unknown illness. Alongside being unaware, she was never fully recognized for her unknown contributions to the scientific research that involved her cells. The fact that someone who has things taken from them and they are unaware of it is huge injustice to anyone. 'They're beautiful," she whispered, then went back to staring at the slide in silence. Eventually, …show more content…
She looks straight into the camera and smiles, hands on hips, dress suit neatly pressed, lips painted deep red. It's the late 1940s and she hasn't yet reached the age of thirty. Her light brown skin is smooth, her eyes still young and playful, oblivious to the tumor growing inside her -- a tumor that would leave her five children motherless and change the future of medicine. Beneath the photo, a caption says her name is "Henrietta Lacks, Helen Lane or Helen Larson." Henrietta Lacks is depicted as a normal person who lived in a time of racism and unfair treatment of African-Americans. Although she was black, she managed to seek a hospital that treated both blacks and whites. It was during these treatments that her cells were taken from her without proper consent until a couple of days just before her death. She fortunately gave consent to the cell taking after hearing that it could benefit her children. She is later recognized through her children and they received commemorations in her place for her contribution to scientific research. "As we left Cronsville, Deborah thanked Lurz for the information, saying, "I've been waiting for this a long, long time, Doc." When asked if she was okay, her eyes welled with tears and she said, "Like I'm always telling my brothers, if you going to go into history, you can't do it with a hate attitude. You got to remember, times was
Sophia Tran
Miss Calahan
AP Language
1st period
26 August 2013
The Unknown Woman One of the main themes in The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is justice. I feel this is so because Henrietta along with her family were not well-aware that Henrietta's cells were being taken from her without her consent to use in scientific research while she was only seeking help for her unknown illness. Alongside being unaware, she was never fully recognized for her unknown contributions to the scientific research that involved her cells. The fact that someone who has things taken from them and they are unaware of it is huge injustice to anyone. 'They're beautiful," she whispered, then went back to staring at the slide in silence. Eventually, …show more content…
She looks straight into the camera and smiles, hands on hips, dress suit neatly pressed, lips painted deep red. It's the late 1940s and she hasn't yet reached the age of thirty. Her light brown skin is smooth, her eyes still young and playful, oblivious to the tumor growing inside her -- a tumor that would leave her five children motherless and change the future of medicine. Beneath the photo, a caption says her name is "Henrietta Lacks, Helen Lane or Helen Larson." Henrietta Lacks is depicted as a normal person who lived in a time of racism and unfair treatment of African-Americans. Although she was black, she managed to seek a hospital that treated both blacks and whites. It was during these treatments that her cells were taken from her without proper consent until a couple of days just before her death. She fortunately gave consent to the cell taking after hearing that it could benefit her children. She is later recognized through her children and they received commemorations in her place for her contribution to scientific research. "As we left Cronsville, Deborah thanked Lurz for the information, saying, "I've been waiting for this a long, long time, Doc." When asked if she was okay, her eyes welled with tears and she said, "Like I'm always telling my brothers, if you going to go into history, you can't do it with a hate attitude. You got to remember, times was