“Maybe her cells have done good for some people, but I
woulda rather had my mother. If she hadn’t been sacrificed, I mighta growed up
to be a lot better person than I am now” (Skloot 248).
It is quite sad to hear these words come from Henrietta’s youngest
son Zakariyya who had the hardest time dealing with her death. He was in and
out of jail during his fifty years of life and was always angered and upset
about how Hopkins and the entire medical world had overlooked his family,
especially his mother. The feeling he presented during chapter 30 were very
honest and clear that he was not at all happy with the overall outcome of his
mother’s cells being taken. He showed Rebecca Skloot that the way doctors and
scientists dealt with their family was not what he wished. I feel that
Zakariyya was extremely emotional during this meeting because it brought back
old feeling and also new ones as well. When his sister Deborah gave him the
photograph that Dr. Lengauer had given to her, Zakariyya was overwhelmed and
showed his softer side bringing tears to his eyes. I feel that after he
realized that there were people out there who cared about bringing his mother’s
legacy to life he was content and wanted to be a part of the experience. Was it
true what Zakariyya said, that if his mother had lived he would have been a
better person than he was now? I do believe he would have had more love in his
life and would have really benefited from a mothers love. Overall, this chapter
was extremely beneficial to showing some more about the personal life behind a
few of Henrietta Lack’s children.
Word Count: 253
Skloot, Rebecca. "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" New York. Broadway Paperbacks, Crown Publishing, 2010. Print.
“But it [HeLa cells] didn’t do no good for her, and it didn’t do no good for us. If me and my sisters need something, we can’t even go see a doctor cause we can’t afford it.” (Skloot 246).
ReplyDeleteI agree with Aubrey, Zakariyya suffered greatly with the loss of his mother. It crushed him to hear the news that part of her was alive and doctors around the world were making a profit from her cells. I think Zakariyya was most upset by the fact that HeLa cells were making millions of dollars, and that not of the Lackses saw a dime of that. If it were not for Henrietta’s contribution no research would have been done, and no discoveries made. He feels betrayed by the hospital that took his mother’s cells, and he feels cheated out of a better life. His childhood was flipped upside down after his mother passed. The Lackses were poor and their new step-mother was abusive. Would Zakariyya have been a different person had Henrietta lived, or had credit been given to her name? Zakariyya said, “ If she hadn’t been sacrificed, I mighta growed up to be a lot better person than I am now.” (Skloot 248). Although the doctors could not save Henrietta from her cancer, they could have given her credit for the success of HeLa. Zakariyya just wants his mother to be given the credit she deserves, he was very angry when people were calling her Helen Lane. It is disrespectful to her memory, although Dr. Gey was just trying to protect the Lacks family. But they didn’t need protecting, they needed the truth.
(235/274)
“It’s the highest degree of disrespect. That’s why I say I hope he burn in hell. If he were here right now I’d kill him dead.” (Skloot 246)
ReplyDeleteThe feelings that Zakariyya has towards Gey were pretty obvious. I liked chapter 30 because it really gave me a good perspective of how Henrietta’s family think about the doctor’s actions. As Aubrey said it is really sad to read those words, and I can completely understand why he feels like that, whenever I try to imagine me in his place I get the same feelings. Even though Henrietta’s cells caused magnificent help on the science field and helped save many lives, he is still her son and he will probably be angry about this whole story for the rest of his life. There is no doubt that throughout Henrietta’s life she suffered a lot, she was disrespected in so many horrible ways and still she made great contribution to society. I think it would be great if there was a way to compensate Henrietta’s family at least for all the emotional damages caused to them that will be on that family forever, they do deserve it. Later on the chapter Zakariyya also said that if his sisters needed to go to a doctor they wouldn’t be able to because they couldn’t afford such thing. That was when I really felt that some type of measure needs to be taken to benefit that family.
Word Count: 214
“All of those damn people didn’t deserve her help as far as I’m concerned” (Skloot 247).
ReplyDeleteI agree with Aubrey when she says Zakariyya has had the hardest time coping with Henrietta’s death. Since he is the youngest child, he had to grow up without a mother who was unfairly taken away from him. Not only did he not know his mother, but now he has to hear about her cells still living. It is unfair for the Lacks family to suffer financially when scientists are making millions off Henrietta’s cells immortal cells. Zakariyya further emphasizes the Lacks family’s disappointment with the way they have been treated. He becomes agitated and exclaims, “All of those damn people didn’t deserve her help as far as I’m concerned (Skloot 247). Frustration can easily be noticed when Zakariyya talks about the scientists who took advantage of his mother while she was sick. He brings up the fact that Gey used Henrietta’s cells behind his family’s back and failed to ask for permission. Zakariyya even explains how the scientists lied to them, withholding information about their mother’s cells. Imagine finding out that your mother’s cells were still alive from a reporter or an article in a magazine. Skloot quotes Zakariyya when he states “ them doctors say her cells is so important… but it didn’t do no good for her, and it don’t do no good for us” (Skloot 246). Readers automatically sympathize with the Lacks family. With Zakariyya’s contribution to Rebecca Skloot’s novel, readers can take a further look into the lives of the Lacks family. Henrietta’s cells may have helped millions stay healthy, but they have kept her own kin in financial ruin.
Word Count: 222
“Deborah rubbed her hand on his back and whispered, “I think is anybody deserve that, it’s you, Zakariyya.””(Skloot 248)
ReplyDeleteI also think it is very said to hear that Henrietta’s youngest son Zakariyya struggled in dealing with the death of his mother. He had a hard time growing up without mother. However, I don’t think that Zakariyya didn’t benefit from his mother’s contribution to the medical fields on cancer research at all. Henrietta’s family was just a normal family who live on a tobacco farm. But ever since Henrietta’s cell was revealed to the world. Not only her, but also her family received attentions from people all over the world. It is true John Hopkins Hospital should make up for all the emotional damages caused on Henrietta and her family, but have you thought how many other people are in the same position as Henrietta? And how much John Hopkins Hospital would have to give in order to comfort their families? If so, I don’t think it was worth it for John Hopkins Hospital to do research on cancer cell if they knew the amount they need to pay patients like Henrietta. So in my opinion, Henrietta and her family were treated very unequally, but they should know that Henrietta’s contribution and their sacrifice were actually worth it.
Word count:220