Psychological Disorders: The Secrets Of The Lacks Family

Skloot successfully demonstrates “show, don’t tell” in various ways in the book. For the character, Henrietta Lacks, she wrote that Henrietta would go to the dance floors and “‘. . . two-step across that floor, jiggle to some blues . . . and shake and turn around . . .’” (Skloot Ch. 5). Through the words from Sadie, it shows that Henrietta has a playful side to her where she secretly goes out to have fun while Day is away at work. Henrietta also, has a caring side to her. On the night before her death, she said to Gladys: “‘Don’t let anything bad happen to them children when I’m gone’” (Skloot Ch. 11). Even when she was on her death bed, Henrietta was concerned over her children just like how any mother would be. Skloot stated that “After I promised I wouldn’t copy all the records, Deborah said she was going to bed again, but for the next several hours, she knocked on my door every fifteen or twenty minutes” (Skloot Ch. 34). Throughout the story, Skloot has shown numerous times when Deborah was paranoid or anxious. She would be skeptical at times and start questioning Skloot’s motives. Due to this, she would occasionally develop hives or her blood sugar and blood pressure would go up–sometimes resulting in a

Henrietta was an African American woman who grew up in Clover, Virginia and was raised by her grandfather, Tommy Lacks because her mother died after giving birth to her 10th child. Henrietta worked with her cousin in the family’s tobacco farm, went to school until 6th grade, and had her first child with Day Lacks (her cousin) at the age of 14, and they got married when she was 20 years old and he was 25. After giving birth to her 5th child, Deborah, Henrietta goes

In the novel The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot the author, provides multiple instances of the diseases that Lack, and her family suffer from. Skloot's first evidence of disease is the recognition of Henrietta's sexually transmitted diseases such as gonorrhea and syphilis, which were induced by her husband sleeping around with other women (Skloot, 2010, Pg.16). Additionally, and of the most importance, Henrietta also suffered from cervical cancer which ultimately lead to her death and the discovery of HeLa Cells. In addition to her own diseases, Henrietta also had a Daughter named Elsie who suffered from epilepsy, Mental deficiencies, and neurosyphilis. Elsie's Neurosyphilis was caused by Henrietta's lack of care towards continuing

3. Also in Chapter 6 - How well do you think the Lacks family understood what had been done with Henrietta’s

To Begin, Hennie came from a family of ten, they originally lived in Roanoke, Virginia in the 1920’s. In 1924 Hennie’s mother died while giving birth to her tenth child. Johnny Lacks, Henrietta’s father was now responsible for all ten children. But because of his health and little patience for the children they then moved to Clover, Virginia where the rest of the family lived and divided the children up between all family members. Henrietta ended up growing up and living with her grandfather, Tommy Lacks. She also grew up with her

Out of the numerous recurring themes throughout the book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, two themes stood out to me. Those themes showed that there are several characters that are searching for answers or struggling to come to terms with their emotions. Two characters have a particularly difficult time with one of these two themes. The first being Deborah Lacks, the daughter of Henrietta Lacks, she is searching for answers pertaining to her mentally challenged and deceased aunt, Elsie. Deborah starts her quest at the mental hospital where Elsie was living at “Nineteen fifty-five was the year they killed her..I want them records..I know it wasn’t good..why else would they get rid of them?” (Skloot 269). Deborah is obviously upset by

Thus, Henrietta’s cells revolutionized the medical field, and helped scientists gain exponential amounts of new knowledge. However, her family would not learn about Henrietta’s cells until more than twenty years after her death. Her family has lived in poverty their whole lives, while scientists have made millions of dollars off of research, using the cells taken from Henrietta. Over time, the Lacks family has become weary of white scientists and reporters inquiring about Henrietta and her cells, and they are angry about the way they have been treated. When Rebecca was finally able to talk with the Lacks family, she had difficulty gaining their trust.

He proposed they contact the Lacks children to request samples from them so they could compare their DNA to the HeLa cells. When asked if informed consent had been given, McKusick replied, “I suspect there was no effort to explain anything in great detail. But I don’t believe anyone would have told them we were testing for cancer because that wasn’t the case” (183). Nevertheless, this is what the Lacks believed for years, causing Deborah to panic as she had long feared developing the same cancer that had killed her

Rebecca Skloot develop the characters through the actions of each person instead of directly stating them. This style of her writing allow the readers to fully experience the book and pull them into the story. She develops Henrietta in this form. “After her visit to Hopkins, Henrietta went about life as usual, cleaning, and cooking for Day, their children, and their many cousins who stopped by."(Skloot p.27). The text does not specifically state that Henrietta was a strong woman, but the readers can easily understand that she was mentally and physically capable of doing the housework even after her visit to the hospital. Another example of one of many characters that exemplifies “show don’t tell” is Deborah the daughter of Henrietta. “I can’t get mad at science, because it help people live, and I’d be a mess without it. I’m a walking drugstore” (Skloot p.256). Deborah has all the rights to be mad at her situation but because her mother’s cells saved many lives, she chooses to forgive. This kind of Deborah’s attitude towards this issues shows how beautiful she is as a person. Skloots professional ways of using show don’t tell pulls readers into the book and shows the story alongside the characters.

The family feared what they believed were "night doctors who abducted black people for medical research"(Skloot). Because there was still discrimination then, they feared the worst. In my opinion the Lacks family was angry with the scientists using HeLa cells from Henrietta without the family's consent. I think they wanted everyone to know that Henrietta didn't donate her cells, they were taken without asking and without telling the family what was going to happen to them.

Tamika comes to a psychology clinic with complaints of poor concentration. As she was talking with the psychologist, she spoke very rapidly and it was difficult to follow her train of thought. Tamika reported that she felt invincible and had not slept for three days since she had been very busy with various tasks. She also reported that in the past, she had frequently experienced periods of time that she felt “down”.

A Beautiful Mind illustrates many of the topics relating to psychological disorders. The main character of the film, John Nash, is a brilliant mathematician who suffers from symptoms of Schizophrenia. His symptoms include paranoid delusions, grandiosity, and disturbed perceptions. The disease disrupts his social relationships, his studies, and his work. The more stressful his life becomes the more his mind is not able to distinguish between reality and fantasy.

Deborah learns from Lawrence about Elsie, her other sister who institutionalized. She does not know much about Elsie or her own mother, Henrietta, thus showing how very little is communicated among members of the Lacks’ family. Skloot visits with one of Henrietta’s cousins, Cliff, in order to learn more about her. She visits where Henrietta was buried and the house she grew up in. Skloot narrates the story of Henrietta’s great-great-grandmother, Mourning, and her husband George.

This colorful and vibrant woman impacts the world through the contribution of her cells to science as well as by the kindness beheld within her heart for her family, a kindness that permits the emergence of a story untold before, of the woman responsible for the way of the world. Henrietta, although a woman of many treasures, withholds vital information of her daughter Elsie, so as to protect her and the rest of her family. This, the news of her cancer, and other such secrets define Henrietta, yet have no waiver on the view of her family of her. Famous to her family, and cherished by all who know her, Henrietta made an impact greater than her cells, though secrets kept from the sharing of this impact with the family. “...she raised the vial and touched it to her lips. “You’re famous,” she whispered, “Just nobody knows it” (263). As Deborah holds onto the cells, she holds onto the long dreamt memory of her mother, and onto the secret of her identity, the identity that the family knows; this identity connects to the unique human side of her mother, the one for which includes secrets, treasures, anguish, and

There are times when people are plagued with thoughts, behaviors or emotions that will inhibit them from normal behavior. These are known as psychological disorders. These disorders come in many forms but all will have large effects on a person’s life.