What the Eyes Don’t See Major and Minor Quotes

“We have the power to fix things . . . [to] work together to create a . . . safer world.” (Prologue)

—Mona Hanna-Attisha

Analysis: Hanna-Attisha tells of her own childhood illness and how she was helped by doctors, then grew up to become one herself. Throughout the book, Hanna-Attisha treats her education and her knowledge as almost a superpower, starting with this quotation. Not everyone can do what she does. Not everyone is fortunate enough to have her intelligence but also her opportunities. So Hanna-Attisha sees herself almost like Spider-Man, who was told, “With great power comes great responsibility,” though Voltaire said something similar first, in French. Hanna-Attisha is a Christian, and the Bible also says, “For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.” Throughout the book, Hanna-Attisha believes she is duty-bound to help the children of Flint, because she knows what is happening to them and she has the ability to do so.

This quotation also speaks to the idea of working together. Although Hanna-Attisha does have great education and knowledge, she doesn’t do it all by herself. She has people helping her, from Batanzo, who starts her on the journey, to Marc Edwards, who advises her on what to do, to Jenny LaChance, who helps her with the data, and many others.

“The eyes don’t see what the mind doesn’t know.” (Chapter 1)

—Dr. Ashok Sarniak

Analysis: Hanna-Attisha attributes this quote to a doctor from her residency, who was paraphrasing English author D. H. Lawrence. He meant that, if someone isn’t familiar with a diagnosis, they won’t be likely to notice it. That’s why it’s important for doctors to learn about many different conditions so that they will consider not only the most obvious possible diagnosis but also unusual ones.

This quotation comes up several times in the text, concerning the lead in the water in Flint. Obviously, lead is invisible. When people complain about brown, disgusting, smelly water, that isn’t because of lead. Indeed, when Hanna-Attisha fills the baby bottle with water for her presentation, the water looksfine. But there is an unseen toxin lurking. On many occasions, people in government ignore the possibility of there being lead in the water, affecting the children, because they are only concerned with lead paint. They don’t even realize (or say they don’t realize) that lead in the water can be bad. Their eyes don’t see the harm of lead.

“What about [the] scientists[?] . . . They were supposed to make sure our water was safe.” (Chapter 3)

—Mona Hanna-Attisha

Analysis: Hanna-Attisha says she isn’t naive. After all, her parents are from Iraq, and they told her about the horrors that occurred there, even showing her photographs of murdered children. But here, she shows herself to be a little naive in her absolute faith in the United States government. She knows it is better than the Iraqi government, so she thinks it could never be corrupt or even cheap and lazy. That doesn’t turn out to be the case.

In an earlier scene, a mother, Grace, asked Hanna-Attisha if the water was safe, and Hanna-Attisha assured her it was. After all, she knew that the scientists were testing it and assumed they would never lie. So here, she is disillusioned when she discovers that her faith was misplaced. The scientists are charged with saving money, and so they might be testing in such a way as to get the results they want. This is unimaginable to someone like Hanna-Attisha, but it turns out that some people want to collect a paycheck and not cause trouble.

“Being a pediatrician . . . means being an advocate for your patients.” (Chapter 5)

—Mona Hanna-Attisha

Analysis: In this chapter, Hanna-Attisha is floored to realize that people in Flint had complained about the water. Many had actual symptoms, such as rashes or failure to grow. Some even had their water tested. Yet the government ignored them. Hanna-Attisha believes this is because these are often poor, Black people who don’t have democratically elected representation. Moreover, they aren’t people who can easily afford to take legal action against the government if it turns out they’ve been harmed by the water. In many cases, they might not even find out about it until years later, when their children were having problems, and then they might just think their child had a disability.

As a pediatrician, Hanna-Attisha feels a sense of duty to be an advocate, almost like a lawyer, for her patients, who are too young to advocate for themselves. Even their parents, who are often stressed-out young mothers, don’t really know what to do, much less have the ability to take on the government. Hanna-Attisha, because of her family background, has been raised to be an advocate. It is a role she relishes, which makes her the perfect person to fight this battle.

“The greatest forces working against the city were racism and corporate greed.” (Chapter 9)

—Mona Hanna-Attisha

Analysis: Hanna-Attisha gives a history of Flint, from the time before cars were manufactured. GM came there, hoping to get workers who would work for cheap but fighting when workers unionized to try to get fair wages and hours. Many Black people also moved to Flint, hoping for better jobs and a better life. White people responded by banning them from certain neighborhoods and by leaving. GM, which had had an amusement park there, AutoWorld, pulled out of Flint, further sinking the people of Flint into poverty.

The corporate greed came from GM, which used Flint and spit it out, not caring about the people who lived there once they were no longer needed to manufacture cars or work in its theme park. The racism came from many angles. Black people who try to better themselves have been threatened and even chased out. And now, the population is down, and the people don’t even have a democratically elected government. The mayor they elected has no power. Rather, the governor sends in an emergency manager to balance the books, even if it means hurting people with bad water. Still, Hanna-Attisha says, the people of Flint are tenacious. They’re survivors.

“The EPA and states work hand in hand to bury problems.” (Chapter 13)

—Marc Edwards

Analysis: In this chapter, Hanna-Attisha meets Marc Edwards for the first time. She has heard from Batanzo about his reputation for being difficult, sort of a maverick, but she likes him and is glad, if surprised, that they are on the same side. Edwards, on the other hand, thinks Hanna-Attisha is being overly optimistic if she expects the government to accept her research and just listen to her and change things. Edwards knows better. If Edwards had any kind of illusions that the EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, was a white knight that would swoop in and fix things once alerted to a problem, he is definitely over it at this point. He has a deep distrust of the government.

Hanna-Attisha sees him as bitter and angry, but he has reason to be. He was right in DC, and he is treated as a kook. Now, he is having to travel the country, doing research on his own, because the government is ignoring the job they are supposed to be doing. More than that, Edwards believes they are actively campaigning to bury the problems so there will be less work. This is being done at the expense of children’s lives. The Environmental Protection Agency isn’t protecting anyone but themselves.

“Don’t worry. Mona’s strong. Hadeeda.” (Chapter 15)

—Mark Hanna

Analysis: Throughout the book, Hanna-Attisha has described how tired and worn out and worried she is, even to the point of physical symptoms, like weight loss. However, she has attempted to hide these problems from her parents, especially her mother, to keep them from worrying. Now, at a family gathering, her mother asks why Hanna-Attisha must put herself out on a limb like this. Her brother replies that Hanna-Attisha is “hadeeda,” like steel.

His reassurance is very meaningful to Hanna-Attisha because of her family’s history of activism. There is Grandfather Haji, who helped his workers, even to the point of running up against the priests; her parents, who had to leave Iraq because of disputes with the government; and even her distant cousin, Paul Shekwana, who helped out during the typhoid outbreak, running afoul of people there. Now, Hanna-Attisha joins this proud history. She had been worried about potentially bringing shame on her family, either because she might do something wrong or because she might be perceived as doing so. But through this quote, she knows they are behind her. This is also important because Hanna-Attisha has a strong sense of duty toward her young patients. Therefore, she would likely continue to do what she’s doing even if her mother disapproved. Knowing her family supports her is comforting.

“You called me unfortunate . . . You said I was irresponsible.” (Chapter 22)

—Mona Hanna-Attisha

Analysis: Throughout the story, Hanna-Attisha has been calm and businesslike, the consummate professional. Meanwhile, the government has ridiculed and discredited her, accusing her of “splice and dicing” her research and calling her research “unfortunate.” For someone as intelligent as Hanna-Attisha, with a master’s degree in addition to her medical degree, this is extremely upsetting. It is even more upsetting because she is fighting for children’s health and is being accused of making something up as if it’s for her own benefit. She states they are purposely trying to discredit her research and smear her.

But, finally, they have to admit she’s right and they’re wrong. Brad Wurfel apologizes to her, but he has bullied her to a degree that she feels like she can’t calmly accept it. Thus, she confronts him. She simply can’t believe that anyone would want to hurt children, as Wurfel and others involved have. They have been the irresponsible ones from the beginning.

“This [is] an incredible example of our power and credibility as physicians.” (Chapter 23)

—Mona Hanna-Attisha

Analysis: After it is all over, Hanna-Attisha writes a memo to her residents. She also includes a quotation from Margaret Mead: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” These two quotations, taken together, speak to the idea of community and, indeed, responsibility. Throughout the book, people have questioned Hanna-Attisha’s expertise and that of her team. They’ve questioned their scientific research. The government has worked to discredit them, to make themselves look better. Now, they are vindicated and can say that they worked on this vitally important project that saved many lives and helped many other people, likely more people than they’d ever have seen individually in their careers.

“There really are two Americas . . . the America I . . . [grew] up in and the other America.” (Chapter 26)

—Mona Hanna-Attisha

Analysis: When the book began, Hanna-Attisha portrayed herself as an optimist. Although her family is from Iraq and experienced racism and microaggressions, she also led a life of relative privilege. She was always smart, always had the opportunity to access her education, and always had enough money. Although her mother’s foreign degrees were considered worthless in the United States, she was soon able to get further education and get a job. She could access the American dream that so many immigrants want when they come to this country.

For some people, though, the American dream is harder to access. Hanna-Attisha argues that African Americans are often treated as though their lives don’t matter as much as white lives matter. This comes to a head in a huge way in this book, as the government literally allows the water they drink to be poisoned and then argues against scientists who point it out. Hanna-Attisha is saying that what happened in Flint wouldn’t happen someplace else, in the America Hanna-Attisha grew up in.