The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot – Book …

Discussion Guides

1. On page xiii, Rebecca Skloot states This is a work of nonfiction. No names have been changed, no characters invented, no events fabricated. Consider the process Skloot went through to verify dialogue, recreate scenes, and establish facts. Imagine trying to re-create scenes such as when Henrietta discovered her tumor (page 15). What does Skloot say on pages xiiixiv and in the notes section (page 346) about how she did this?

2. One of Henriettas relatives said to Skloot, If you pretty up how people spoke and change the things they said, thats dishonest (page xiii). Throughout, Skloot is true to the dialect in which people spoke to her: the Lackses speak in a heavy Southern accent, and Lengauer and Hsu speak as non-native English speakers. What impact did the decision to maintain speech authenticity have on the story?

3. As much as this book is about Henrietta Lacks, it is also about Deborah learning of the mother she barely knew, while also finding out the truth about her sister, Elsie. Imagine discovering similar information about one of your family members. How would you react? What questions would you ask?

4. In a review for the New York Times, Dwight Garner writes, Ms. Skloot is a memorable character herself. She never intrudes on the narrative, but she takes us along with her on her reporting. How would the story have been different if she had not been a part of it? What do you think would have happened to scenes like the faith healing on page 289? Are there other scenes you can think of where her presence made a difference? Why do you think she decided to include herself in the story?

5. Deborah shares her mothers medical records with Skloot, but is adamant that she not copy everything. On page 284 Deborah says, Everybody in the world got her cells, only thing we got of our mother is just them records and her Bible. Discuss the deeper meaning behind this sentence. Think not only of her words, but also of the physical reaction she was having to delving into her mothers and sisters medical histories. If you were in Deborahs situation, how would you react to someone wanting to look into your mothers medical records?

6. This is a story with many layers. Though its not told chronologically, it is divided into three sections. Discuss the significance of the titles given to each part: Life, Death, and Immortality. How would the story have been different if it were told chronologically?

7. As a journalist, Skloot is careful to present the encounter between the Lacks family and the world of medicine without taking sides. Since readers bring their own experiences and opinions to the text, some may feel she took the scientists side, while others may feel she took the familys side. What are your feelings about this? Does your opinion fall on one side or the other, or somewhere in the middle, and why?

8. Henrietta signed a consent form that said, I hereby give consent to the staff of The Johns Hopkins Hospital to perform any operative procedures and under any anaesthetic either local or general that they may deem necessary in the proper surgical care and treatment of: ________ (page 31). Based on this statement, do you believe TeLinde and Gey had the right to obtain a sample from her cervix to use in their research? What information would they have had to give her for Henrietta to give informed consent? Do you think Henrietta would have given explicit consent to have a tissue sample used in medical research if she had been given all the information? Do you always thoroughly read consent forms before signing them?

9. In 1976, when Mike Rogerss Rolling Stone article was printed, many viewed it as a story about race (see page 197 for reference). How do you think public interpretation might have been different if the piece had been published at the time of Henriettas death in 1951? How is this different from the way her story is being interpreted today? How do you think Henriettas experiences with the medical system would have been different had she been a white woman? What about Elsies fate?

Link:
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot - Book ...