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Henrietta Lacks Thesis

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In the story of The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot the death of the Henrietta was the reason for her familys reoccurring struggles. Henrietta was the homemaker, the one who took care of everyone and she was the one keeping the family together. Right before Henrietta dies she tells her sister Gladys “You make sure Day takes care of them children” ”Especially my baby girl Deborah”. (Page 85-86) Henrietta’s death resulted in neglect, physical and sexual abuse, and the rest of her children suffering their adult lives.
The neglect was depicted by the death of Elsie. Gladys tells Day “Henrietta gonna die tonight “ “She wants you to take care of them kids – I told her I’d let you know. Don’t let nuthin happen to them.” (Page 86) Right after Henrietta dies Elsie dies in the …show more content…
Ethel was especially hard on Joe. She would beat him for no reason, hit him with her fists, or she would just use anything that was close to her at the time. Sometimes she would make him stand in a dark basement corner on one foot, nose pressed to the wall or tie him up with rope and leave him there for hours or sometimes over night. (Page 224) Joe grew up very mean and angry because they Ethel treated him. He joined the army but was discharged because he wasn’t able to adapt to the setting there. So Joe moved back home and got into a fight with a man and ended up killing him. After he moved back to clover to hide but he couldn’t adapt there either he kept on getting into fights with everyone, so he eventually moved back to Baltimore where he turned himself in to do his time. Joe stayed in prison for seven out of fifteen years and in that time he began to change for the better; he changed his name to Zakariyya and even changed his religion. In addition to the physical abuse Deborah endured sexual

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