Upon reading the final section of the "immortal" life of Henrietta Lacks I found it to be both a happy ending, yet a slight let down for what was its ending messages. For one, Henrietta's oldest child Joe or Zackriyya as he wishes to be called finally shows some comforting kindness to of all people Skloot for her constant dedication get the right story to tell the world about his mother even going as far as thanking her for her work and the image of the illuminated cells he received from the cancer ward. But the real problem is with Deborah dying and Lacks town completely disappearing from existence which makes me sad for the ending of the book. It seems that in the smallest of ways the Lacks family finally found its closure about the issues of their mother's memory. But once all questions were finally answered and the smallest of payment was made for all the medical injustices it seems the memory faded away symbolizing that Henrietta can finally rest in peace knowing her legacy is secured and her family is whole again. To me this is not the ending I would want to spread to the world. The family never really got anything for all their pain and suffering for the memories they lost for not having a mother to care for them. However, it seems that closure is better then no ending at all I would assume. However, I still wish somethings could have been different about the ending of this book. What do you think? And if you were unsatisfied with the book's ending how might you end it, with a positive outlook or a note of future progress perhaps?
-William Webster
I also agree with your take on how it's not the ending I would try to pass on to younger generations. The story of Henrietta Lacks I believe will continue to stay around for the rest of the time the HeLa cells are being used. The Lacks family will continue to be stiffed in compensation and will once again become a backdrop in the history of the cells. Whether or not the family cares, the family is still an important part of the history of Henrietta. They make Henrietta a person while the medical world make her a completely different species. Henrietta should be honored more in science and in the town for being a huge contributor to today's population having seemingly good health and new vaccinations that are attributing to the health of the population. I would have ended the book with an outlook on the future instead of a timeline to the past. It gives an opportunity for the family to share their closure or disenchantment of the use of Henrietta's cells.
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