Henrietta Lacks Ethos

Those who face financial hardship deal with many obstacles in their life. Putting food on the table, paying bills, and receiving the basic necessities of life becomes difficult with little money. But other disadvantages not often thought of, such as one’s ability to make choices regarding their well-being, also negatively affect individuals and their families. In the 20th century scientific novel The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, Rebecca Skloot reveals through the rhetorical device of pathos how poverty leads to a lack of education that causes people to make poor decisions about their health. Poverty makes education nearly impossible, or at least difficult to have. In the life of Henrietta Lacks, she must overcome certain barriers created
by poverty, even from the time of childhood. School is especially difficult when the family needs help from all around in order to make ends meet. Henrietta did not finish school “like most young Lackses” and neither did her husband Day “because his family needed him to work the fields” (20). With a lack of basic education, knowing about your health and understanding complicated medical terms is nearly impossible. She did not know when she went to Johns Hopkins Medical Center how treatment would affect her body. She did not know about cancer or how much harm it would cause her. She especially did not know about how her treatment would alter her and her family’s life forever.