How we cite our quotes: (Page)
Quote #7
The Lacks children had to work from sunup to sundown; they weren't allowed to take breaks, and they got no food or water until nightfall, even when the summer heat burned. Ethel would watch them from the couch or a window, and if one of them stopped working before she told them to, she'd beat them all bloody. (112)
Henrietta's children are left at the mercy of Ethel, a cousin by marriage, who takes out her hatred for Henrietta on her children. It's this unchecked abuse that ultimately shapes Deborah's life and sets Zakariyya on a destructive and violent path.
Quote #8
Bobbette had told Deborah that maybe she and her siblings had hearing problems because their parents were first cousins. Deborah knew other cousins had children who were dwarves, or whose minds never developed. She wondered if that had something to do with what happened to Elsie. (116)
Although Deborah doesn't fully understand the science behind it, she's beginning to understand more about her family than she ever really wanted to know. Bobbette has to educate her on this basic facet of biology (first cousins have a higher likelihood of producing children with disabilities) so that she knows to resist the advances of her boy cousins.
Quote #9
Deborah and Zakariyya stared at the screen like they'd gone into a trance, mouths open, cheeks sagging. It was the closest they'd come to seeing their mother alive since they were babies. (265)
This tear-jerking moment in Christoph Lengauer's lab at Hopkins highlights the purpose of Deborah's quest: to find out about her mother and be closer to her. This moment also makes us stop and think about just how profoundly the loss of a mother can affect her young children, something that researchers never considered when they left the Lacks family out of the equation. Holding that vial meant a lot to Deborah.