Imagine if your mother died and her cells were stolen, as well as if you and your siblings grew up in an abusive environment. This is the story of Henrietta Lacks and her family. She was a black woman, who had cervical cancer growing in her cervix. During surgery to remove the cancer, they took a sample of the tumor in the cervix to have it examined in the laboratory. As scientists worked with Henrietta's cells, they discovered that they were immortal. At this point no one, including Henrietta, even knew the sample had been taken. Life continued for Henrietta and her family, but due to all the dramatic events that occurred, the family continued to suffer throughout their lives. Elsie, the eldest daughter, was sent to Crownsville, a hospital for the insane, because she suffered from epilepsy. Deborah, also known as Dale, and the rest of her siblings, were forced to live with their abusive aunt and uncle. She spent much of her life trying to get answers about her mother's cells. Her experiences were shown in the book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot, which also conveyed the idea of ​​how many different ways the Lacks family has suffered over the years. In the film, Henrietta's life was shown in short, vague flashbacks to show parts of her life and give viewers a better perspective of what she went through. The book portrays her life by describing Henrietta as if it were the present time. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Suffering can be shown in many different ways in the book and film. One way they were both the same was when Ethel abused the Lacks children. Ethel is related to Henrietta because she is the wife of Galen, Henrietta's brother. Ethel and Galen forced themselves into the Lacks family home after Henrietta's death. Deborah told us that “Sometimes he hit Joe for no reason while he was in bed or sitting at the table. He hit him with his fists, or with anything nearby: shoes, chairs, sticks. She made him stand on one foot in a dark corner of the basement, with his nose pressed against the wall and dirt filling his eyes. (Scolo 112). After their mother's death, the Lacks' children were affected in ways no one could have ever predicted would come. When Ethel went to live with the Lacks, she took out all her anger on the children. Since no one knew the children were being abused, Joe received most of the abuse. No one was able to be there to protect the children, which led to a life of anger, violence and homelessness due to Ethel's abuse. Although Ethel's abuse wasn't the only thing the Lacks kids suffered from. The book showed suffering in different ways than the film. While Henrietta was being treated with radium, she walked from her cousins' house to the hospital but once her illness worsened, she remained in the hospital and the doctors did not give her full treatment. Rebecca told us: “His doctors tried in vain to ease his suffering. “Demerol doesn't seem to relieve the pain,” wrote one, then tried morphine. "That doesn't help much either." He gave her Dromoran. “This stuff works,” he wrote. “But not for long.”” (Skloot 66). These notes from her doctor reflect not only Henrietta's level of pain, but also her desperate search for something that works. Morphine is a very powerful painkiller and it couldn't even ease Henritta's pain. We later find out from her autopsy that Henrietta's pain was caused by the invading tumors all over her body, causing the.