Night Doctors: Myth or Reality?

“Night Doctors” Chapter 21 “Since at least the 1800s, black oral history has been filled with tales of “night doctors” who kidnapped black people for research.” (Page 165) The author of “The immortal life of Henrietta Lacks” Rebecca Skloot goes back and forth from Henrietta’s personal and scientific history within the book. In chapter 21 Rebecca finally meets most of Henrietta’s children and goes through a test to see if she’s worthy of their mothers information but, while discussing with the family they go into the myth of night doctors ones whom they believe also experimented on their mother. The author used this chapter to let you sympathize with the family so you are able to finally see things from their eyes and to show how much information they lacked of their mothers cells. The purpose of this chapter was to make you sympathize with the Lacks family. It shows how much knowledge the Lacks family had of their mother’s cells. “This is where we take scientists and reporters wanting to know about our mother. It’s where the family gangs up on them,” he said laughing.” (Page 159) The author uses a lot of direct statements between herself and the family which really lets you see how they felt, and it shows the families true feelings about doctors, cells, and reporters. It even goes into the history of Hopkins hospital and tales of the night doctors who kidnapped many black people to experiment on them against their will. This chapter makes you sympathize with the family giving you a different view other than the scientific view. In chapter 21 the author uses pathos, imagery and ethos. She used pathos by directly quoting the conversation she had with the family. She uses pathos the most because throughout the chapter she shows how the family feels by quoting them. She uses imagery by giving specific details about Lawrence’s house which creates a clear image as if you are with her. She also uses ethos by telling about specific studies, talking about John