How we cite our quotes: (Page)
Quote #7
Finally the cells popped into view for Deborah. And through that microscope, for that moment, all she could see was an ocean of her mother's cells, stained an ethereal fluorescent green. (266)
Deborah and her brother Zakariyya are struggling to understand the biology of their mother's cells and how they've been helping in scientific research. But the thing that really touches them is this near religious experience of seeing their mother's cells alive in Christoph Lengauer's lab. For them, HeLa cells seem to embody their mother's spirit, as though she'd been brought back to life in those living, dividing cells.
Quote #8
"LORD, I KNOW you sent Miss Rebecca to help LIFT THE BURDEN of them CELLS!" He thrust his arms toward me, hands pointed at either side of my head. "GIVE THEM TO HER!" he yelled. "LET HER CARRY THEM." (293)
Deborah has just learned that her sister Elsie died a lonely and horrible death at Crownsville, and she just can't handle it. The revelations that she and Skloot have been uncovering about her mother's life and death have been too overwhelming, so cousin Gary comforts her through prayer. Skloot finds herself implicated in this "divine cure" and is not so sure she can handle the psychological burden of making things right for the Lackses. But Deborah feels much better after this soul cleansing.
Quote #9
When Christoph projected Henrietta's cells on the monitor in his lab a few days earlier, Deborah said, "They're beautiful." She was right. Beautiful and otherworldly—glowing green and moving like water, calm and ethereal, looking precisely like heavenly bodies might look. They could even float through the air. (295)
Cousin Gary has just shown Skloot passages in the bible that explain why the Lacks family thinks that HeLa cells really ARE their mother come back to life. Deborah's encouraged in this belief by having seen the beautiful cells dancing across Lengauer's screen at Hopkins. Although not scientific at all, this belief gives Deborah and Zakariyya the most comfort: that their mother had been chosen by God to return to earth to help humankind.