Chapter 68: HeLa Summary and Analysis
⚠️ Spoiler Warning: This guide contains detailed spoilers for the entire novel. Proceed only if you've finished reading or are comfortable knowing the plot.
Summary
Chapter 68 is a poem titled HeLa. The entire text of the poem consists of the single word "HeLa." There are no additional lines, stanzas, or narrative context provided within the chapter itself. The poem's extreme brevity forces the reader to focus entirely on the word and its associations. The title "HeLa" is repeated as the body of the poem, creating an echo or incantation effect. Because the chapter contains only this word, the meaning must be inferred from the cultural and historical weight of the term.
Key Events
- The chapter presents the word "HeLa" as both title and poem.
- No narrative or chronological events occur within the chapter; the entire content is the single word.
Character Development
Since the chapter contains no dialogue, description, or narrative, no character development is evident. The poem does not introduce or advance any named character. The implied presence may be the reader's own response to the word "HeLa."
Themes, Symbols, or Motifs
- HeLa as a Symbol: The word "HeLa" is historically inseparable from the immortal cell line taken from Henrietta Lacks, a Black woman, without her consent. In the context of Black Girl, Call Home, the poem likely invokes themes of medical exploitation, the theft of Black women's bodies, and the tension between erasure and immortality. The single word acts as a compressed reference to a vast ethical and historical debate.
- Minimalism and Weight: The choice to use only one word suggests that the name itself carries enough meaning to stand alone. The repetition of "HeLa" (title and text) creates a circular, meditative quality, perhaps mirroring the endless replication of the cells.
- Legacy and Memory: The poem implicitly questions what is remembered and what is forgotten. Henrietta Lacks' cells live on, but her individual story was long obscured. The word "HeLa" thus becomes a site of both recognition and critique.
Why This Chapter Matters
Chapter 68 is one of the shortest in the collection, yet it carries substantial emotional and intellectual force. Its minimalism demonstrates Jasmine Mans' ability to trust the reader's knowledge and the power of a single reference. The poem serves as a pivot point in the book, likely reminding readers of the systemic violence embedded in American medical history, especially toward Black women. By giving the word "HeLa" its own chapter, Mans elevates a name that has often been reduced to a lab tool, restoring its gravity. This chapter invites readers to pause and reflect on the broader themes of bodily autonomy, scientific progress, and racial injustice that run through the collection.
Study Questions and Answers
1. Why do you think the poet chose to make the entire poem just the word "HeLa"? This choice forces the reader to engage with the word's full historical and emotional weight without any framing. It trusts that the reader will bring their own knowledge of Henrietta Lacks and her cells to the text. The repetition of the word (title and body) emphasizes its importance and may mimic the immortal, replicating nature of the cells themselves.
2. How does the single word "HeLa" connect to larger themes in Black Girl, Call Home? While we cannot speak for every chapter, the book as a whole explores Black womanhood, family, trauma, and identity. "HeLa" can be read as a symbol of how Black women's bodies have been used and exploited in American history. The poem's minimalism underscores the silence and invisibility that often surround such exploitation, while the word itself refuses to let the story be forgotten.
3. What tone does the poem convey, and how does the format contribute to that tone? The tone is stark, solemn, and perhaps accusatory. There is no narrative or lyrical softening—just the name. The absence of any other language creates a feeling of weight and inevitability. The reader is left alone with the word, much like the silence that has historically surrounded Henrietta Lacks' story.