Curiosity as defined by Webster, is "a strong desire to know or learn something." The concept of achieving the good life relies entirely upon this inquisitive value, without it, the basic question of how one attains the good life does not exist. Curiosity can be seen in The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and Siddhartha through two separate and unique depictions, both of which prove its essentialness in attaining the good life. In the first work, Rebecca Skloot critically examines curiosity through her description of George Gey, but still values it's importance, and in the latter work, Herman Hesse embraces curiosity's importance through Siddhartha's journey towards enlightenment.
Rebecca Skloot was initially intrigued by HeLa cells in her high school biology class. She sat as her professor, Donald Defler, briefly introduced HeLa cells, but failed to answer any of Skloot's follow up questions. This inspired the journalist to journey towards discovering where, why, and how these cells originated. Eventually, she made contact with Henrietta's family where she unearthed the story of the cells' first encounter. Skloot relays these happenings, as well as many more in her story The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks; a story that deals heavily with the pros and cons of curiosity. Negative aspects are exposed early on, as Skloot's strong relationship with Henrietta's family, particularly with her daughter Deborah, seems to have built up much resentment towards George Gey, the surgeon who, without consent, removed Mrs. Lack's cells. "Pounding in the back of their heads was a gnawing feeling that science and the press had taken advantage of them," this anger was due in short to the fact that they were on the wrong side of curiosity, the side being prodded, probed, and persecuted (Skloot Prologue). .
Are there really sides to curiosity? This question must have bogged Skloot's brain as she dug deeper into Henrietta's story, until eventually she was able to see the bigger picture and answer: no.
