What the Eyes Don’t See Summary and Analysis

Summary: Prologue–Chapter 2

Mona Hanna-Attisha is the daughter of Iraqi immigrants, Talia and Mufak Hanna. Shortly after her older brother was born, the family left to escape the war and the government. When they moved to Sheffield, England, the people there couldn’t pronounce her brother’s name, Muaked, so the family called him Mark. Hanna-Attisha’s grandfather, Haji, chose her name when she was born in England because he thought both English and Arabic speakers could pronounce it.

The family moved to the United States shortly after Hanna-Attisha’s birth. Hanna-Attisha had a “mark,” a capillary hemangioma, on her forehead. It was the size of a golf ball. It went away on its own and now is only visible if you know where it is. Hanna-Attisha’s childhood had many Iraqi traditions, and she spoke Arabic, but she began to speak English more. She remembers learning to play konkan (also called conquian), which she describes as an Iraqi game but which is played in many cultures.

Shortly after the family moved to Royal Oak, Michigan, the family was in a bad car accident, crossing the Mackinac Bridge. Hanna-Attisha, who suffered a spinal cord injury and a broken jaw, was taken to the hospital in Traverse City. There, a woman in a white coat with dark hair, the doctor, told her she’d be okay, and Hanna-Attisha felt better. Notably, Hanna-Attisha later became the doctor in the white coat. More than 35 years later, Hanna-Attisha tells a Brown girl a similar message: the girl “was mixed up in an accident. A lot of kids were . . . [It] wasn’t [their] fault.” Hanna-Attisha is here to help such kids.

Hanna-Attisha explains that this is the story of the Flint water crisis, which she describes as “the most important . . . environmental and public health disaster of . . . [the] century.” She says there are villains but it is also a story of hope. “We have the power to fix things . . . [to] work together to create a . . . safer world.” Flint is a healing neighborhood.

In Chapter 1, Hanna-Attisha has seen news stories about bad water in Flint, but she doesn’t worry. She is examining a baby, Nakala, who is there with her older sister, Reeva. Their mother, Grace, plans to end breastfeeding, but she is worried that the water to mix the formula with is bad. Hanna-Attisha assures her it is fine.

Hanna-Attisha always wanted to be a doctor but was also interested in environmental science. She has the drive to make children feel better and quotes Frederick Douglass, who said, “It’s easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.” A lot of problems that can’t be fixed start in childhood.

In 2011, Hanna-Attisha became director of the pediatric residency program at Hurley Medical Center, a teaching hospital where most of the Flint children are treated. The hospital had a low budget and was at risk of losing accreditation. When she was doing her residency, she did a rotation called Community Pediatrics, designed to open young doctors’ eyes to environmental and community factors that affect children’s health. A doctor in her residency, Dr. Ashok Sarnaik (b. 1946), paraphrased D. H. Lawrence (1885–1930): “The eyes don’t see what the mind doesn’t know.” He meant that, if someone isn’t familiar with something, such as a diagnosis, they won’t be likely to notice it. That’s why it’s important to learn different things.

Many health problems in Flint stem from poverty, Hanna-Attisha explains. A child born in Flint will live 15 years less than a child born in a nearby suburb. Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), such as poverty and food insecurity, can be detrimental to children’s health. But kids don’t come to the doctor for those things, Hanna-Attisha notes. Science can help doctors mitigate the effects of adversity. However, they should know of the factors that put their patients at risk     .

Hanna-Attisha makes sure her students know the effects of racial injustice in medical care, such as the Tuskegee syphilis experiment as well as the story of Henrietta Lacks. The Tuskegee syphilis experiment was a 1932 government study of the natural history of syphilis, a sexually transmitted disease. Black men numbering 600 were recruited for the study; 399 of them had syphilis. Patient consent was not obtained, and the infected men were not treated with penicillin. Henrietta Lacks was a Black female cancer patient who died in 1951 at age 31 of cervical cancer. When her cancer cells were retrieved during a biopsy, they were found to double each day whereas most cancer cells die soon after harvest. These immortal cells, now known as HeLa cells, have been used to study the effects of various treatments of cancer. Yet neither Lacks nor her family ever gave permission for this use of her cells, and the family never received compensation. Hanna-Attisha hopes her medical students will still believe that there is hope for Flint’s children.

In 2009, Dayne Walling was elected mayor of Flint. He was from Flint. However, the governor, Rick Snyder, declared that Flint was in a “state of financial emergency” and appointed an unelected emergency manager (EM) to fix their finances. This strategy was enacted in many poor, Black cities. One of the budget cuts imposed by this EM was to change the source of Flint’s tap water, which used to come from Lake Huron, to come from the polluted Flint River. Hanna-Attisha assumed the water was being tested. But people complained about the disgusting water. Officials added chlorine and other chemicals to try to improve the water. Hanna-Attisha didn’t know much about water, except what she learned from her friend, Elin Batanzo, who was their high school’s valedictorian and went on to attend Carnegie Mellon. Batanzo works for the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Ground and Drinking Water.

In Chapter 2, Hanna-Attisha and her husband have a barbecue. Her children have just been to their first day of camp and are complaining about not going on summer vacation. The guests are Hanna-Attisha’s school friends, Annie and Batanzo, who were in her wedding. Hanna-Attisha recalls how Annie was singing “Ave Maria” when Hanna-Attisha accidentally set the altar on fire while lighting a candle. Batanzo worked for the EPA in Washington, DC, when they had a crisis involving lead in the water. After they eat, they talk about the Flint water. Hanna-Attisha asks Batanzo if the water is fine, meaning in compliance. Batanzo says, “No . . . It’s really not.”

Analysis: Chapters Prologue–2

This section introduces the paraphrased D. H. Lawrence quote, “The eyes don’t see what the mind doesn’t know.” The author will revisit this quotation numerous times in the book, in relation to whether people see the bad water in Flint or the effects of lead poisoning. It means that, if someone isn’t looking for something, they might not notice it. The author explains in later chapters that many people aren’t looking for lead poisoning in children from the water. More common causes of lead poisoning in other places include eating lead paint chips. Similarly, most people expect the water to be safe, particularly when government agencies keep testing the water. Even Hanna-Attisha herself, who had an environmental science background, assumed the water was safe. Her eyes didn’t see it.

The story of Hanna-Attisha’s hemangioma is symbolic in the story. It marred her face when she was a baby, but now that she is older, it is only visible if someone knows where it is. Therefore, it falls in the category of something that the eyes don’t see. The author introduces this symbol early on to show the importance of looking and noticing, for fear of missing something.

Hanna-Attisha’s grandfather, Haji, doesn’t appear in the story in real time. However, his influence as the patriarch of her family is felt throughout. He is the one who gave Hanna-Attisha her name, showing that, even though he was in Iraq at the time, he understood the importance of being assimilated into their new country. Haji is an important figure in the story because he understands the power of community and standing up for those who have less power. This is shown in the stories told about him, some of which make him seem larger than life. Hanna-Attisha’s brother has followed in Haji’s footsteps by becoming a lawyer who specializes in public interest law, helping those who can’t help themselves. Now, Hanna-Attisha will also be called upon to stand up for the voiceless, her young patients.