“The truth is we don’t know what we don’t know. We don’t even know the questions we need to ask in order to find out, but when we learn one tiny little thing, a dim light comes on in a dark hallway, and suddenly a new question appears.”
Gifty brings forth the existential questions that both science and religion have attempted to answer since their conception. She had a tough childhood that involved an absent father, a mentally unstable mother, and a drug addict brother. Therefore, Gifty has had to give herself as the caretaker of their dysfunctional family. In her childhood, she molded her reality around religious teachings while in her adult years she embraces science. Throughout her life, she has attempted to answer the questions that arise from her difficult experiences. For instance, the problem of mental health could not be easily explained by religion, thereby, she relies on scientific experiments to solve them. In the statement, she affirms the basis of any way of thinking since the truth is not known until it is known. Essentially, in both religion and science, a new question arises in a perpetual cycle with every truth found.
“The thing is we don’t need to change our brains at all. Time does so much of the emptying for us. Live long enough and you’ll forget almost everything you thought you’d always remember.”
The plot focuses on the sources of trauma in our lives that materialize and influence our behaviors and faculties in the future. Through her experiments with mice, Gifty tries to answer some brain mechanisms behind addiction, control, and depression. In a foreign nation, the family goes through the immigrant experience and racism that affect their overall human experience. Gifty considers the possibility of one’s brain sieving certain information to give allowance for more important questions. She observes that time has a way of erasing some things we learn throughout our lifetime. While that might be true, it highlights the tendency Gifty has of assuming the traumas in her life. Every traumatic experience she endures forces her to avoid intimacy and friendship without her noticing it.
“We read the Bible how we want to read it. It doesn’t change, but we do.”
The narrative delves into the concept of religiosity by exploring the different identities within the religious community. For instance, Gifty’s family joins a white evangelical church which differs from black churches in their sermons. As she grows up, Gifty strives to create her own identity away from the faith that her parent imposed on her. In the quote, she emphasizes the human condition of conveniently positioning their beliefs alongside their current state of mind.
