Blog Post #5 - Main Characters

Vincent Freeman lives his days yearning to be a valid; a living, breathing embodiment of flawlessness. Matteo Alacran is an exact replica of a young El Patron, a wealthy drug lord and dictator of Opium. One wishes to be a mesh of genetically modified perfection, whereas the other can only dream to be regular human being. Both live in completely opposite societies, but live under the crushing pressure to be somebody they cannot possibly truly be.

Gattaca and The House of the Scorpion have very similar themes, one of which is that it is possible to deny your fate, which makes me question whether or not pre-destiny or fate even exists. For example, Matt was destined to be El Patron's clone, to be used for the old man's organs and then die. Vincent was destined to live his life as an invalid, cleaning the windows and sweeping the floors at Gattaca. As you can clearly tell both Matt and Vincent's futures were changed from their own determination to survive and to live how they wanted to. Both character's actions have reflected this theme, and have pushed the question about the existance of pre-destiny. For example, Vincent's swimming competitions with his younger and genetically refined brother, Anton. Once Vincent won his first game, it seemed as though he was better than somebody who was a "valid." This simple win in a sibling rivalry game of chicken fueled the inspiration for Vincent to believe that he could be just as good, if not better than many of those who were genetically modified. Perhaps there would be a job for him inside the glass doors of Gattaca. Then there is Matt, who has been the "one possession El Patron let slip through his fingers" (Farmer 246) and has evaded death with the help of Tam Lin and Celia. Even though Matt's fate was being merely a clone ready for harvesting, he had escaped and has now taken the place of El Patron as leader of Opium.

Another theme that is in both Gattaca and The House of the Scorpion is standing against discrimination. The novel and movie portrayed this theme well by the social circumstances that were set up.  In both The House of the Scorpion and Gattaca there is somewhat of a disciminatory society. The story tellers in Gattaca use this society to help emphasize how different their world is to ours today. Using terms such as: "invalid" and "valid" in the film in order to emphasize the clear difference from the higher more supreme to the lesser and genetically inferior. In The House of the Scoprion clones are looked at as disgusting, many humans even avoid talking to clones because they are often mindless and it's almost embarrassing to associate with such a lowly group. Even though Matt has an undamaged (and even in some aspects, superior) brain many people still treat and see him as a mindless, slobbering idiot. This idea of immediate prejudice towards somebody for how they were born is incredibly evident in Rosa and Matt's relationship. "'[Matt's] a sullen, evil-tempered animal' [Rosa] said." (Farmer 43) However, as Tam Lin says, "'No one can tell the difference between a clone and a human. That's because there isn't any difference. The ida of clones being inferior is a filthy lie.'" (Farmer 245) Unlike in Gattaca, The House of the Scorpion views the genetically altered as an underclass, however the themes of discrimination still run strong between the movie and novel. Matt and Vincent both try to define "what is a human?"

Tintin - Blog Post #1

What are you wondering about?

• Throughout the novel, Matt is described as a filthy, useless clone. I have already inferred that The House of the Scorpion is set in the future; therefore, with futuristic technology clones can be conceived through a cow uterus. This form of birthing even in the future is unorthodox, and by being created in a glass dish is far more than enough to set up jeers from ruthless children. Clones are often expected to be idiots (or eejits) that are thought of as not housebroken, (much like a dog, per say) dribbling messes of puke and often not even considered humans. Due to the norms of society, clones are petrified to speak with fear of being belittled and have little to none interaction with the outside world, only because they are different. This brings about the questions: “what purpose do clones serve?” and “why are people so frightened and disgusted by Matt, even though he isn’t fixed?”
• María and Celia are thus far the only people who have shown any kindness towards Matt. Towards the end of chapter 5, the two visit Matt in his sawdust “kingdom” and bring words of salvation and hope. The question now is how will María and Celia save Matt? I can’t really see Celia, a lowly cook and caregiver defying any commands and intruding into the Alacrán Estate, however, I could certainly see María stepping up to the plate and attempting to free Matt. But will Matt even want to be saved? After Matt felt relieved once María and Celia had left, it seems as if he would never like to leave his orderly kingdom or abandon his insect empire. (Farmer 49)

Has anything struck you about this section?

• What stood out a great deal to me was how sheltered Matt’s life was; living in a house in the middle of a poppy field with appliances barricaded, which prevented any kind of accidents from happening to Matt. Clearly his existence and safety is incredibly important, which is also proven by the frequent doctor's visits while he is imprisoned in the Alacrán Estate. Matt's survival must greatly affect someone or something in the novel. We now know that Matt is a clone of El Patron, but the reason behind his existence is still unclear. Only being exposed to human beings aside from Celia must have been nothing less of both frightening and thrilling for Matt, considering he is threatened that if he were ever to leave his house the Chupacabra would eat him alive. 
• Rosa's strong distain towards Matt, and clones in general is unusual; I find it to be somewhat irrational and similar to that of racism. Though it shouldn't surprise me that discrimination in the novel is evident, what caught me off guard was Rosa's instantaneous hostility towards Matt, right after discovering that he was not a poor boy whose feet were bloody and covered in shards of glass, but instead a clone in that same situation. Had clones wronged her in the past? Matt hadn't done anything to Rosa, if anything at the beginning he was thankful for her being there and having a doctor remove the splinters of glass from his worn soles and disinfecting the deep, bloody gashes. He stayed quiet, but once "Property of Alacrán Estate" had been seen on Matt's foot, Rosa literally threw him out of the house. Perhaps she was worried of the consequences of having a clone belonging to somebody as powerful as El Patron with her, maybe she thought that  her superiors would have thought she had mutilated Matt's body?

Why is Farmer making the choices that she is in this first section?

• Farmer's choice to not allow the readers to know who El Patron is yet is very deliberate, which creates a very long cliffhanger. I constantly find myself wondering what purpose does Matt serve towards El Patron, is it important enough that Rosa hasn't killed Matt over it?
• Matt and Tom are foils to each other, completely opposite in all ways personality-wise. Tom is selfish and obnoxious, whereas Matt is compassionate and soft-spoken. Farmer made these decisions because Tom and Matt's contrasting personalities make readers highlight our protagonist, Matt's character.