Matt vs Vincent; Fake Identities

Through reading the House of the Scorpion and watching the movie "Gattaca", i have found that both Matt and Vincent had different ways of faking their identity, but with the same goal which was ultimately to achieve a different identity where they would be more respected by other people. Matt needed to fake his identity for the purpose of not being mistreated where Vincent had to fake his identity so he wouldn't be looked at as a non healthy naturally born child. But the want that they both faked their identities were quite different.

First off, lets look into the reason why everyone disliked Matt. Matt wasn't naturally born but instead was a clone or a copy of a guy named El Patron. No one liked him because nobody thought that clones should be treated as real humans and that the were bad animals of any sort. When the time came, matt was forced to cross the border intone the United States in order to stay alive. But in order for the people across the border to believe that he was a real person, make had to tell them he was a real human and that his family and him were trying to cross the border but he was the only person who safely made it across. If people found out that he was a clone, they would try and help him survive but instead mis-treat him. Unlike Vincent (who we will get to in just bait), the only thing that was separating people form finding out that he was actually was a clone was the mark on his foot the read out, "Property of the Altran Estate." All Matt had to do to fake his real identity was to say and lie about his past life and how he lived. Although both Matt's and Vincent's story both took place in the future, i believe that Vincent's way of faking his identity was much more complex.

Vincent dreamed of being an astronaut and going up into space. But since he was a naturally born child with a heart disease, he wasn't allow dot be one. Naturally born child's were looked to as very unfit and not healthy people and for that reason, weren't allowed to participate in advanced tidies such as being an astronaut. So in order to be one, Vincent was able to find a clone that was allowed into the head quarters because his DNA and blood was in the security system. But this clone was in a wheel chair so he couldn't do anything any ways. So Vincent took blood from him and but a patch of it on his finger so that when he passed through the gates and put his finder on the scanner, it would pass as him being a clone, a healthy person. He also had to have pee samples fro the clone as well. As you can see, this process was much  more complex than matts.

Something that i found very similar between them was the urgency each one of them had to fake their identity. Take Vincent for example, if he did not fake his identity, he would have been stuck with being a janitor while matt would have been killed. But all in all, they both were able to pull of their fake identity for the most part, and were able to be the person that would allow them to be who they really wanted to be.

Matts journey; What is in store for Matt?

In Chapter 23, Matt realizes that it is too late. He finally finds out the menacing truce as to why clones were created, so that El patron and other people could use their body parts to survive longer. Luckily, Celia would stand up for him, giving El patron a little more than he bargained for. The argument between El patron and Celia escalated until El patron just couldn't withstand the pressure and finally, his heart gave way.  But what was to become of  Matt? Matt found himself being carried away by Tam Lin or as Tam Lin would say, "being disposed of"(Farmer, p 239, 2012). Matt was slung over the horse and quickly taken off, the ground flying underneath his head. But he soon found out that he was being taken to his much favourite spot, the lotus pond. Without any hesitation, Tam Lin sent Matt on his way with a map, food and a general idea of what he had to do. Before you know it, Matt was dashing over the mountains, climbing and hiking like no other had before, with power and agility until he reached the much expected farm patrol. Like a lion stalking his prey, Matt patiently waited until the right time to strike. Fortunately, all of a sudden, a commotion broke lose and a group of the farm patrol went chasing towards it. Matt then found himself printing for his life, the farm patrol not close behind. As luck would have it, Matt made it across the border, but he had no materials to spare. Soon he found himself being adopted into an orphanage by the keeper named Raul. The downside to this would be his new found duty to work. Within a couple days of working at the orphanage, Matt was sent off to San luis, or so he thought. Instead he was sent off to the plankton factory where trying to run away would get you nowhere in the scorching hot dessert.

But what is in store for Matt? So far it looks as if everything will be fine and matt will be able to find his way to Maria. But i think that Nancy Farmer has other plans. I think that in order to keep the reader more interested int he book, she is going to create a turn of events. Sure seeing the main character succeed is great, but it is much more fun to read if the character must go through many "obstacles" to reach his final destination. One thing that Nancy farmer has already done was to make it seem like there is no possible hope for Matt to get away from the plankton factory as it is in the middle of the dessert. What will Matt do to get to Maria? Will his carefully planned plans actually succeed, or will they go down in flames?

Celia vs Farm Patrol; Growing Boarder Patrol Issues

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gRBCZk_0Xg

Near the end of chapter 14, Celia tells Matt her story of how she became “owned” by El-patron. She talks of how she worked and a factory and how she dreamt of being taken to the United States of America. Like Celia, many people are despite to try and cross the border. The reason is because they are looking for a new life through finding a new job and to get away from how they were currently being treated. But there is one problem. The border patrol, just like the “farm patrol” in Celia’s story are hired to keep people fro illegally crossing the border. But many people ask, why is it so necessary that they keep them from crossing the border? Because it is so hard to cross the border, many people try to hire “coyotes,” which get paid to take people across the border.

As a result of illegal immigrants journeys cut short conflict has developed between border patrol and the other people in Mexico. As illustrated in the video above, conflict between these two have escalated to a new level where people in Mexico are now aiming to kill border patrol. Although no “farm patrol” is killed in Celia’s story, there is still an everlasting conflict between the two.

One thought that has occurred to me is the mere thought of why? Why are people so desperate to cross the border? Well, think of the life that Celia lived. She was boxed up in a factory for a lot of her life. She wasn’t allowed out of the building. Similar to Celia, many people aren’t able to find a good source of living. In Mexico, it is very hard to find a job as the economy is not as developed. I can relate Celia’s feelings to past experiences in Mexico as I have seen small towns that people live in. But do I think that all this conflict is worth killing somebody? The answer is no.

Overall Setting of "The House Of The Scorpions"

Compared to other novels, Nancy Farmer has illustrated the setting in quite a different way. Instead of telling us what the setting was, she illustrated the setting through different events through out the novel. In the 2nd chapter of the book, it explains a beautiful morning sunrise with bright blue skies and early morning sunlight. This description of the morning sky suggests that the time the novel is taking place in is around spring or summer. Another possible hint as to the season this novel is located in is the title of the second chapter, "The Little House In The Poppy Fields" also hinting us that it is around summer time. Near the beginning of the book, it does have a family tree stating that the many characters that are being brought up in the novel are from Mexico, suggesting that the place of which the book is taking place in is in and around Mexico. However, it doesn't state a certain time period that the book is taking place in but judging by the events that are happening in the first chapter of the book, you can take and educated guess that this book is taking place somewhere in the future as we do not have the technology to create clones yet. In chapter 8, it gives you can get a general feel of the setting through reading about the horseback ride and the secret pond the Tam Lin took Matt to go and see. However, Nancy farmer has not given a straight explanation of the the book and up until chapter 9, has given little hints about the setting through the action of characters and what the characters see. This could mean that the setting could be constantly changing and isn't always the same. I believe that the reason Nancy farmer is doing this is to keep and hold the readers interests. Instead of having the book in the same setting throughout, the setting continuously changes, thus captivating the readers interests.

Confliction's Between Characters

What I have found throughout the first part of the book or as Nancy Farmer explains it, Youth: 0 - 6, that there are numerous conflicts growing between certain characters in the novel. What I have noticed, beginning on page 23 is that many people consider clones something that is extremely inferior and poor. For example on page 24 of chapter 3, after the fierce man leaned over and whispered into Rosa's ear that Matt was a clone, Rosa immediately took Matt outside of the Estate and threw him out onto the grassy meadow. This event implies that there may have been a conflict between this man and clones themselves, specifically a conflict between the man and Matt. This could explain why many people think of clones as rabid and bad tempered animals. There are also may other events illustrating that people have a thing against clones such as the comment by Steven. "He is an animal." This is just one of the many indications throughout the book that clones have earned themselves a very bad reputation.


One of the more prominent conflicts in the first stage of the book is the one between Rosa, the caretaker and Matt, the clone. As stated before, as soon as Rosa heard that Matt was a clone, she got rid of him as soon as possible. When the fierce man found out Matt was property of the Alacran Estate, he told the doctor at once and it was the doctors responsibility to keep him up to health. So, he was taken in to a jail cell where he would be cared for until further notice. But soon, Rosa found out that she was responsible for feeding and cleaning the jail cell of which Matt would spend his time in. From there on out, the conflict began to arise. It first started off with Rosa, handing out rather nasty food to Matt, food that was barley even edible. Rosa also has a flirtatious relationship with the doctor Willum. Unfortunately, like all relationships, there are flaws and later on they began to fight. Because of this fight, Rosa redirected her anger at Matt, blaming him for everything that has happened between Willum and Rosa. Rosa told Matt hints like "if it wasn't for clones, i wouldn't be in this position, i wouldn't have to clean your stinky prison!"


I have been asking myself, is there a greater meaning to all of these conflicts? Or are they just common fights between characters? I think that something that the author is trying to inform us that there is a reason why many people hat clones so badly. Nancy Farmer is hinting to me and other readers that there was an event that was the catalyst for all of these conflicts between characters. Possibly, cones may have done something extremely bad. Maybe, the first clone that was made got out of hand and killed other innocent people. From the first five chapters of this book, we can't tell exactly what bad things clones have done to deserve being treated the way that they are, but we can assume that something greater happened with clones.

Overall, conflict-ions between characters in the first five chapters of the book has gave or almost left us with a bit of uncertainty as well as an educated guess at what might happen over the course of the rest of the book.