The Scorpion Project: Film Study

This is my eighth Scorpion Project post and my sixth and final literary theory post. Though there is no film adaptation of The House of the Scorpion, there is a film called Gattaca which bears similarities to The House of the Scorpion in some ways. For this post, I will be specifically comparing and contrasting the two protagonists.

The main character of The House of the Scorpion is Matt, who is a clone of the powerful drug Lord, Matteo Alacran (more commonly known as El Patron). The main character of the film Gattaca is Vincent, a natural-born (or invalid) who, with permission, assumes the identity of the "valid" Jerome. There are many connections to make between the two protagonists.

First of all, they are both different and an outcast in society. Vincent does not get the opportunities he would if he were conceived differently, and Matt doesn't either because he is restrained by the fact that others do not want to associate with him. Not only this, but both are automatically blamed for someone else's crime just because they are different. For example, Vincent being blamed for the mission director's death, and Matt for Furball's. I also noticed that, growing up, both are treated dramatically if something as small as a scratch occurs (Vincent because he has a shorter life span and Matt because of his organs for El Patron).

In a way, Vincent is like a clone of Jerome Morrow. This is because he has to act like him, look like him, be him all the time. Matt, being a clone of El Patron, sometimes acts like El Patron and looks like him. Both are still their own selves inside though, even if everyone and everything points to the conclusion that they are the same. Both struggle to find themselves and express themselves when their constantly pegged as someone they're not.

Spoiler! At the end of the movie, Jerome commits suicide. At the end of the novel, El Patron dies. This allows both protagonists to assume the identity of the person they have been imitating for a large portion of their lives. However, the protagonists can also be contrasted in the opposite way: by their differences. Vincent allows Jerome to kill himself without protesting or further discussion, while Matt is devastated at Tam Lin's choice to take his life. Another difference is the fact that Vincent is an adult, while Matt starts as just a child and grows into a teenager. I am guessing the difference in their reactions to their friends suicidal actions differ so greatly is a combination of two factors: age/maturity and their personalities. Spoilers over!

Thanks for reading! This is my last literary theory post on The Scorpion Project novel study I participated in. The book is very interesting and thought-provoking, and I encourage everyone to read it.

The Scorpion Project: Real World Connections

This is my fifth literary theory post and seventh post on the Scorpion Project.

The first connection that I think is really important is child labour. The reason I say this is because in the La Vida Nueva section of the novel, Matt is sent to work at a Plankton Factory after crossing the border into Aztlan. At the factory, they enforce punishment with violence (such as whipping) and don't allow the boys to take any breaks, but force them to work constantly. The food they are given is disgusting plankton. In real life, child labour does unfortunately occur in certain places, and young children are forced to do difficult tasks in exchange for pretty much nothing. The connection between child labour in real life and the conditions at the Plankton Factory is very clear.

Another connection that is evident in the novel is arranged marriages, which are also apparent in the world today. In this novel, there are three arranged marriages that have or were supposed to occur. These marriages are Benito and Fani, Steven and Emilia, and Tom and Maria. The marriages are supposed to help to forge ties and allegiances on a more personal level with members of high authority in other countries. This still happens today, and happened more in the past, such as Renaissance times. The reason for the marriages is the same in both the novel and real life as well.

The last connection I want to make is the reference to the coyote (person not an animal). A coyote is someone who illegally smuggles immigrants across the border. The term "coyote" is used specifically for anyone smuggling immigrants from Mexico into the United States. In the novel, Celia remarks that a coyote was navigating them to the border, but ended up abandoning them and leading them straight into a trap (Farmer 142). This part of her story shows that many parts of the novel are based on fact, and Nancy Farmer has made an effort to connect her future world to our world today. Click here to see an interesting article from USA Today featuring multiple perspectives, and here is another news article on the topic.

Thanks for reading! I'll be posting my final literary theory post later today.

The Scorpion Project: Narrative Structure

Wow... my third Scorpion Project post today. This is my fourth literary theory post and sixth individual blog post about this project. This post is on narrative structure.

The exposition stage of the novel lasted until roughly page 52, the beginning of the Middle Age (7-11) section. I think this because by then mostly all the characters and main settings have been introduced, aside from El Patron who we meet in the next chapter. I found this was too long of an exposition and I grew bored.

The rising action was very long-- Much longer than I felt it should be. I think it lasted from page 52 all the way until page 368, just before the last chapter. However, there were several drops as the line climbed. The first minor point of tension the last chapter before La Vida Nueva, The Farm Patrol. This was an intense section because Matt managed to escape from El Patron's grasp and out of Opium. But then, as we get into the La Vida Nueva section, things even out again before the big finale.

So if the rising action was so long, you can assume that the climax, falling action, and resolution all happened in a very short amount of time. I think the climax, or highest point of tension, would be on page 368 when Matt presses his hand to the monitor and they manage to get into Opium without getting shot to pieces. Spoiler alert. The falling action after that was until about page 379, where Matt figures out that everyone died and is angry at Tam Lin for leaving him though he could've saved himself. Spoiler alert over. 

The resolution was incredibly short, only one page! On the final page of the book, 380, Matt comes to terms with everything that happens and decides what he's going to do. And this happens in one page. One page. It was so weird! All of a sudden the book was over and I had no idea what just happened. I was about 5 pages from the end and was thinking, how is this going to wrap up in time? The problem is, it didn't. We were left with a short, less-exciting-than-it-should-be, rushed, superficial ending.

Thanks for reading! I only have one post left, so make sure to check for that tomorrow.

The Scorpion Project: Theme

This is my fifth individual post, discussing the theme in the novel.

Although there are several sub-themes prominent in the novel, there are many examples from the novel that point to one main, overarching theme. I think the theme is self-discovery and coming to terms with who you are without people telling you who you are or what you're supposed to be.

From the beginning, Matt is treated as an animal by everyone around him. Rosa's cruel punishment and constant taunting of calling him an "it" or "beast" largely affected the way he thought of himself. At one point, him and Tam Lin are speaking in the oasis and Tam Lin explains how many people hate Matt and are afraid of him because he's different. He also explains that Matt himself is like a photograph of El Patron at the same age as Matt is then (Farmer 80). These things all contributed to Matt's view of himself throughout the book.

"No one can tell the difference between a clone and a human. That's because there isn't any difference. The idea of clones being inferior is a filthy lie (Farmer 245)." This quote explains that though the book tells you to not let someone else change your opinion of yourself, trusted individuals can help you on your discovery to finding yourself. When El Patron dies, Matt finds out he is human (though still a clone), and proves he really isn't different than anyone else. This shows how he overcomes everyone's opinions and ultimately discovers who he is.

There are a few important sub-themes as well. One of them is your own worst enemy is yourself. This connects to the main theme because Matt often brings himself down and thinks of himself as an animal at the beginning of the book. He allows other's comments and ideas of him to bring him down. For example, after the horrible treatment by Rosa at the beginning of the book, Matt was traumatized and wouldn't speak or interact with humans for a fairly large portion of time. Another important sub-theme, again linked to the main theme, is the importance of friendship. I think this is important because there are several people, such as Tam Lin, Celia, Maria, and his friends from the Plankton Factory, that support Matt and are important to him. The novel showcases those strong ties of friendship and how they influence Matt's life and decisions.

Thanks for reading! Keep checking for more posts.

The Scorpion Project: Characterization

Hello! This is my fourth post on the Scorpion Project and second post talking about one of the six literary elements we will be exploring. As the title suggests, this post is on the characters.

At the beginning of the book, I didn't like Matt. This was because I couldn't relate to him, as he was 6 years old. I understood why he wouldn't talk to people after his imprisonment or didn't speak up, but that didn't make me like him anymore. To be honest, it just made me frustrated and annoyed with the repetition and the way the story was going. However, I actually found myself sympathizing with Matt and understanding him more as the story went on. It was a really obvious show of Matt growing up, which proved him as a dynamic character. Matt is obviously a round character as well, as we follow his life from the age of 6 to 14, and the protagonist as well.

The most surprising character to me in this book was Tam Lin. There was a lot of development surrounding his character, and some backstory that gave a bit of insight into his past. Though we don't know all the background surrounding some of his choices and actions, we do understand more about how these choices have affected him throughout his life.

I was disappointed with the lack of character development about Tom and Felicia. We understand that they both hate Matt, probably because of the fact he is El Patron's clone, who did some horrible things to Felicia in the past. However, I would've liked to see more insight into Tom's story about his family life, and how Felicia changed from before she was constantly on drugs or alcohol. I feel like their only purpose in the story was to show how much hate people show for El Patron and Matt.

I loved Maria because, though sometimes a little bratty when she was little, she was a fun character to read about. Her explosive moods and bubbly personality made her more vivid in my mind. Maria is a round character because we understand many things about her through Matt's narrative, as they have a close relationship. Though still the same bubbly, full of life girl she was at the beginning, Maria is slightly dynamic as well because her views on Matt not having a soul change throughout the novel.

I think in the majority of the novel, society (and the people in it) is the antagonist because this is the reason he feels like he doesn't belong. A sub-antagonist of this novel is El Patron because he is the one who deceived Matt and wants his organs.

Thanks for reading! I'll be posting my theme post very soon today.

The Scorpion Project: Setting

This is my first post covering one of the six literary topics I will be exploring while reading the House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer. Check out this post to learn about The Scorpion Project novel study, this post about my thoughts, or check out this link for all the info.

The book takes place on the border of the United States and the country Aztlán, formerly called Mexico (Farmer 57) I was extremely curious as to why Mexico was renamed Aztlán, and what that might mean. I later looked up what Aztlán meant, and I found out that Aztlán was supposedly  the "place of origin" of the Aztec people, which was very interesting. I am curious to find out if this will later play a role in the story. It also mentioned that the area Matt lives in on the border of the USA and Aztlán is called Opium (Farmer 168). 

Scene-specific settings include the little house in the opium fields where Matt and Celia lived for his childhood (more specifically Celia's room with the Virgin of Gaudalope statue, Farmer 28). The Big House is also a main setting, as well as the oasis, and later in the novel, the passageways Matt discovers. These are very important because without them, Maria and Matt would often not be able to escape, hide, or discover some of the things they did (i.e. Felicia killed Furball), which is why Farmer included them.

There are multiple clues that indicate the time period is the future. First, Mexico was changed to Aztlán. Also, the technology to clone humans was developed, as we find out in the first chapter of the novel, and the technology to keep humans alive for past the old age of today (i.e. El Patron). It says specifically in the book as well that El Patron does not like having modern technology kept out to preserve the old-fashioned appearance of the house, which indicates it's not in the past. If you pay attention to the genres and tags, you find it is a dystopia book, which means it's a flawed, futuristic society.

I found out Farmer was born in Phoenix, Arizona. Therefore, I think she chose to write about the area she did because it was familiar to her, and the book would feel more authentic with a representation of a different language and ethnicity (Spanish). My best guess as to why she created the little country of Opium is to put emphasis on how important the opium business is in their society. I think the purpose of the oasis is to reflect the relationship Tam Lin and Matt have, because it is Tam Lin who shows Matt to their "special" spot. 

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this post. There will be more to come exploring five other elements. :)

The Scorpion Project #2: Thoughts so Far

Now that I've read the first section (Youth: 0-6) and a little bit of the second section, I am able to make my first individual post about my thoughts on the novel. If you'd like to read a synopsis of the novel so you understand what I'm talking about, please follow this link.

The first thing I would like to talk about is the opium fields we learn about in Chapter 8. Tam Lin explains how the workers are slashing open pods to release the opium. My initial reaction was that the opium was a drug. The workers in the poppy fields, harvesting opium, could be working for El Patron. The reason why I thought this is because it is described in the Cast of Characters that El Patron is a "powerful drug lord". Now we can prove that part of the purpose of the Cast of Characters is to foreshadow events (I have a feeling the opium will play a strong role in the rest of the story) and also to provide information so we get a sense of the intentions of the characters. I think that El Patron is most likely the one who is running the opium operation, which leads me to a new question. Was his clone (Matt) created to run the fields when El Patron dies?

After making these inferences, I double-checked the definition of "opium" in the dictionary. A reddish-brown heavy-scented addictive drug prepared from the juice of the opium poppy, used as a narcotic and in medicine as an analgesic. This definition caused me to wonder why they were harvesting the opium and for what purpose was it to be used for. Do they use it, as the definition suggests, as an analgesic? Or is there a darker purpose for the drug?

Finally, I made some inferences about El Patron's character from this information and other chapters. In Chapter 6, we finally meet El Patron, and Matt is immediately drawn to him. This makes me interested in the relationship El Patron and Matt will develop. Furthermore, on page 70, Tam Lin compares El Patron to a tree; as in he made a choice to grow one way until his large, green leaves shadowed the entire forest and his branches became twisted. I found this very interesting. El Patron obviously has a dark side, and my guess is that he is ruthless when it comes to gaining power or scientific discovery. PAGE 82 SPOILER ALERT. This theory was tested when we found out that eejits are actually people with chips in their brains that cannot do anything without command. If El Patron is running this operation, than he obviously doesn't care if someone dies because they went without water from not hearing a command. SPOILER ALERT OVER. 

Thanks for reading my thoughts so far regarding the Scorpion Project! Have a great day! :)

The Scorpion Project #1: New Focus

Hey everyone!

As you can tell from the title of this post, my blog will be switching gears a little bit over the next 4-5 weeks. I am going to be participating in a novel study! The novel is going to be The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer, a dystopia story I've heard very good things about. It sounds like a really interesting, thought-provoking book so I am very excited to get reading! You also might notice that some of the blogs I follow are also participating in this novel study, so feel free to check out their blogs. You can also follow my blogs and theirs if you're interested.

I will be posting 6 blog posts, most likely, as contribution to The Scorpion Project. These posts will probably occur once a week, so make sure to keep checking back for them (or, as said above, follow- it's a super simple way to keep up with new posts). However, all this being said, I'll still be posting my normal posts; Top Ten Tuesday, Weekly Updates, Three Monthly TBR Book Reviews, and maybe a few other special posts (cover to covers, pictures, etc).

I have one setback about this whole thing though, and that is that I have a reading schedule. I like reading at my own pace, not a pace already set for me. There are times where I want to read more or less than is required. Usually more, and I end up getting a little frustrated when I have to wait. After all, I usually read a book in under a week, so over a month seems like a very long span. That being said, I'll be reading lot's of other books during the time I am reading The House of the Scorpion, so I should be okay. Plus, it's good to try something new.

Hope you like my new focus and keep checking for the weekly posts!

*Click here to see the group blog and our first round table. :)