There are many similarities between House of the Scorpion and real life illegal immigration. In the book Celia tried to immigrate to the U.S. from Aztlan, and was nearly turned into an eejit for being caught while crossing through Aztlan. Though the punishments aren’t as harsh in real life, there are still penalties for being an illegal immigrant. In most places if you are caught you are deported back to your country of origin, without much time for preparation for living arrangements. If you are an illegal immigrant you can’t really go to most colleges because they will need a social security number, which you won't have. Also, if you’re an illegal immigrant there can be trouble with finding a job that pays high enough to support your family. So why don’t people just wait to be accepted by the government? Mainly because the process takes so long, and there is the hope that while living in a certain country they can gain citizenship. Through some immigration systems there is little hope for potential immigrants with a lower level of education than others. Some are trying to escape poverty, and one way to do that is to immigrate to another country.
"It was poor then
and its even worse now. Nothing grew there except weeds, and they were so
bitter that they made even the donkeys throw up. Even the roaches hitchhiked to
the next town. That’s how bad it was." (Farmer 140)
This is what Celia said about the town she grew up in, and
that was one of the reasons why she tried to immigrate. Another similarity
between the book and real life is how illegal immigrants are treated badly, in
comparison to other people. When Celia was caught by the farm patrol they
treated her like dirt.
"I was taken to a room and my backpack was dumped out.
‘Be careful,’ I cried. ‘Don’t hurt the Virgin!’ That’s how she got the chip on
Her robe – when the Patrol dumped Her on the floor.
They laughed, and one of them was going to crush Her with
his foot when someone shouted ‘Stop!’ from the doorway.” (Farmer 142)
This quote shows that the Patrol didn’t really care about
her, and they proabbly wouldn’t have done that to someone else. There is also
the fact that the people they catch trying to cross Opium are turned into
eejits, which is considered a punishment. In the real world if it is found out
that someone is an illegal immigrant, or if they are suspected of being one,
they are normally paid less than other people doing the same job.
Right now there are people called “Coyotes” who will take
you across the border for a fee, like in House of the Scorpion. The only
problem is sometimes it turns out that they aren’t trustworthy, and they might
just lead you to the authorities. Some people take this risk though because the
idea of a better life is too tempting, especially to some people in poverty stricken
areas.
I really like your post here. You made some really good connections between the real world and Celia's story. I really enjoyed how you used the text in the book so much to support what you were saying about how both the book and the real world have punishments although they may be different. I kinda wish you would have found a real story of some one else who attempted to immigrate to Canada or the U.S. This would have made the post almost that much better because you could have compared the way Celia was treated to the way a real life illegal was treated. I like the last paragraph especially, "the idea of a better life is too tempting." That is a really good saying there because it really is the truth, but again having a real life story to compare that to would have been better. It was really good that you noticed that Celia really would do anything for a better life as I am sure many illegals would.
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