Jennifer Individual post 5

House of the Scorpion and Gattaca are both stories that have any similarities, and a few differences. The biggest similarity I can see is in both situations is that there is discrimination against people who are not conceived in the “normal” way. In Vincent’s world being genetically modified before you are born is the normal, and the people who aren’t are treated worse then everyone else. In House of the Scorpion clones are considered to be little better than animals because they’re just a copy of someone. In both situations the protagonist faces adversary from the society around them, even though both of them are fairly smart, and can accomplish many things. There are certain ideals that have been engrained in society, and trying to break those can be very difficult. This is probably why Matt and Vincent have to go to such extreme lengths to fulfill their goals.

Both Vincent and Matt are both copies of someone else, Matt is genetically a copy, and Vincent is impersonating someone else. The difference between them though is that Matt is unhappy being a clone, but it was Vincent’s choice to become a look-a-like of Jerome. This doesn't necessarily mean that the characters are different though, because later Matt doesn't tell anyone he is a clone, so it's like he's trying to blend in, like Vincent.

One way that the stories differentiate is that near the end of House of the Scorpion Matt’s clone status is revoked because El Patron is dead. That means he will have fewer people discriminating against him. Vincent on the other hand still has to deal with the discrimination, because nobody except his brother and Irene. Even if he did tell someone they might believe it was just a fluke, and then take his job away.

Another difference that was prominent in between the two stories was the age difference. Gattaca took place over a week, while house of the scorpion takes place over quite a few years. Vincent would be approximately 30, while Matt was 14 at the very end. This means that Vincent had more options than Matt to achieve his goal, partly because he had more experience and partly because he would be considered an adult. Evidence of this is that when Vincent ran away from home he was able to get a job and get paid for it, though when Matt did that he was taken to an orphanage where he was treated horribly.

Though Vincent had a family and Matt didn't, it seems that Matt had more support. All throughout Vincent's life his family was telling him we wouldn't be able to do anything notable because he wasn't genetically modified. Matt on the other hand had Celia and Tam Lin to encourage him as he went through life, and that probably helped him get out of Opium and survive in the real world.