Sara -Blog Entry #5

The House of the Scorpion and Gattaca are both similar in many ways, including the main characters, Matt and Vincent. Although physically they look very different they are both in the same type of situation. Matt lives on a farm in a country called Opium, between the U.S and what is currently Mexico. He lives in a society that discriminates him for being a clone and treats him like an animal rather than a person. “That’s disgusting. Clone’s aren’t people,” cried Emilia. (Farmer 26) The setting in Gattaca is almost opposite in way, Vincent who is naturally born is discriminated for not being genetically enhanced. After reading The House of the Scorpion and watching Gattaca, we can determine that both plots are set in the future. I find it interesting how both futuristic societies discriminate based on genetics when currently our world focuses on gender, race, and religion. Furthermore, the characters of Matt and Vincent are similar because they are both facing prejudice solely based on how they we’re born. For Matt, he just wants to be treated the same as everyone else, like a human being. On the other hand, Vincent’s dream is to travel to space but can’t due to his genetic make-up.

I believe that Matt and Vincent’s personality are the same; they’ll do anything to succeed. As I mentioned earlier, Matt wants to be treated like a normal boy and Vincent wants to fly to space. Matt believes that if he learns as much as he can, people will treat him differently and see that he isn’t an eejit. This is accomplished by learning many instruments, studying science, and more. Vincent fulfills his goal by Jerome, impersonating an athletic man fit for space. Moreover, both characters can be considered as clones in different aspects. Matt is genetically a copy of El Patrón, whereas Vincent is impersonating Jerome.

Interactions between characters are similar for Matt and Vincent. In general, society regards them as useless and unequal to humans. Specifically, Maria is one of the few that loves Matt for who he is. She protects and stands up for him even though almost everyone else in Opium thinks he’s a beast. Gattaca relates to this because Jerome goes to extremes to help Vincent achieve his goal even though it’s illegal. At a glance, you wouldn’t think that Matt and Vincent have anything in common such as age difference and physical appearance. Yet when you get deeper into each story, they have quite a few similarities.