“Eduardo moved his dishes, one after the other, under the lens of the microscope. The cells were perfect - or so it seemed. Each was furnished with all it needed to grow. So much knowledge was hidden in that tiny world!” - (Farmer 2).
This is the first segment in the book, it identifies that the novel is about clones. Since it is about clones it is evident that it takes place in the future and not in present time.
“He’d looked out the window where fields of white poppies stretched all the way to the shadowy hills. The whiteness hurt his eyes, and so he turned from them with relief to the cool darkness inside.” - (6).
The first real setting in the book that Farmer introduces is the little shack in the poppy fields. This is where, as the story explains, Matt and Celia live. We know that Matt is a clone because at the beginning of the book it says, “Don’t fix that one, said Lisa, hastily catching his arm. It’s Matteo Alacran. They’re always left intact.” (4). Since he is a clone we can infer that Celia is definitely not his mother, but it isn’t explained on why she is taking care of him. Since they live in a little shack all alone Farmer makes it clear that people hate clones. Matt has lived in this little house for 6 years and has never stepped foot outside. Celia advises him never, ever to look out the window and if he hears voices to hide. One day, everything changes. Matt is a curious six year old and hears the voices outside. He wanted to get to know the voices, so he jumps through the glass window. It is obvious why Farmer chose to outline the beginning of the book with this; it’s intriguing, begins to show the depth of Matt, and shows how much people hate clones.
“They started up a flight of wide, marble steps that shone softly in darkening air. On either side were orange trees, and all at once lamps went on among the leaves. Lights outlined the white walls of a vast house above, with pillars and statues and doorways going who knew where. In the center of an arch was the carved outline of a scorpion.” - (21).
Now, the next setting that we are introduced to is the Big House, or the Alacran Estate. Steven, a 13 year old, carries Matt all the way here from the poppy fields. This means that the Big House must be near by Matt’s house. Also, Celia has to go to work everyday but it doesn’t not say she drives, or flys so we can assume that she walks everyday to the Alacran Estate, or the Big House. Right now all we know is that Celia works here, and that three children are taking Matt to the Estate because of his injuries. They are caring and passionate in keeping Matt safe, until they find out. The doctor and the Alacran family learns that Matt is not a human, but a disgusting clone. They immediately throw him out of the house, but then are requested to bring him to take care of his medical attention.
“The room was dark except for a faint, eyllow light filtering through the bars of the window. Matt carned his head up to see where it was coming from. He saw a bulb haning on a wire from the ceiling. It was as small as the lights Celia used to decorate the Christmas tree, but it shone valiantly and softened what would otherwise have been complete darkness. He could see nothing else except the bed and the bucket. The walls were bare, ceiling high and shadowy. The narrowness of the room made Matt feel as though he were locked in a box.” - (29).
The last setting Farmer introduces us to is the little room. After the Alacran’s learn that Matt is in fact a clone, they make him stay in a tiny room. Rosa, his “care taker” (more like torturer) insists that he sleeps alone with no bathroom, no proper bed. They treat him as he is a animal.
“He sprawled over the pillows and pretended to feed the stuffed dog, the teddy bear, the rabbit. For a while this was fun, but then a hollow feeling began to grow inside Matt. These weren’t real animals. He could talk to them all he liked. They couldn’t understand. In some way he couldn’t put into words, they weren’t even there.” - (8).
Matt was used to living alone. Being stuck in the little room showed us how Matt dealt with the situations he was given. He did not know why people hated him, so there was nothing he could do. Since he was so used to being constantly alone; Matt was extremely curious and more aware of his surroundings. He would sit hours on end just listening to what is happening around him. When Rosa fills his “pen” with chicken feed, Matt begins to develop a rash but also finds bugs. He is so fascinated by the tiny creatures and how they work. He watches them grow and develop.
Lastly, Farmer had introduced the setting to be somewhere between United States and what was Mexico. In a country titled: Opium. The opium flower is a seemingly harmless flower which has tremendous amounts of power. I believe that the “poppy fields” Farmer introduced in the beginning were actually Opium fields. Now I believe this because: “I didn’t think anyone was allowed to live in the opium field.” - (9). As Maria stated in the beginning when the first spot Matt’s shack. As the story continues we learn at El Patron’s birthday that this country is ran by drug lords. They traffic and harvest Opium using Eejit’s as there slaves. Farmer shows us the dangers of addiction and obsession. If the world continues in the pace we are in, we will not live. Since the country is ran by drug lords, El Patron is obviously at the top. He is an extremely rich man who made money off of planting and harvesting Opium. This explains why Matt, at the beginning of the story, is taken to the Alacran Estate which, is a huge mansion. Mr. Alacran is obviously a drug lord also. Now because of all this we can assume that everyone that lives in the country of Opium either work for drug lords, or they are the one people are working for.
- Ashish
This is the first segment in the book, it identifies that the novel is about clones. Since it is about clones it is evident that it takes place in the future and not in present time.
“He’d looked out the window where fields of white poppies stretched all the way to the shadowy hills. The whiteness hurt his eyes, and so he turned from them with relief to the cool darkness inside.” - (6).
The first real setting in the book that Farmer introduces is the little shack in the poppy fields. This is where, as the story explains, Matt and Celia live. We know that Matt is a clone because at the beginning of the book it says, “Don’t fix that one, said Lisa, hastily catching his arm. It’s Matteo Alacran. They’re always left intact.” (4). Since he is a clone we can infer that Celia is definitely not his mother, but it isn’t explained on why she is taking care of him. Since they live in a little shack all alone Farmer makes it clear that people hate clones. Matt has lived in this little house for 6 years and has never stepped foot outside. Celia advises him never, ever to look out the window and if he hears voices to hide. One day, everything changes. Matt is a curious six year old and hears the voices outside. He wanted to get to know the voices, so he jumps through the glass window. It is obvious why Farmer chose to outline the beginning of the book with this; it’s intriguing, begins to show the depth of Matt, and shows how much people hate clones.
“They started up a flight of wide, marble steps that shone softly in darkening air. On either side were orange trees, and all at once lamps went on among the leaves. Lights outlined the white walls of a vast house above, with pillars and statues and doorways going who knew where. In the center of an arch was the carved outline of a scorpion.” - (21).
Now, the next setting that we are introduced to is the Big House, or the Alacran Estate. Steven, a 13 year old, carries Matt all the way here from the poppy fields. This means that the Big House must be near by Matt’s house. Also, Celia has to go to work everyday but it doesn’t not say she drives, or flys so we can assume that she walks everyday to the Alacran Estate, or the Big House. Right now all we know is that Celia works here, and that three children are taking Matt to the Estate because of his injuries. They are caring and passionate in keeping Matt safe, until they find out. The doctor and the Alacran family learns that Matt is not a human, but a disgusting clone. They immediately throw him out of the house, but then are requested to bring him to take care of his medical attention.
“The room was dark except for a faint, eyllow light filtering through the bars of the window. Matt carned his head up to see where it was coming from. He saw a bulb haning on a wire from the ceiling. It was as small as the lights Celia used to decorate the Christmas tree, but it shone valiantly and softened what would otherwise have been complete darkness. He could see nothing else except the bed and the bucket. The walls were bare, ceiling high and shadowy. The narrowness of the room made Matt feel as though he were locked in a box.” - (29).
The last setting Farmer introduces us to is the little room. After the Alacran’s learn that Matt is in fact a clone, they make him stay in a tiny room. Rosa, his “care taker” (more like torturer) insists that he sleeps alone with no bathroom, no proper bed. They treat him as he is a animal.
“He sprawled over the pillows and pretended to feed the stuffed dog, the teddy bear, the rabbit. For a while this was fun, but then a hollow feeling began to grow inside Matt. These weren’t real animals. He could talk to them all he liked. They couldn’t understand. In some way he couldn’t put into words, they weren’t even there.” - (8).
Matt was used to living alone. Being stuck in the little room showed us how Matt dealt with the situations he was given. He did not know why people hated him, so there was nothing he could do. Since he was so used to being constantly alone; Matt was extremely curious and more aware of his surroundings. He would sit hours on end just listening to what is happening around him. When Rosa fills his “pen” with chicken feed, Matt begins to develop a rash but also finds bugs. He is so fascinated by the tiny creatures and how they work. He watches them grow and develop.
Lastly, Farmer had introduced the setting to be somewhere between United States and what was Mexico. In a country titled: Opium. The opium flower is a seemingly harmless flower which has tremendous amounts of power. I believe that the “poppy fields” Farmer introduced in the beginning were actually Opium fields. Now I believe this because: “I didn’t think anyone was allowed to live in the opium field.” - (9). As Maria stated in the beginning when the first spot Matt’s shack. As the story continues we learn at El Patron’s birthday that this country is ran by drug lords. They traffic and harvest Opium using Eejit’s as there slaves. Farmer shows us the dangers of addiction and obsession. If the world continues in the pace we are in, we will not live. Since the country is ran by drug lords, El Patron is obviously at the top. He is an extremely rich man who made money off of planting and harvesting Opium. This explains why Matt, at the beginning of the story, is taken to the Alacran Estate which, is a huge mansion. Mr. Alacran is obviously a drug lord also. Now because of all this we can assume that everyone that lives in the country of Opium either work for drug lords, or they are the one people are working for.
- Ashish
I really like your description on the setting and your ability to turn the direct quotes from various segments of the book and translate it to identifying the setting. In my opinion, the setting is one of the most important segments to understand as it basically sets the foundation of your visualizations, etc. At the very start, as with your group, my group saw that it is placed in the future because the development of clones is not present. You used the direct quotes from the book great, and made it seem that this world was very much real and could relate. If I had one piece of advice, I would try to see where these settings relate to the real world, as if you do that we would have more of a vivid picture of understanding the setting. For example, I related the wide poppy fields, to the fields in India in villages there, recognizing the greenery. You also at the ending segments went a bit off topic talking about the real dangers and obsession of addiction, as well as the whole drug process.
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