House of the Scorpion takes place in a country called Opium, with Mexico and America at its borders. Farmer portrays the story as a country controlled by drug lords. Opium is harvested manually in the massive opium fields by eejits, or humans with computer chips installed into the brains. Little did the people know, El Patron has been keeping the country of Opium 100 years behind. It became obvious why El Patron (or Farmer) had created the idea of eejits. It was because of the workload. It would impossible for people to work for that many hours a day in an opium field without using an machinery. So instead of introducing the people to machinery and technology, El Patron created eejits.
But why would El Patron freeze the country in time? Well, to make himself feel younger. El Patron had a horrible childhood. He told Matt countless times how his sisters died before they could even see over the windowsill (223). El Patron believed he had to live out the lives his brothers and sisters never got to live, so he cheats death. By using organ “donations” from clones he is able to continue to live. In the end, El Patron never loved Matt. He grew him just as he did with all his clones, happy. He wanted Matt to have a childhood he never had, and then he would harvest his organs for himself. Something that everyone that read the book missed was an apparent clue right under our noses. “Don’t fix that one,” said Lisa, hastily catching his arm. It’s Matteo Alacran. They’re always left intact,” (4). They’re always left intact. “They’re” as in, there are more than one. Nobody realized but that is why Chapter 10 was titled, A Cat with Nine Lives. Matt was the ninth clone, El Patron’s ninth life. To continue, El Patron froze the country so that he would feel younger. He was 148 and he did not need any reminders of how old he was. Since he controlled the country of Opium, he was able to make sure there was no real progress or developments. No one discovered anything or ever left the country except to go to school or business. At the beginning of the book, my thoughts were that the way that Farmer chose to show the future in Opium was so different from what the “stereotypical future.” Where there are hovercrafts, advanced weaponry and pollution. It turns out, it really was a stereotypical future. The world did have hovercrafts, advanced weaponry and crazy pollution. It is just that Farmer had made the setting so drastically different as you continue on into the novel.
On the subject of the future, is there really going to be clones and hovercrafts? Well, lets think about it practically. The idea of having a clone, or just clones in general, is possible. As we see with Dolly. Dolly was a sheep who is the first mammal to be cloned from an adult somatic cell. So clones are possible, but can you imagine the things we could do with clones? The movie the Island actually is just like House of the Scorpion. On the island, clones are raised and created organically. They are extremely healthy and fit individuals. They are awarded the prize of being selected and taken to the Island, but once you go to the Island you never come back. The truth about the Island is that it is actually the real world. The people being raised in these facilities do not know they are actually clones of people at the Island (or the real world). People, are able to buy clones in order to receive new kidneys, heart transplants, etc. It is just like how House of the Scorpion works because these clones that are being created are just like the originals. Imagine if in the real world today, we had the same thing. Were you could buy a clone in order to receive an organ donation. This would completely eliminate the need for organ donors! But then there is the cost. The cost of creating a new living being, and then destroying it. Not only would it be extremely costly money wise, but also emotionally. Humans have a conscience. A conscience that will be filled with guilt knowing that they brought someone into the world, only to be destroyed for their own personal gain. It is almost like abortions, but older. Next, we have hovercrafts. At the rate that we are going I do not see hovercrafts in the future. Creating hovercrafts are not on one of our top priorities list. The top priority for vehicles is how to make them more efficient because of our depleting resources rather than flying in the air.
In summary, the future is unpredictable. In the 90s, we thought the world would end in 2000. Now, in 2012 some believe the world will in end in December 21st. We cannot tell what the future holds, so we must focus on the problems in the present. Rising wait lines for organs and increasing pollution are real issues, not Hovercrafts.
- Ashish
But why would El Patron freeze the country in time? Well, to make himself feel younger. El Patron had a horrible childhood. He told Matt countless times how his sisters died before they could even see over the windowsill (223). El Patron believed he had to live out the lives his brothers and sisters never got to live, so he cheats death. By using organ “donations” from clones he is able to continue to live. In the end, El Patron never loved Matt. He grew him just as he did with all his clones, happy. He wanted Matt to have a childhood he never had, and then he would harvest his organs for himself. Something that everyone that read the book missed was an apparent clue right under our noses. “Don’t fix that one,” said Lisa, hastily catching his arm. It’s Matteo Alacran. They’re always left intact,” (4). They’re always left intact. “They’re” as in, there are more than one. Nobody realized but that is why Chapter 10 was titled, A Cat with Nine Lives. Matt was the ninth clone, El Patron’s ninth life. To continue, El Patron froze the country so that he would feel younger. He was 148 and he did not need any reminders of how old he was. Since he controlled the country of Opium, he was able to make sure there was no real progress or developments. No one discovered anything or ever left the country except to go to school or business. At the beginning of the book, my thoughts were that the way that Farmer chose to show the future in Opium was so different from what the “stereotypical future.” Where there are hovercrafts, advanced weaponry and pollution. It turns out, it really was a stereotypical future. The world did have hovercrafts, advanced weaponry and crazy pollution. It is just that Farmer had made the setting so drastically different as you continue on into the novel.
On the subject of the future, is there really going to be clones and hovercrafts? Well, lets think about it practically. The idea of having a clone, or just clones in general, is possible. As we see with Dolly. Dolly was a sheep who is the first mammal to be cloned from an adult somatic cell. So clones are possible, but can you imagine the things we could do with clones? The movie the Island actually is just like House of the Scorpion. On the island, clones are raised and created organically. They are extremely healthy and fit individuals. They are awarded the prize of being selected and taken to the Island, but once you go to the Island you never come back. The truth about the Island is that it is actually the real world. The people being raised in these facilities do not know they are actually clones of people at the Island (or the real world). People, are able to buy clones in order to receive new kidneys, heart transplants, etc. It is just like how House of the Scorpion works because these clones that are being created are just like the originals. Imagine if in the real world today, we had the same thing. Were you could buy a clone in order to receive an organ donation. This would completely eliminate the need for organ donors! But then there is the cost. The cost of creating a new living being, and then destroying it. Not only would it be extremely costly money wise, but also emotionally. Humans have a conscience. A conscience that will be filled with guilt knowing that they brought someone into the world, only to be destroyed for their own personal gain. It is almost like abortions, but older. Next, we have hovercrafts. At the rate that we are going I do not see hovercrafts in the future. Creating hovercrafts are not on one of our top priorities list. The top priority for vehicles is how to make them more efficient because of our depleting resources rather than flying in the air.
In summary, the future is unpredictable. In the 90s, we thought the world would end in 2000. Now, in 2012 some believe the world will in end in December 21st. We cannot tell what the future holds, so we must focus on the problems in the present. Rising wait lines for organs and increasing pollution are real issues, not Hovercrafts.
- Ashish
Wow Ashish this was really good! i liked how you got into a deeper part of the book and started talking about if it was possible and rings such as that. I'm also glad that i was not the only one to notice the cat with 9 lives thing. but i didn't really know that Matt was the 9th clone i just though it was El Patrons 9th time with surgery. very interesting indeed!
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