Blog Post #5 - Perseverance and Success

Genetic modification and a futuristic setting are aspects that are featured in the plots of both the House of the Scorpion and Gattaca. However, the biggest trait that Matt and Vincent, characters of each piece respectively, share is perseverance and the quest for success.

For the duration of the first half of the House of the Scorpion, we see Matt always being mistreated and looked down upon because he is a clone. Matt was created specifically for the purpose of providing healthy organs to El Patron. As such, both the servants and people of higher positions all look at Matt with contempt and see him as nothing more than an animal. Matt goes through many situations including ones where he is framed for a crime he did not commit and others where he is constantly ridiculed and called names. Vincent from Gattaca on the other hand was born a natural baby, a love child. This is highly unacceptable; Gattaca is a society in which babies are created in a petri dish. Their characteristics and traits are chosen by the parents in such a way that the chances of a baby developing a disease or sickness become very low or nearly impossible. In other words, babies must be perfect. Only the best will be able to get anywhere in life. Since Vincent is a natural baby, his chances of accomplishing anything are very low. He is always isolated and kept under careful watch.

Although each character is faced with his own fair share of scorn, it does not stop either of them from dreaming and developing goals. Vincent wants to become an astronaut and make it to space while Matt wants to help run Opium. The two boys’ determination to exceed expectations and yearn for success are the forces that drive them to be willing to take risks. Vincent’s single-mindedness on becoming an astronaut is so great that he evens impersonates and takes the identity of another person, one who happened to be a modified baby and has the best traits. Matt is so intent on his goal that he tries to learn every subject and everything about the way Opium is run. Not only that, but he excels in each area that he learns. Undertaking piano lessons is no easy task, yet Matt is able to learn the piano and plays so well that he even causes the teacher to close his eyes in pure bliss when listening to Matt play.

Of course, there are many hardships along the way that each character goes through. At Vincent’s workplace, a mission director is killed causing the police to swarm the entire building. There are many incidents where Vincent’s secret is almost discovered. In Matt’s case, he is continuously treated terribly by various characters throughout the entire novel. Not only that, he must escape Opium and later on has to withstand the conditions of the plankton factory and the punishments doled out to him.

However, these are only small obstacles in each character’s way. With perseverance, courage, and large amounts of endurance, Matt and Vincent are able to pull through and accomplish their goals, clinching success. Both become the person they are supposed to be when that person dies. Matt and Vincent are both very strong characters. If they were to exist in real life, they would inarguably be very admirable and outstanding people.