Chapters 1-25 - Emily

A lot has happened in chapters 1-25, especially change in characters and interactions between them. The relationship between Matt and El Patron is particularly interesting. Matt is convinced that he is different than all the other clones and that El Patron will not use him for spare body parts. Matt thinks this because of how El Patron treated Matt, Matt got whatever he wanted, he was smarter than the rest and he was sure he was different. When El Patron is ill and in the hospital Matt discovers that he was going to be used for spare parts, then couldn't. They couldn't use him for spare parts because Celia had been feeding him little bits of poison to make him ill, but not enough to kill him. The amounts he was receiving would kill a brail, old man much like El Patron. I find the relationship between these two characters really interesting and it really surprised me in the end.

Chapters 1-25 Bryden

Detailed opinion piece on Tam Lin:

I think that the relationship between Tam Lin and Matt is very interesting as El Patron's Scottish body guard was basically Matt's father figure of the story. In the beginning of their relationship, it seemed that Tam Lin was an outspoken yet quite man who had no problem getting his hands dirty. I would never have thought of him as anything close to a father figure. Throughout the first few sections, he seemed to start growing as a character and became a dynamic and round character. He started to have emotions and started caring about Matt and treated him as a normal human being. With Tam Lin leaving half-way through the novel, I was honestly depressed. I needed Tam Lin in the book because he was the character that seemed to balance everyone out, and example being how he could calm and protect Matt while also having a relationship with Celia and an equal hatred with Matt for Tom. Tam Lin was an overall powerful influence towards most of the characters in the story, at least for the first 25 chapters.

During the latter part of the chapters 1-25, we as the readers discover a relationship between Tam Lin and Celia. This relationship truly reinforces the idea of Tam Lin being the father figure to Matt, while Celia is the mother figure to Matt as well. This fact reinforces the idea of Tam Lin becoming a round and dynamic character because from the beginning where he was recently introduced into the story, he was not thought of as much, but throughout the book, he grows a lot as a character. As the father figure, Tam Lin really has filled his role because even though El Patron chose Tam Lin because he was from another country so he wouldn't betray him, Tam Lin let El Patron die in the end just for Matt's safety. I like Tam Lin.

Tyler 1-25

In chapters 1-25 of The House of the Scorpion, I think that the most interesting and inciting thing about the book was the character development. Not only in Matt, but in the surrounding characters like, Maria, Tam Lin, and even Celia. in the first few chapters of The House Of The Scorpion, we saw Matt as just a random kid who was locked in a house. But as the book went on and as we get deeper into the book, Matt unveiled more layers, as he becomes a very dynamic character. Maria changed in a very similar was as Matt, because in the beginning she was a kind of a spoiled brat around other people but when she is around Matt she evolves into a very religious person who believes anything is possible if you try hard enough. I think Celia changed the least amount, but she did change even though she didn't want Matt proclaiming to others that she was his mother at the end and through out the book. I think that is what Farmer wanted the readers to think that she was Matt's mother figure .Tam Lin changed the most, second to Matt. At the beginning of the book Tam Lin seemed a big and scary guy with the possibility of being friendly and as we go through the book he becomes more and more parental and loving toward Matt. Tam Lin showed that he loved Matt in chapter 24 when he snuck Matt out of the Alacran Mansion to get him to safety and I think that farmer was trying to in directly state that Tam Lin was the father figure.

Gattaca post Tyler

In the past few days I have watched the movie Gattaca and read the book House of the Scorpions in the past few months. When watching the movie Gattaca, I realized that it has so many connections between the characters in the movie and the book. Some of the main character in scorpion are: Matt, Maria, Chacho, Fidelito, Tam Lin, Tom and in Gattaca: Vincent, Irene, Jerome, Dr. Lamar, Antonio. Let's start the comparisons of the main characters. In the bookm, Matt has a fiery passion for being different and unique and not being what he it meant or thought to to be, having a deep desire to be more than they were meant to be Matt and Vincent are very similar, as Matt was meant to be a clone for spare parts and Vincent was a non genetically modified human that was supposed to be part of a new under class but both were more than supposed to be and conquered through life to reach there goals. Maria in the book has a very similar character in Gattaca which is Irene. Both of them can always see through people to there real selves and not the ones that the people hide behind and they both love the main characters for who they are and not what they have achieved Tam Lin reminded me of mostly of Jerome, because he would give every thing he has to help the other. I also see a little bit of Tam Lin in Dr. Lamar who even though Vincent should him his real DNA, Dr. Lamar still let him go into space. Antonio in the movie Gattaca is the main character, Vincent's little brother who is unlike Vincent, genetically modified. Through out the movie Antonio is better than Vincent but one day he beats him in a swimming race and saved his life. After that, Vincent had the inspiration to reach for the stars. Antonio reminds me very closely of Tom, Tom in the book is the antagonist and is always thinking that he is more superior to Matt but that is not where the similarities stop the Tom is full of himself and so is Antonio, and also they are both gave the inspiration to the main character to keep going either through pure desire or enragement. Both Matt and Vincent "didn't leave anything for the swim back."

Gattaca Post - Emily

Matt in The House of the Scorpion and Vincent in Gattaca are fairly similar characters. Both characters are other people just in different ways. Matt is a clone of someone else so he is exactly like El Patron was when he was little. Vincent wants to have a job at Gattaca but is unable to because of how he is genetically modified. Vincent pretends to be Jerome who is genetically perfect, just he's in a wheelchair. Towards the end of the book Matt has to leave the estate and he is caught by Farm Patrol. The people at the orphanage can't know he is a clone and that he is property of Alacran Estate. When Vincent was younger him and his brother had swimming competitions in the ocean, they would see who could go the farthest without stopping. When Matt was little he was imprisoned by Rosa for a couple of years. I think this is similar they were both fighting for their lives in different ways. Matt was being treated like a pig and was becoming really unhealthy. Vincent was in the ocean swimming for his life in order to beat his brother, which he never did until they were older. He would get to a point when it was so tiring it was hard for him to go back. As a kid vincent was treated worse than his brother and it wasn't fair. Vincent's younger brother Anton was genetically modified to be the perfect child. On the other hand Vincent was the first child and had quite a few health issues. Even though the books have completely different story lines, you can compare the main characters in a few different ways.

Gattaca Post - Haley

            House of the Scorpion & the movie Gattaca, are similar in many ways. For starters, they both take place in a futuristic world, and the characters and their relationships are very similar. The main similarities between characters that I saw, were Matt & Vincent, Tam Lin & Jerome, Maria & Irene, and Tom & Antonio.

            Although Matt and Vincent are very different in age as well as appearance, they have a lot of underlying factors that really connect them. Not only do they both live in a futuristic world where genetically creating people is the norm, but they both are fighting to be considered an equal among others. As well, people view Matt and Vincent as the minority among society. While Matt is living in Opium, most people loathe and despise him because he is a clone, and therefore don't consider him a human. When Vincent is still using his own identity, people treat him as an unequal because he isn't as intelligent as everyone else and could have health problems. They both are ostracized and outsiders which is the most noticeable similarity between the two. Due to their depressing situations, both Matt and Vincent have to take on a new identity, Matt when he escapes to Aztlan and Vincent when he becomes Jerome Eugene Marrow.

            Tom and Antonio (Vincent's brother) both act as foils to the protagonist (Matt and Vincent). The swimming competitions that Antonio and Vincent have in Gattaca, are symbolic. They represent Vincent proving that he is stronger than his brother, even though Antonio was selected through preimplantation genetic diagnosis. In House of the Scorpion, Matt is always working his hardest at everything to prove he is better than Tom. These similarities make Matt and Antonio characters that are alike, with a related role in the plot. Especially, because both Antonio and Tom find themselves being well loved and the poster child in their families or groups, even though they should not be. I also feel that both Antonio and Tom are quite vain characters that feel they are superior to Vincent and Matt, when really they are just deemed better by society.

            I feel that Tam Lin and Jerome Marrow have many things in common, appearance being one of them. Although Jerome is in a wheelchair and isn't nearly as stocky as Tam Lin, they both have an intimidating edge to their look. Also, they act as caretakers in the story. Tam Lin's purpose is to protect Matt, and in a way Jerome's purpose is to protect Vincent. When Jerome is present in Gattaca, he is always providing Matt his DNA samples or giving him tips.  In the end, both characters have similar mindsets and are unhappy with their lives, leading them to commit suicide.

Although Maria and Irene are very different in age, they both play the protagonists romantic interest. Both of them carry a very mysterious aura, and Matt and Vincent can't really read them or figure out what they're going to do. When Irene found out that Vincent was not who he was pretending to be, she looked quite horrified and afraid, but she never left his side. Maria has a similar reaction to Matt at first, but she never feels that Matt is very different than anyone else so she welcomes him. 

Roundtable Discussion 4

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