Blog Post #4 - Emiola

Why is everyone else in the book El Patron's puppets?


WHY? Why doesn't Matt have a lot of say in any decisions, or that he gets stuck with people that don't care about him? These are some of the main questions that continuously to come to mind, as well as would we treat clones like this in real life? The way Matt is treated is despicable, he recieves no rights or freedom. In fact, why does El Patron have so much power? He DOESN'T deserve it! However, besides the disrespectfulness towards Matt, and manipulative El Patron, I am really enjoying the book. I love how Farmer constantly throws eye popping scenes into the book, and when she brings them in it changes your whole perspective on the book.


The Charter of Rights was the first subject that I thought of that connects with the House of the Scorpion book. This is because Matt was being neglected and deprived from him having his own freedom. Matt's equality, legal, fundamental, mobility, and democratic rights are all being torn down. Equality rights are not represented because he is taken as only a "clone" not an actual human. He is neither taken as a individual but as an animal. Closer to the beginning of the book Matt was locked away without any say. Rosa treated him like a pig therefore this is not showing his legal rights! He doesn't have fundamental rights, the freedom of speech, neither to believe in religion, or mobility rights. He is not aloud to go anywhere at all. When he went to El Viejo's funeral he was insulted by the priest as an "animal".  Lastly, democratic rights, El Patron is the only person who has a say in decisions, everyone else is like his puppets. When you look at El Patron and how he treats everyone, it's disgusting. When El Patron doesn't get his way, which is incredibly rare, he takes his anger out on people, whether it's turning them into eejits or acting like he is their friend. 

Blog post #4 - Ashika

Clones:

The whole idea of clones is quite baffling. Taking one person, and making another exact copy of them. It just seems so unrealistic to me, but somehow we have managed to clone sheep already. It seems like such a futuristic idea, but I guess somehow we have managed to figure it out already. That's the thing, if we have already figured out how to clone sheep...what's next?

We people are known to be one of a kind, there is only one of us and that's what makes us so unique. Although I'm not sure how long we'll be able to say that for. If somehow, someone finds out a way to make clones of people effectively, a lot of things would change. I'm sure there would be many sceptics but along with them, many believers. I guess it would be useful to have two of a person to an extent. There are many risks that come along with cloning. The whole idea sounds great, but with many successes they are a lot of failed attempted. I'm afraid that in some cases, something might go wrong. Maybe the clone isn't able to function, or it becomes harmful.

In the book, the idea of clones is something the people in the Alacran Estate do not particularly like. It really makes me think about how people nowadays would react. Would people treat them similar to how they treat Matt in the book, like a monster? Or would people treat him as if he were just another person. I don't know how I would react to a clone, I wouldn't be out-right discusted with it and treat it like an animal but I would defiantly not look at it the same as a normal human being. With that in mind, if the clone is anything like Matt, then they definitely have feelings so therefore they should be respected as much as any of us. In the end, it's really dependent on your perspective. Celia, El Patron, and Maria consider him just as much of a person as themselves but the rest of them are convinced Matt is some sort of beast. Regardless of all that, I think for now having just one of us is enough!

Blog Post #4: Angel - THEME.

Power, slavery and death.
The ideas I have listed out are just a few of the many themes in this novel. Power, El Patron is ruling Opium. Anyone will do anything for El Patron, he's so powerful because of his wealth. Consequences of a ruling dictator is a country filed without freedom, and frankly, a country filled with slavery. Of course, El Patron can do whatever he chooses. He chooses to create eejits. Take away their brain, and force them to do mind-less, excruciating, hardworking jobs. Why does he force them to become mindless slaves? Just because he can.
Power is never a good thing, you become self centred and in El Patron's case, take over a country. Power can ruins lives, and take away what's best for our society. Farmer has taught me about the horrors of slavery. Slavery doesn't only happen in this novel, but it does happen in real life. What about Celia working at a factory. She explained to Matt, "All day I sat on an assembly line and put tiny square into tiny holes with a pair of tweezers. I thought I'd go blind!" (141)
This isn't the only form of slavery we exhibit in this novel. Have we forgotten about the clones? All the lives El Patron has killed to make himself live longer. He takes away their organs for his own selfish needs, because he can.  Learning about both slavery and clones has taught us a bit of a lesson. You cannot take peoples lives away for innocent reasons. And this is definitely one of the biggest issues with El Patron and in countries around the world. Recently in a news article, I learned that children in Africa are being used as slaves, and this is not okay. We have learned about individual rights through our Charter of Rights and Freedoms unit. Treat everyone the same, and as an equal.
And finally, the last theme I will talk about is death. El Patron was terrified of death, he hated the thought. "There were eight of us, we should all have grown up, but I was the only survivor. I am meant to have those lives! I am meant to have justice!" (233) Living forever isn't worth it, and taking other people's lives makes it so much worse. Death can be a pretty scary thing, considering how easy it is for you to lose your life. Sometimes in life, you have to just let these things happen. You can't stop it, and I guess that's what Farmer is trying to say. 


"Pastor Jailed for Trafficking African Child 'slaves'" BBC News. BBC, 18 Mar. 2011. Web. 22 Mar. 2012. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-12789690>. 

Blog Entry #3: Illegal Immigration

In Celia's story, we learn about her journey to escape from her home town in Mexico. She was working in a factory at first. Celia exclaimed to Matt, "All day I sat on an assembly line and put tiny squares into tiny holes with a pair of tweezers. I thought I'd go blind!"(Farmer 141) Celia soon found herself being a cook, and met a 'coyote' who would take her across the border into the United States. However, the coyote abandoned her. They were scavengers, left to live for themselves. The group was captured by the 'farm patrol'. What Celia had gone through to cross the border was not just immigration, but is illegal immigration.

There are two main ways of illegal immigration. One of the biggest ways of illegal immigration is through a visa, which in fact is quite legal. A visa provides a person with a certain amount of time in a country before they must return to their home country. But, people take advantage of this and make this situation illegal. Often people stay long after their visa is expired. The second way to cross the border is quite illegal. Getting someone like a 'coyote' to guide you across the border, like Celia. The journey includes horrendous terrain, and walking for days and days in excruciating weather.

Why would you go through all this pain to cross the border? Why would you risk your life? There are many reasons. Like in Celia's case,  she was forced to work in a factory for long hours. Her only option was to get a coyote and get out of there. Sometimes your life in your home country isn't worth it, and you just want to leave. Most people are just seeking a better life for themselves, as we learned in our immigration unit. If you are wanting to live a better life for you and your family, there is always one option of illegal immigration.

If successful enough to make it across the border, an immigrant will experience joy for a bit. But soon, they will realize how hard it is to start a new life. It takes hard work and dedication, but it's possible. But that's not the issue, the most extreme part is keeping your identity hidden. You will be on thin ice, any mistake can result in being deported back to your home country. 

http://roygermano.wordpress.com/2011/08/09/how-do-people-immigrate-illegally/

http://www.cfact.org/a/913/Addressing-the-root-causes-of-illegal-immigration

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/illegal-immigrants-with-long-expired-visas-remain-tough-to-track-10-years-after-911-attacks/2012/03/06/gIQAkUQ7tR_story.html

MacGregor. "Three Conservative Bros." Three Conservative Bros. 27 Apr. 2010. Web. 18 Mar. 2012. <http://threeconservativebros.wordpress.com/2010/04/27/arizona-immigration-law/>.

Blog Post #3 - Emiola

Real Life Farm Patrol? Issues of Border Control. 


The first issue that would come to mind if you illegally cross the border is what if you got caught? However, this isn't the only issue that you need to be thinking of. Why would someone ever take this risk? What are they running from in their home country, or what are they trying to portray in wherever they want to go?


If you are a illegal immigrant you may be treated unfairly. Majority of the people who come for better job opportunity will encounter an issue because they may be given bad working conditions, or dangerous jobs. These people also have to look at whether there are a lot of the illegal immigrants, because if so the payers for these people may not listen to any requests to raise their salaries. The worst part is that many of these immigrants work in many places that require manual labour, so these people may eventually be underpaid and overworked. 


Another risk is being abducted or taken in to slavery. Why would she take these risks? The risk of not being caught is not the only issue, it's how you may be treated. 


Once I read this story/article I immediately thought of Celia, this may be the reason why Celia wanted to leave her home country so badly. Many people take these risks due to poverty, wanting a better future, or just better opportunities to grow. Celia was confined a lot, she wasn't able to do anything. In the book on page 141 she said, "All day I sat on an assembly line and put tiny squares into tiny holes, with a pair of tweezers."..."We lived in a big tray building with windows so small"..."to keep the girls from running away"..."I lived in that tray building forever, getting older and older. No parties, no boyfriends, no nothing."


In the article, Martinez was brought to Oklahoma and Houston by a coyote when she was 2, and Celia was brought by a coyote as well. Although when Martinez reached 24 she was deported back for three years. When she was 27 her mom and friends got money together so that she could go back, but the only way for it to be done was illegally. She did all of this because she wanted a future for herself and her family. She risked her life for them, to build a better life for them. I decided to talk about this article because even though it is a different story it reflects the same idea. More specifically the reason WHY, they decided to take these risks, because they wanted a future. 




References:
(Saturday, March 17th, 2012) 
http://www.myimmigrationstory.com/
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_do_Mexicans_illegally_cross_the_US-Mexican_border
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/11/us/illegal-migration-from-mexico-falls-but-local-fears-persist.html?_r=1&ref=illegalimmigrants
http://immigration.laws.com/illegal-immigration/illegal-immigration-dangers

Blog post #3 - Ashika

Issues of Border control: 


http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/01/0123_030123_border.html 


Celia's story is all about wanting escape. She worked in 'maquiladora' a factory on the border where she sat in a assembly line all day putting squares into tiny holes with a pair of tweezers. She had dreams of escape.


Nowadays, there are many Illegal immigrants entering places such as the United States. This article is all about a photographer that crossed the border with several illegal immigrants to experience what they went through. In this photographers journey, he talks about the struggles they faced. "We walked until midnight without taking a rest. One [migrant] had a flashlight. There was enough ambient light so your eyes grew accustomed to the dark. But still you'd bump into a prickly pear or cholla cactus and have to stop and pull the thorns out of person's leg or shoe." It really sets out the reality of this, how it doesn't only happen in books, this kind of stuff happens everyday.


Celia turned to the 'coyote' for escape in hopes of a better life outside of her poor village of Aztlan. As Celia tells Matt "You couldn't see much because the Farms are dark at night. But beyond, where the United States lay, was a great glow in the sky. We knew that under that glow was the most wonderful place. Everyone has their own house and garden." This is something that i'm sure many immigrants dreamed of before deciding to immigrate. 


The extreme lengths that these people go through to reach a better life is amazing. This is defiantly relatable to Celia's story. She turned to the Coyote to seek escape. Which leads us to the question of "Why would anyone risk their life in such a way?" Growing up in a poor area anyone would dream of having their own house or garden, having new clothes and being able to live life freely. The people to escape are the ones that feel as if it is the best choice for them and their families. Just like any parent, they want their kids to grow up in a safe place and sometimes the only way to reach that place, is to illegally immigrate. She dreamed of a better life and when she heard a way to get there, she didn't think twice, unfortunately that resulted to her being taken to the farms, which in reality is equal to being caught. 

Blog Post #2: Ashika

Setting is one of the most important things for an author to acknowledge in a book. To me, it’s key in order to visualize. Farmer has chosen the perfect setting for this book. In the beginning she has clearly got the scene of the vast poppy fields with one little house in a country called Opium, between the United States and what was once Mexico where Matt and Celia lived. It was a good decision to choose a quiet or unknown area because if they were to make the setting somewhere in a big city with lots of people, the story wouldn’t make much sense considering Matt is quite clueless to the ‘outside world’. Therefore, if Farmer had placed this house in a large city with many people, she wouldn’t be able to go with the fact that Matt hadn’t seen the world unless it was through a television screen.

  Moving further into the story, Matt gets introduced to a newer setting which is the Alacran Estate, a much larger house than what he was used to. He didn't see much of it until he was released from the Prison he was held captive in by Rosa. After being released he was brought into several other settings such as the river Tam Lin took him to for a picnic. The pond was a place that they would not have to worry about being watched. It was a safe place for them both, I think thats why it was so important to Tam Lin. Knowing he was being watched all day, being able to go there and being able to speak his mind  must have been really significant to him. 

Lastly, the closet where Matt had discovered the music room where he saw Felicila playing piano was quite the important event. Not only did he discover her amazing talent, but that dusty closet led him to discover many other 'secret' passages in the house that I would assume he was not meant to find out. I believe that these passageways will later lead him into possibly a great amount of trouble and defiantly lead into many other settings. 

Blog Post #2: Emiola

Setting: Why did Farmer chose these settings? How are they moving the book forward? 

House of the scorpion takes place in a fictional country called Opium, which is claimed to be in the middle of Mexico and the United States. A question that came to mind about the setting was: Why did Farmer decide to make a fictional place for her book? Is it because there are some things that are going to happen that don't normally or can't happen in real life? For example, in real life we don't have clones or eejits, therefore I believe the story is going to get even more interesting! 


Now observing El Patron's character I believe that he has many secrets that he doesn't want people to know, or he may seem like one person at first glance then the more you get to know him you would realize he really does have many "twisted branches". I think that is why Farmer made El Patron's character in a big house, because he stores many of his secrets in there. Secrets like a hidden passages that Matt was able to find. Why would there be a secret passage in the Big House? The further you go into the book you find out more settings that Farmer is bringing in, and I think she brought many different settings into the story so that you can make connections and find out more about the characters, such as Tam Lin. He has a pond that he enjoys to go to, and seems to care about due to the fact that he didn't want to tell anyone so that it doesn't get drained out. it has also become a place for him to be alone. In conclusion, Tam Lin may be holding some secrets himself. That is one place that he feels like he isn't being watched, that's where he was telling Matt about the eejits, since he knew no one was listening. Thus these settings can help develop the book by us knowing much more about the characters. 


Since the first couple chapters of the book I was excited to read the rest because so much already happened, and due to those events it brought new ideas or questions. For example: "Why is Matt so important that the doctor could lose his job? Do they need Matt for something?" or "If somehow we were able to make clones, would we treat them the same way that they are treating Matt in the book?". Now that I am halfway through the book and I am able to make assumptions to answer my previous questions, as well as bringing up newer questions for me to ask. I hope I can answer all my questions by the end of the book! 

Blog Entry #2: Angel

Opium is a country that was formed between the United States, and what we call Mexico. It is the place where Matt's life began. In a strip of poppies fields is where Matt grew up, never knowing who he truly was. A clone. He was still isolated in a tiny house in the poppies field for the first 6 years of his life. Once escaping from his only home he was shocked to see what the world had to offer. Farmer created a land of isolating for Matt, which created such a huge scene. This also created such shock with Matt finally decided to jump out of the window to see other children. The country of Opium wasn't introduced right away in the book, but after the development of a few characters it was introduced. 

Later, the Estate is introduced where we meet a boy named Tom. Tom is perceived to me as an evil brilliant young boy. He betrayed Maria by putting her precious Furball into the toilet. What an interesting scene Farmer created here. Farmer used this brilliant idea to get the characters working together in a new setting that was recently introduced. Searching for Furball in the house lets Matt explore the house and learn secrets for himself. With Matt exploring the Estate, it can lead to future events occurring in the house. This scene is crucial to the development of the story, we receive a glismp of the house as well as watching the characters develop. Specifically, we learn about Tom's nasty personality, as well as how attached and caring Maria is to Furball. 

Likewise, the introduction of the music room was extremely important for certain characters, and also to develop narrative and learn about past history in the Estate. Matt hides in a closet near the music room to hear Felicia, Mr. Alcarns wife play the piano. He learns about how talented she is, but discovers something weary. Matt watches her, and can only assume troubles she's encountered. While Matt is hiding in the dusty closet, he realizes that the closet is a secret passage way to others parts of the house, and is not under surveillance of the cameras. He uses this secret passageway as an advantage and escape from the world. To me, the passageway acts as foreshadowing for the future events of this story and definitely seems like it will stir up trouble. What if Tom and the other boys find the secret passageway? It will cause a giant mess of trouble. Overall, the events that have occurred and the development of characters within scenes has contributed greatly to this book.

Blog Entry #1: Ashika

Relationship between Celia and Matt.

"Matteo Alacran was not born; he was harvested." 

Growing up in a small house in the poppy fields in a country called Opium between what we now know as the United States and Mexico. Matt was harvested inside of a petri dish where he was later put in the womb of a cow, where he developed until birth. He is a normal person now, but that's not what the rest of the world thinks of him. Since Matt was born he has been isolated in this small house, the only real person Matt has ever been in contact with other than his doctor, is Celia, a maid at the Alacran Estates. She is the one that has cared for Matt despite who he really is. Celia cares and loves Matt very much, she is willing to do anything and everything to ensure he is safe. Every night Celia would tuck Matt into bed and light the holy candle in his room. Matt mean't the whole world to her, but like she said to Matt "You were only loaned to me". (Page 12) It was a concept that was unclear to him. Celia was a mother to Matt, she was the only one who accepted Matt for who he really was. He didn't feel different around her, she made him feel normal. It was hard for him to imagine life without her. As Celia leaves for work, Matt begs to her to take him with her. He wants to experience the 'outside world', but more importantly he wants to be with Celia. " The house was so lonely without Celia singing, banging pots, or talking about people he had never seen and never would see." (Page 6) He would spend the day playing with his toys and watching television, or waiting eagerly for Celia to return home. Often, he would look out the window into the vast fields of poppies, he would see things like horses in the distance, and with that in mind, his desire to experience life outside of the house grew stronger.

Blog Entry #1: Angel

Angel: Blog Entry #1

Relationships with Matt. More specifically, Matt's relationships with Emilia, Steven, Tom and Rose.

"Clones aren't people." Emilia 

The quote above is about Matteo Alacrán, a clone of the rich and disrespectful, El Patron. Growing up in between the borders of what we now know as the United States and Mexico. Matt has been isolated with Celia, for about 6 years. He decides to take a risk, and ends up severely hurt. Matt is not treated like a human being like he was with Celia. In fact, Matt is treated as a savage. Picking up whatever lefts, getting the leftovers from others, and being treated like a filthy, useless clone. Along his journey, he unfortunately must meet some young kids named Emilia, Steven, Tom and Rosa. 

One of the first people in the house who acts as a servant, Rosa. She is forced to listen and is extremely isolated from the outside world. Her one job is to take care of the clone she despises, Matt. "That's what dirty beasts get to live in," said Rosa as she threw Matt into his room full of sawdust. Rosa definitely despised Matt because he was a clone. Rosa seems to have a relation with Willium the doctor, but not much can be done. Willium must treat and take care of Matt, while Rosa continues her growing hatred towards Matt. Nothing can be done in this relationship, which is why Rosa could let out so much anger on Matt. Matt started with a clear mind when he first started speaking to all these kids, as he learned more about them, he realized the utter, bitter truth. Before the kids realized Matt was a clone, they treated him with respect, as if he was one of them. Once they realized the truth, they treated Matt as a filthy, useless animal excluding Maria. 

Another boy in the Estate is Tom. He teased Matt and did not care for him at all. Could it be because he was jealous of something going on between Maria and Matt? I believe it's a mix of that, and the fact that Matt is a clone. Tom even went to the extent of taking a peashooter and injuring Matt, showing how much he truly hated him. How rude can Tom be? He is so young yet his words can be so hurtful. He expressed this to Matt, "You're too dumb to talk. You're a stupid clone who wets his pants and barfs all over his feet."

Throughout the short 6 months Matt has been at the Estate, he's already been bullied by the children and have been called an, 'evil tempered animal', 'bad animal' and even a 'filthy clone'. Are the names really necessary for Matt? 

The real question is, is it necessary to treat clones like this? They have brains, and they are not made of 'cornmeal'. Clones act and look like real people, and should be treated no differently. Have the people in the big house been brain washed to act a certain way towards clones? Is this why Matt's life is so difficult to live? And yes, I do believe this is the reason the kids are so horrible. What's occurring to Matt is unacceptable, something has to be done to educate others of the truth. 

Page 26 - Clones aren't people

Page 42 - "That's what dirty beasts get to live in"

Page 43 - "It's a sullen, evil-tempered animal."

Page 45 - "You're too dumb to talk. You're a stupid clone who wets his pants and barfs all over his feet." 

Blog Entry #1 - Emiola

Blog Entry #1: Relationships with Matt

It is interesting how the characters change their whole opinion of Matt because they find out that he is a clone. Maria, Steven, and Emilia were the first people to go and see Matt in the house that he originally was in with Celia. Celia is the chef and cook at the big house, and she is also like a guardian for Matt. I found it interesting how even though Celia loves Matt she doesn't want to be called his mother at all, I thought she would have been touched or happy that he thought of her in that way. Specifically, on page 11 Matt say, "Mama, ... tell me again about the kids in the Big House." "Don't call me mama," [snaps] Celia. A thought that came into my head was that she may know something is going to happen to him, so she doesn't want to get too close. 

Since Matt has not talked to many people, because he was stuck in the house for six years with no conversations other than with Celia, it has affected the way he talks to other people. Therefore, it seemed to meddle with his chance of making friends. Such as when the kids came back to see Matt he could only say "My name is Matt, I live here. Do you want to play?" (Page 18)

Another aspect of this section of the book that caught my eye was how Maria still came back to talk to Matt, even though her siblings/friends were disgusted by Matt. They believed he was an ANIMAL! Maria stayed in Matt's room because he was telling scary stories. Maria seems like a oblivious character because she doesn't look at situations very well, or look to what will happen in the future. The next day, Maria got caught, and was sent out by Rosa and maids! Maria still wanted to help Matt. I wonder why she is so willing to help out a clone, while Steven and Emilia can't stand Matt. Their first reactions when they found out he is a clone were, "Look at him. Lying there like an animal," said Emilia. "He is a animal," said Steven" (page #26). Another character named Tom doesn't like Matt either. He went to Matt so that he could taunt and annoy him, he said to him, "You're ugly"... "you look like a pig in a sty." (Page 45.)

Tom, Steven, and Emilia are not the only two who don't like Matt; Steven/Tom's father doesn't like him either because when he found Matt he said to Steven, "You idiot! You need a vet for this little beast! How dare you defile this house?" Rosa STRONGLY dislikes Matt, and my theory is that she really cares about the vet who cares about Matt. However, the vet left the house, so I believe Rosa may have been taking her anger out on Matt. On page 39 Rosa says, "Please take me with you, Willum. Please! I love you. I'll do anything for you!" but the vet has no regards towards her and says, "You're hysterical. I'll leave you some pills and see you in a month." I know that the doctor cares about Matt because he said he could lose his job if Matt is extremely hurt or dies.