Journal Entry Three Scott

The novel 'The House Of The Scorpion' has some background knowledge, and several references, which I am unsure of. Some of the background knowledge which I am unsure of comes from the country of Aztlan, south of Opium. Throughout the novel, very little is mentioned of Aztlan, beyond the fact that it was founded around one hundred years before the start of the story, and was once a part of Mexico. In fact, it is mentioned so little, that you often forget it even exists while reading the novel. I understand that the author did this so that the reader could sympathise with Matt's sheer level of isolation from the rest of the world while in El Patron's mansion, but it still would have been nice for the author to further explore the interesting world which she created. Even when Matt does journey to Aztlan, very little is mentioned of their society, or their history, beyond what Matt learns from the orphans in the orphanage. Even while in Opium, the reader learns very little about how the country was founded, or how such a small, corrupt nation manages to exist living next to a damaged, but still powerful, world superpower. All the reader ever learns about Opium is that it is in between the U.S.A. and Aztlan, has El Patron as it's leader, and has a thriving drug trade. Overall, for whatever her reasons, I feel that the author left out way too much background knowledge. The novel is still an excellent read, but I feel as though it could have been a masterpiece had the author just put in more background detail, and explained the references much better.

Journal Entry Four Scott

The novel 'The House Of The Scorpion' reminds me of a variety of different books, movies, T.V. shows, and video games which I have explored. One such example would be the novel 'Ender's Game' by Orson Scott Card. In the novel, set several hundred years in the future, the geography of Earth has changed significantly, as it has in The House Of The Scorpion. Whereas the latter depicts a world which has been divided into many small nations, all wanting power and control, in Ender's Game, the world has been divided into three very large empires, who live in peace. The cause of this peace is because humanity has to use every iota of resources it has access to in order to fight a large intersteller war against an alien race. Like The House Of The Scorpion, Ender's Game is a science-fiction novel set in the far off future, and features a world which has been greatly changed due to negative effects which accured in the story's past. A movie which The House Of The Scorpion reminds me of is Children of Men. They are similar because they both feature a very depressing, but at times hopeful story of the struggle to survive, both phisically and emotionally, in a cruel,unforgiving world. Also, they are both a part of the science-fiction genre. A television show which reminds me of the novel is Hell On Wheels. While this may seem like an unlikely choice, Given that The House Of The Scorpion is set in the distant future, while Hell On Wheels takes place in post-civil war America, they both have the same theme of the struggle to overcome prejudice. Matteo is hated for being a clone, while a main character in Hell On Wheels is hated for being black. They are both treated as second-class citizens in their respective societies because of their differences, and often suffer because of them.