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Kutztown University's 9th Annual Undergraduate Research Conference

March 2008
Brandon B. Smith
Slave Harvest

"In the beginning there were thirty-six of them, thirty-six droplets of life so tiny that
Eduardo could see them only under a microscope. He studied them anxiously in the dark room.
A dull, red light shone on the faces of the workers as they watched their own arrays of little glass
dishes. Each one contained a drop of life.
"Eduardo moved his dishes, one after the other, under the lens of the microscope. The
cells were perfect – or so it seemed. Each was furnished with all it needed to grow. So much
knowledge was hidden in that tiny world! Even Eduardo, who understood the process very well,
was awed. The cell already understood what color hair it was to have, how tall it would become,
and even whether it preferred spinach to broccoli. It might have a hazy desire for music or
crossword puzzles. All that was hidden in the droplet" (Farmer, 2-3).
Nancy Farmer describes this futuristic process in her 2002 novel The House of the
Scorpion. Politicians, authors, and the common wageworker have all thought about the
repercussions of such a science: the ability to clone a human. Farmer compares human cloning
to man pretending to be God. Her first words "In the beginning…" are synonymous with the
first words of the Bible, when God created man. In this excerpt she twists it into showing man
creating man. Many religious organizations claim cloning is unethical while many scientists
claim it is purely beneficial to society. Rather than focusing on the morality, let's focus on how
human clones may be treated in a society of normal humans.
Science is incapable of answering any questions we may have on the possible
sociological outcomes of human cloning since it can only study the observable, physical limits of
the universe. Consequentially, I believe literature, in the form of science fiction, is able to help
predict these things. Author Nicolas Pethes puts it quite aptly, "'Science fiction,' in a very
general sense, is transforming abstract theses into actual images of new inventions and the
people being confronted by them… Because it is invention, literature is able to stage scientific
research that could not be realized in actual science…" (Pethes, 165-6).. Instead of viewing
science and literature as merely fantasy and fact, Pethes likes to consider them as having a close
relationship.
You may wonder how literature can help us figure anything out about human cloning
since it has not yet been accomplished. There is, however, another issue with human cloning
that arises from this topic. Reproductive cloning, or growing human organs via stem cell
research, is a reality now. In October of 2006, British researchers took a blood sample from a
newborn baby's umbilical cord and used the stem cells from the blood sample to grow a human
liver. The reporter from the Daily Mail quoted one of the scientists that said," Within five years,
pieces of artificial tissue could be used to repair livers damaged by injury, disease, [and] alcohol
abuse… And then, in just 15 years' time, entire liver transplants could take place using organs
grown in a lab" (MacRae).
The hot topic of human cloning brings several practices along with it: reproductive
cloning, genetic engineering, and stem cell research. These matters are not just for the upper-
class doctors and biologists to discuss. Most everyone here today has been exposed to cloning,
thanks to the entertainment industry. The most popular forms of science fiction are in top-list hit
movies such as Star Wars, Jurassic Park, Star Trek, and The Island. Most of these movies
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originated from books, but they are most commonly known by their appearance in theaters.
Popular novels that may have found their way onto your bookshelf are ones such as The
Terminal Man by Michael Crichton or The Last Book in the Universe by Rodman Philbrick.
The best literary example of the repercussions of human cloning is in the novel The
House of the Scorpion. Nancy Farmer makes her readers wonder what the drastic implications
are of reproductive cloning, or growing a human out of a Petri dish for organ harvest. The
storyline takes place in a new country in northern Mexico formed by multi-billionaire drug lords.
The head honcho, El Patron, uses advanced technology to grow clones to harvest his opium
fields. The protagonist, Matt, is a genetic replica of El Patron raised in a sheltered environment
to replace the organs. He must be kept safe and ignorant until he is old enough that his young,
strong organs can replace those of the 140-year old man.
Matt has been raised apart from other children his whole life, and in one particular
chapter, Matt makes his first contact with other children. It turns out to be a calamity as they talk
about him like a creature:
"'He is an animal," Steven said after a pause…"I've been so stupid. I should have known
what he – it – was the minute I saw it…only I thought it was living somewhere else. In a zoo,
maybe. Wherever those things are kept."
"'What are you talking about?" [his counterpart Emilia asked].
'Matt's a clone,' said Steven.
Emilia gasped, 'He can't be! He doesn't – I've seen clones. They're horrible! They
drool and mess their pants. They make animal noises.''
'This one's different. Bendito told me. Technicians are supposed to destroy the minds
at birth – it's the law. But El Patron wanted his to grow up like a real boy…'
'That's disgusting. Clones aren't people,' cried Emilia.
'Of course they aren't.'" (Farmer, 26).
When Matt discovers this is to be his destiny, he tries every possible measure to escape to
the United States. However, being a clone, he is met with a high amount of opposition and
hatred from common citizens and receives little help from the outside world. He is first put into
a work camp for orphans when he finally escapes and is indoctrinated into ruthless slave labor,
miserable living conditions, constantly deprived of food, and beaten daily for his "inadequacies".
Literary critic Hilary Crew writes effectively how Matt was treated throughout Farmer's
novel. "As an 'animal,' his friend María tells him, he has no 'soul' (159). Importantly, Farmer’s
novel enables young readers to explore what it means to be human through the narrated thoughts
and feelings of Matt, who struggles to understand and deal with the terrible significance that the
term 'clone' has for him" (Crew, 206-7). The sociological impact cloning has upon Farmer's
futuristic America is astounding. Not only is the impact on humans but on clones such as Matt.
Will clones have a say in whether or not they "donate" their organs, or will they be forced to do
so? Will science be creating a new form of legal slaves?
Farmer shows her utter distaste for the science of reproductive cloning represented in this
novel. She addresses the main question by showing in vivid detail how a clone would be treated
in different human environments that oppose the forbidden science. Matt is beaten, enslaved, and
left alone in a hostile environment in which his only purpose in life is to die. He runs for his life,
not wanting to be forced to give his heart to his genetic father even if he was the eighth genetic
replica to be killed to replace the organs of the drug lord (Farmer, 236).
With the looming possibility of human cloning above our heads, we must address issues
such as this. How will clones be treated in our society? Although the Britain scientists proved
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reproductive cloning could be done to grow livers and such, what if someone needs a heart or
lung transplant? Only a living human could provide either of those. Popular science fiction
presents this as one the largest growing science-related issues of our lifetime. If science decides
to clone humans, what will happen next?