The Genetic Code In John Steinbeck's 'Gattaca'

4. Do Vincent and Jerome stick to their new names consistently through the film, or are there moments when they revert to their original names? It is very rare that they use their original names since Vincent is practically becoming Jerome (taking his identity).

Gattaca is a science fiction moral tale that uses a murder mystery setting to tell its story. Keeping the format of the story simple and familiar was important because the subject matter is extremely complicated. At the heart of the story is DNA. Deoxyribonucleic acid not only contains our replication data, but contains the information on our inheritance, our development and our demise. DNA contains literally all the information about its organism except will and determination, or as Vincent says “There is no gene for fate.”

Gattaca is set at some point within our near future. In this future, eugenics play a major role in determining one’s status, with DNA determining one’s social class. The movie’s main character is Vincent Freeman, who was born via natural conception. His genes indicated several defects, specifically with his heart, and estimated he would live no more than 30 years. Vincent’s brother, Anton, however, was a result of genetic selection. Vincent has always dreamed of space travel, but must work as an in-valid due to his genetic origins. While working in the aerospace company Gattaca as a janitor, he is offered the chance to post as a valid, using the genes of one Jerome Morrow. Thanks to his disguise, he is able to pass frequent gene tests that the

They would run to the water and try and swim the farthest they could until one of them got to scared. Vincent used to always lose though because his heart couldn't handle it. But he never gave up , and one day he beat Anton. He saved Anton from drowning. From the moment he beat Anton, he thought he could do anything now. So he followed his dream of wanted to go up into space and ran away from home to get a job at Gattaca as a

They decided to have another swimming competition, and Anton wanted to prove that invalids could not beat valids and to prove last time they swam he did not lose to Vincent. Vincent agreed and he was ready for this challenge. Anton swam to

But as the film come to an end you could see Vincent’s valid perfect world was coming to a discrete stop by his brother trying to convict him of the fraud at Gattaca. Vincent unwilling tells Anton that it is to far now and that he has beaten the system to let him fly to space. All of Vincent’s and Jerome’s effort and hardship been put into this launch, and he would never let his own brother which was a genetically engineered male stop his path to his life long dream. Jerome shows how elitist the valid are and how they look down on

The only characters in the movie that really stood out were Vincent, Jerome, and Irene. The other characters seemed to be in a daze. They were so focused on being serious and being the best, that they did not experience any fun. Some were so caught up in their job; they were unaware of what was going on, what society was turning into. They seemed to be on a set path and would not stray from it, but some did. Vincent changed the trajectory of his life, he decided to find purpose, to fight for something he cared about. He went from being the pariah of the community to being one of the best. He did this through hard work and persistence, while those that were gifted were automatically qualified for the position of their choice. Yes, Vincent broke the law to achieve his goal, but society was preventing him from reaching his full potential. When we care about something we fight so that we can get it and keep it. We do not let someone take what is ours. Human nature prevents us from that. Jerome was paralyzed from the waist down, but that did not deter him from providing Vincent a new life, where he could be what he had always dreamed of. Jerome let someone who was not accepted become accepted, to serve a purpose in life. Vincent’s doctor at Gattaca wanted to show Vincent that there is no gene for human strive; that all of us deserve

Where could similarities possibly exist between a book set in the timeline of the 1950’s during a fictional atomic war and a movie set in the future where humans can be genetically modified? The answer is all throughout both the novel and the film. The book Lord of the Flies by William Golding and the movie Gattaca by Andrew Niccol possess many similar themes, one of which includes Social Darwinism and its survival of the fittest mentality. At a first look at the book and the movie the two may seem entirely divergent from each other but through searching deeper into both’s thematic elements, they show clearer signs as to the similarities that each possesses. Of course as mentioned before, they show a correlation between what is Social Darwinism.

To be able to work at Gattaca you must be genetically perfect or close to it. When Vincent went on his interview to Gattaca as Jerome, they didn’t ask him any job related questions. All they wanted to do was examine his genetic code which was enough to get him the job as Jerome. In this time, a person is only based off of their genetic makeup instead of their qualifying attributes.

In his short stories “Rappaccini’s Daughter” and “The Birthmark” author Nathaniel Hawthorne explores the limitations of humanity and the ability to achieve perfection. Humans are always striving to advance and evolve, forever chasing after this idea of perfection. Part of humanity is always wanting to do better, to have more. In Hawthorne’s short stories, the two main characters are both scientists who make an attempt at creating perfection. Hawthorne epitomizes the unattainable pursuit of perfection sought after by humans and subsequently, the overeagerness of humans to attempt to play god. In reality this desire to have complete perfection is an unattainable goal that humans can only aspire to. In the pursuit of perfection, the greatest risk is to become too caught up in perfection and to then lose the ethics and morality of humanity.

A “degenerate”, his “real resume was in [his] cells” and genetic code, preventing him from pursuing his dream to be an astronaut. Regardless of how hard he works, “the best test score in the world wasn’t going to matter, unless [he] had the blood test to go with it”. Instead of complying with society’s views and seeing himself as “chronically ill”, Vincent instead works hard against the expectations given to him by society. This is inherently risky, not only for the potential for legal reparations for fraudulently taking a valid man’s identity but also due to the intensive training needed to succeed in Gattaca. Vincent puts himself in danger of physical and legal harm every day by going against society’s expectations about his potential and genetic health. Through his success at Gattaca, he proves that “there‘s not a gene for fate” and demonstrates that while his life will always be full of risks, the rewards he finds through pursuing his dreams are far greater. Similarly, in the pursuit of his dream, Vincent also moves past the risky life allotted to people of his genetic material; invalids are given low-paying, menial work, and experience lives of discrimination and shame. The dangers of complying with society’s views are therefore demonstrated by Niccol to be far greater than those associated with going against the public’s beliefs through this characterisation, showing how limiting life can be if people simply comply with what society expects of

However, making a conscious choice and physical payment to alter the very genetic essence of my own child, with all the connotations of trying to obtain a “perfect” baby, is a highly disputable debate of morality and ethics. I myself would find myself plagued with a tinge of shame every time I see my child, as though I would have been unsatisfied with what their truest form, by natural conception. What must be realized though, is that in the society of Gattaca, those who are conceived naturally, with or without the presence of a genetic disorder, are given a congenital disadvantage in life, labelled from birth by the full details of their physicality and genetic code. Giving birth to a child that I know could likely be destined to little more than a janitor for his entire life, would also give me an immense amount of guilt. Bringing a child into this world of defined prejudice, who would have no chance to fully experience life and chase their own dreams, would thus help me justify what would be my final decision: to seize the ability to have my child’s genome genetically engineered and have my child born free of defects, genetically

The ability to affect the development of a fetus before birth was also technological advancement showcased in the film Gattaca. Rather than this technology being used as an active method for reinforcement of the social hierarchy, the technology was used as a method for discrimination. Having these productive changes made citizens ‘valid’ and productive members of society, while the lack of these rendered you ‘invalid’. Without allowing citizens to determine their own fate and success, society determines their worth before they are born. Within the film, Vincent, an invalid, applies to be an astronaut, and uses the DNA of a valid in hopes he will be able to get the job. A doctor working for the company tests his sample, and informs Vincent he has the

The ethical issues expressed in Gattaca raise multiple philosophical questions about the morality involved in legal dishonesty, the importance of majority gain, and God’s role in determining right and wrong. Relativism states that moral standards change to suit the unique circumstances of every act (Velasquez 513). Although dishonest, Vincent’s identity falsification would not be considered immoral by a relativist, who would view the unjust genetic discrimination imposed upon Vincent by society as sufficient cause for a necessary deception. Paradoxically, a utilitarian – aiming at the greatest good for the greatest number – would vouch instead for the morality of ‘genoism’: while Vincent’s genetic flaws did not obstruct his competence, a utilitarian would classify him as a rare exception to an otherwise efficient and collectively beneficial system (Velasquez 523). The position maintained by Scriptural Divine Command theory, however, is distinguished by its disregard for consequences in

Even after being discriminated and marginalised from society by his ‘low’ quality genes, Vincent never gave in. SInce the genetically engineered individuals form the society’s elite, parents wish to select the best versions of their genes to create the ‘perfect’ offspring, this suppresses individuality as the society still ends up conformed to the rules of a striving organisation towards a ‘perfect’ society. This would result in no individuality within a society which would mean that the society could never evolve as there will be no one to oppose or notice the flaws in this ‘perfect’ society. Vincent becomes the exception when he didn’t accept being treated as an inferior the way Irene had. She accepted the fact that she would never accomplish her dream of space travel and so, she accepted her role in Gattaca. This is shown through her obedience to follow any order given to her by the director. VIncent’s achievements showed that invalids can be just as good as valids. He showed Irene that he was here “to show that it’s possible” for those who are marginalised to be just as good. These accomplishments were reached only because Vincent didn’t conform to the society by taking risks that involved being suspected as a murderer and as an infiltrated invalid. Both of which would result in severe punishments. In addition, when he won the final