The House of the Scorpion may be a book about a fictional country, but in reality, it is living proof that fiction can be something much more than the name might suggest. It is proof that, through an action-packed story, not only is it possible to be entertained and take a step back from the hustle and bustle of the real world, but it is possible to accrue invaluable knowledge, in this case, most notably about the choices you make in life and identity. The plot line is one that entertains, but it is clear that the author, Nancy Farmer, had much nobler intentions as well. The House of the Scorpion chronicles the story of a clone of El Patron named Matt. El Patron was the ruler of a country named Opium, which was formed through an agreement between drug lords, the most powerful of which being El Patron, and the U.S. The agreement was forged on the basis that the U.S. illegal immigration problem would be solved and that the drug lords would not sell in the U.S., if the drug lords were given the land and the government they needed to sell drugs on a massive scale for profit. In the beginning of the story, Matt was extremely young and was living with a caretaker named Celia. They lived in a house near the poppy fields on the Alacran estate, the largest …show more content…
There was no sign of life on the Alacran estate. He went inside the Big House, and finally saw a few people, three to be exact. Two were former bodyguards of El Patron, and one was Matt’s former music teacher. One of the bodyguards told Matt that at El Patron’s funeral, Tam Lin got a wine meant for El Patron’s 150th birthday, but warned him not to drink of it. Sure enough, everyone who took a sip fell dead. Unfortunately, someone who Matt deeply cared about, Tam Lin, was one of them who died. Matt was beside himself, but then he began to think about the job at hand, dissolving Opium. He heard Tam Lin’s voice saying that he could do it, and Matt felt that indeed he
“There are thirty six of them, thirty six droplets of life.” In the story Nancy Farmer uses craft move to show patterns and exceptions. She uses Spanish words to show how the characters communicate, where the setting is, and to reveal their language. The protagonist in this book is Matt and the antagonist is El Patron, El Patron is growing drugs and making clones to keep himself alive. In the House of the Scorpion, Nancy Farmer uses Spanish words to show different meanings to the book. In the House of the Scorpion, most of the characters have Spanish names. El Patron, also known as Matteo Alacran both his names are Spanish. El Patron’s grandson is a very old man named El Viejo, he has a son that they call Mr. Alacran. Mr. Alacran is the husband
The fact that harvesting the Opium and make as much money as possible truly shows Matteo’s real personality. He enslaves people and turns them into lifeless slaves, works them till they die, and replaces them in seconds. The Opium makes Matteo a heartless dictator only trying to increase profits. But the Opium to Matt is a plant and the eejits are real people under control of a terrible empire. This is shown when Matt says, “When I’m in charge---Matt quickly adjusted his thought: When I’m helping the person in charge, I’ll free the eejits” (Farmer 171). This quote shows that Matt doesn’t care about the Opium that provided him his life with Matteo. This reveals that Matt only sees Opium as a plant and that he doesn’t agree or like that it is the reason so many people are
“You are Ugly!” “Go Away” “Nobody Likes You” “Go Die!” Things like this are said to people everyday just because they might be different. As you can tell our society is not the most accepting. “The House of The Scorpion” accurately reflects this. It shows how people are discriminated for being different, how money influences and corrupts people and how power corrupts people.
“Social isolation is one of the most devastating things you can do to a human being: I don’t care how old you are” - Rosalind Wiseman
In the book House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer, the main character, Matt, lives the life of a clone, he was brought into the world as a cell from El Patrón's skin. Matt grows up in a shack in a field of opium poppies with his "mother" Celia, but he is discovered by 3 kids who live at the estate. When he tries to meet them, he cuts his feet on the glass from a broken window and is rushed back to the estate to see a doctor. He spends the next 6 months in a room full of sawdust kept as a prisoner because clones are basically livestock. The estate owner, the richest man in the world, and the person Matt is cloned from finally finds him and rescues him. He then proceeds to live his life in the mansion, all while developing an extremely close
Critics view the books by Pullman and Ransom as examples of literary excellence. In order to evaluate this opinion it is necessary to discuss what aspects critics consider contribute to a good book and how these books illustrate them. The American Library Associate (ALA) uses the term ‘edubrow’ (Kidd, (2009) p158) to mean the middle ground of literature with an educational emphasis. This emphasis is at the centre of the criteria for a good book by increasing the experiences of the reader through varied language, dynamic themes, rounded characterisation with comprehensive plots. The critics favour works that involve the reader in a non-passive manner to gain insights into universal aspects of human existence like love, identity, revenge, sexuality and betrayal.
Matteo Alacrán is the clone of El Patrón and is the only clone with a brain. El Patrón is the drug lord of a country known as Opium. Opium is a strip of poppy fields found in between the borders of the U.S and what was once known as Mexico. Matt cells split in a petri dish and then placed in the womb of a cow where his cell matured to baby. Matt is considered to be a monster by most people around him, but El Patrón loves because he considers it to be a reflection of himself as matt is derived from El Patrón that matt the scientist has made. He is considered a monster in home town matt struggles to understand his existence. His very existence is threatened by the town and El Patrón power hungry family. Matteo wonders if he will become twisted like El Patrón. El Patrón’s clone is surrounded by thousand of dangerous army bodyguards.
The characters in the House of the Scorpion had fear everyday. They had to get the courage to face that fear. But having the courage to face your fears is a lot harder than it sounds. But the characters got the courage to face their fears.Now just think if this was reality for all of us what would the world be
This book shows the greed and selfishness that leads to a disaster that will hurt millions of people. The question is, why is it important for young people today to read Night? The answer is we should learn the mistakes from the past and take it seriously and take action not only by saying I will not do it again. We should succor the victims of oppression and tyranny by being on their side and doing what is right. I believe repeating the past is the worst thing you can do.
Drugs is one of the themes in this story that shows the impact of both the user and their loved ones. There is no doubt that heroin destroys lives and families, but it offers a momentary escape from the characters ' oppressive environment and serves as a coping mechanism to help deal with the human suffering that is all around him. Suffering is seen as a contributing factor of his drug addiction and the suffering is linked to the narrator’s daughter loss of Grace. The story opens with the narrator feeling ice in his veins when he read about Sonny’s arrest for possession of heroin. The two brothers are able to patch things up and knowing that his younger brother has an addiction. He still buys him an alcoholic drink at the end of the story because, he has accepted his brother for who he really is.
This book teaches the importance of self-expression and independence. If we did not have these necessities, then life would be like those in this novel. Empty, redundant, and fearful of what is going on. The quotes above show how different life can be without our basic freedoms. This novel was very interesting and it shows, no matter how dismal a situation is, there is always a way out if you never give up, even if you have to do it alone.
This is an odd little book, but a very important one nonetheless. The story it tells is something like an extended parablethe style is plain, the characters are nearly stick figures, the story itself is contrived. And yet ... and yet, the story is powerful, distressing, even heartbreaking because the historical trend it describes is powerful, distressing, even heartbreaking.
First, Matt and El Patron's experiences and backgrounds differ dramatically. El Patron is an unloved orphan, who, through careful manipulations and deceit, became one of the most powerful men alive. Everybody at the Alacrán estate treats Matt like he is less than human, a disgusting animal. María treats him kindly most of the time, but as if he were
While reading The Monkey Wrench Gang, many images appear in one?s mind. The uses of Edward Abbey?s skill of developing characters through language, appearance, actions and opinions make this novel more enjoyable to read. The shaping of each character persuades the reader to believe that, "Oh my desert, yours is the only death I cannot bear."
In this book review I represent and analyze the three themes I found the most significant in the novel.