Character Analysis: The House Of The Scorpion

In the books, The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer, The Wave by Todd Strasser, and Twelve Angry Men by Reginald Rose, there are signs of characters standing out in a way that isn’t very welcomed in their society. The characters Matt, Laurie, and Juror 8 are some of these characters that are conflicted with their society and struggle to make the right choices, though it might not be what everyone else is doing. Matt, Laurie and Juror 8 show that just because your opinion is in the minority, doesn’t mean that you are wrong.
Matt isn’t considered human by the rest of the society, so he isn’t normally treated like a human. For a long time, the only reason why people cut him more slack than other clones is because of El Patron, the wicked

Opium plantation owner. The truth is, as Tam Lin tells Matt, “No one can tell the difference between a clone and a human. That’s because there isn’t any difference. The idea of clones being inferior is a filthy lie”(pg. 245). Matt then knows that he can get by if he doesn’t show anybody his mark that marks him as a clone, or saying that he’s a clone. Whether Matt changed the thoughts of his society or not is not found in this book but its sequel. He does change a few people’s minds, such as Marie, who if it weren’t for Matt, she might be thinking the same way as her father. Matt makes it to the end of this book with the mindset of just because he’s one of the minority, doesn’t mean he should give up. In fact, Matt even tells Chacho this when they were trapped in the boneyard, “Tam Lin says rabbits give up when they’re caught by coyotes...But humans are different. They fight against death no matter how bad things seem, and sometimes, even when everything’s against them, they win”(pg. 328). Even though this quote is about survival, it still ties in with how he struggles to make everyone change.
In Mr. Ross’ class, he started an experiment to see how the students would cooperate with a strict setting in their classroom. This becomes known as The Wave. Laurie gets to be part of this and, at first, enjoys it as much as the rest of the class does. But then her classmates start recruiting people to join and even start bullying those who won’t join. On page 99, Laurie tells her best friend Amy “The Wave has become an obsession with everyone. No one is thinking for themselves anymore.” This is exactly what has happened, and now Laurie knows that she has to put a stop to it.