Imagine if you lived in a world where Mexico and the U.S. where separated by a country ruled by a drug lord.It has happened to Matt in the Book house of Alacran, written by Nancy Farmer. It is the story of a clone of a man "El Patron", a drug lord that rules the country mentioned in the book. That same country is named Opium, which its wealth is produced by the drug trade. Matt does not know what his true purpose of being a clone is but he will soon find out through betrayal.
Matt is the main protagonist of the story, he is the eighth clone of El Patron or his full name Matteo Alacrán.He was born from the cells of El Patron and was the only embryo that survived the cloning process. Matt is a scrawny kid, though he has inherited many of El
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Patron's traits like stubbornness for example. In the beginning of the story he seems innocent young kid, but after he ages, he's more of a toughened up teenager. He has done lots of good things during the story, like take a severe beating for someone who he doesn't know. El Patron and Tam Lin play a key role in the story. El Patron is basically the main antagonist. He is more than one hundred years old because he uses all his clones for organ transplants and leaves the clones to die. Tam Lin on the other hand is a good guy and instead of trying to kill Matt, he helps him. Tam Lin is Matt's bodyguard, don't let his name fool you, he is actually Scottish. The Story takes place in Opium and Aztlán, the new name for Mexico. Though we can't specify what year it is, we can tell it takes place during the far future because of the technical advancements they mention. Most of the story takes place in El Patron's mansion. Some of the exciting parts of the story takes place in the mansion, most of them take place outside of the mansion. Like when Matt was captured by the farm patrol when he was trying to cross the border to Aztlán and was then sent to a working camp. But Matt was affected by the mansion the most, it's what made him know what people thought of him, where he found his first true love, and his true purpose of being a clone. In the story the author is trying to tell us a something. A moral to be precise, which is enjoy life to the fullest because you may never know when you might die. The reason for that is because El Patron wanted Matt to live a life of luxury before he is used as an organ donor by force. It is stated by one of the characters during the story that Matt did not have a chip that would mess up his brain because of El Patron . The Story starts with Matt being cloned, he later is taken care of by a woman named Celia.
Matt soon realizes he was living away from El Patron's mansion in secrecy. He is later taken to the mansion and being taken care of a woman named Rosa, a horrible woman who physically abused Matt. El Patron soon found out about his clone's abuse and severely punishes Rosa. Matt soon finds a life of luxury in the mansion and takes advantage of it for many years. After a couple of years, Matt will then have to face donating his organs to El Patron by force, but he escapes. He is then captured by farm patrol, mistaken for an illegal immigrant he is later put to work by force into a water purification plant. He later escapes again back to Opium, only to find out that he is the only person worthy of ruling Opium.
I think the book was good, not great but just good. It has a great story, though there are parts that I hate. What I don't like about it is how most of the characters are killed off during the end. My favorite part is when Rosa is punished for what she did to Matt . The book wasn't confusing at all, nor was it predictable. Over all I recommend this book to students my age I like it, so I give It a 3.9 out of 5
stars.
Mattie Ross is not a typical country girl, but rather a very typical quest type hero. Just like any other quest hero, she possesses the drive to accomplish her goal, the brains as to how to accomplish it, and the reason to embark on such a dangerous quest. Mattie wants to avenge her father’s death, Franks Ross, after Chaney shoots him in broad daylight, while he was just trying to help Chaney. When Frank is trying to talk to him, “Tom Chaney raised his rifle and shot him in the forehead, killing him instantly” (10). Mattie is devastated with this news, and sets out to find Tom Chaney, and kill him herself, or watch him be killed. She goes to Fort Smith and starts asking around for information regarding Frank Ross, her father. When Mattie looks for deputy marshals for the job, she picks Rooster Cogburn for the job, because she hears he is the one that will shoot Chaney on sight, and not just try and talk. Another way that Mattie is the hero is that she does not give in when Rooster and LeBeouf tell her to go back across the river, and they tell the ferrymen, ‘“Slim, take this girl to town and present her to the sheriff. She is a runaway. Her people are worried nearly to death about her. There is a fifty-dollar reward for her return”’ (136). LeBeouf is unquestionably telling a story about this, just to get Mattie to stay, whe...
The book had a few characters that I liked, but a lot of characters that I disliked. For example Yasmine was a character that I disliked. I didn’t like her because she brought pain to Paige’s life. Yasmine and Paige were best friends for months in Sixth grade. They were constantly doing fun activities together, like having sleepovers or planning each other’s birthday parties, but all that was ruined by a mistake Yasmine made. Paige and Yasmine were at a school dance, when
I found the book to be easy, exciting reading because the story line was very realistic and easily relatable. This book flowed for me to a point when, at times, it was difficult to put down. Several scenes pleasantly caught me off guard and some were extremely hilarious, namely, the visit to Martha Oldcrow. I found myself really fond of the char...
In my eyes I loved the book I rate it a 9/10, its had a good twist and turn to it. I loved this
...he didn’t have resilience the book would have been very short. You can’t exactly have a protagonist thrown into a chaotic existence without them being able to withstand the lifestyle. Naiveté is an interesting considerably neutral trait. He is in youth through the book but this trait demonstrates how much he grows and learns. His desperation fueled his escapes to get out alive and determines how much he longs, craves, needs friends, family, ect. Remove a single one and you no longer have Matt. Of course there are innumerable traits that all contribute to make him up. The main idea is they make him up, as a person. Not as a drooling, morphine high, permanently damaged, primal mess of a clone that inhabitants of Opium are accustomed to, also not as a mere copy of El Patron. He’s a human being, which means he has qualities that define him just like any other person.
It is both easy and hard to read, because while most of the words s someone in 7th grade can understand or confidently infer, the puzzles are hard, and you mostly rely on the characters in the story for their answer unless you are a really g good puzzle solver. The characters were well developed, and were interesting to see them interact with each other. The plot moved slowly at first, ad got faster and faster, but it was always just the right pace for the current situation. It was interesting, as there was always something to think about. I only got bored slightly in the first chapter, but that was because it was setting up everything. It got better and better after that. I recommend it to people who like mysteries. I would recommend it to these people because they will be used to the kind of slow start, and will appreciate it for all its
What if there was a world with clones? There would be a way to live for up to 100 years effortlessly, have easy transplants, and maintain a precise memory. But, the recipient would be taking organs from someone else. "So what", he or she may justify, "they're clones, they are inferior. They don't matter because they are stupid." But what if someone had the power to allow them to be of normal intelligence? He or she might think that he or she is doing the clone a favor, but when the clone is killed for spare parts it's an even worse situation than with a retarded clone. Not for this "bandido" (Farmer 37). El Patron is a cruel, selfish, heartless man who clawed his way to power in his youth and rules people with fear, though he is powerful, he is always nagged by the fact that he may lose everything. There is no way on earth he would let that happen.
Matt Fowler’s thoughts transform into revenge as a way of healing for his family. He plans the assassination of Richard Strout. After months of planning, Matt waits for Strout to get off work: “when Strout came around it alone [the building], [sic] Matt got out of the car, giving up the hope he had kept all night (and for the week) that Strout would come out with friends” (Dubus 112-113). Ironic symbolization: Matt Fowler didn’t really want to kill Richard Strout: however, he had to protect his family and avenge the murder of his son. One murder ultimately justifies the second murder within the mindset of Matt. The story concludes with not only two murders, but also with the insinuation of the second murder being justified by Matt and Ruth
There is no question that the love Matt had for Frank was the motivation to kill Richard Strout. The story ends with two physical killings and a moral death as well. Vengeance comes at a very high price, death.
What would happen to the world when the Government and the drug producers create a partnership that benefits each side? This is reality in The House of the Scorpion, by Nancy Farmer. The drug producers are given land between Mexico and the United States, known as Aztlán, that is theirs to do whatever they want, without the interference of outside government, as long as they make sure no illegal immigrants come to the U.S. In the middle of all of this, there is Opium. This is the largest exported drug from Aztlán and the center of young Matt’s life.
My overall opinion of this book is good I really liked it and recommend it to anyone. It is a good book to read and it keep you interested throughout the whole book.
I really enjoyed this book because it was not a story about the middle of the Second World War. Instead it was right before, when things were not as bad, but they were bad enough. It helped me understand how people lived before the hatred grew and how families were torn apart right from the beginning. Likewise, it gave me hope to see that not everything was destroyed and that some people were able to escape. I would recommend this book more for boys but for girls as well, between the ages of 13-15. Even though Karl’s age throughout the book is 14-17, the novel was written more for my age group. Once again this was an amazing book that I could not put down, and I am sure many others were not able to either.
I liked all of the events in the book and how they showed Mattie’s determination to catch her dad’s killer. I did not like the movie because of how they changed some of the main events and how they changed some of the characters in the book. If the movie was just a movie then it would have been a good movie but it was created from a book so I think it should be just like the book.
Eventually Matt breaks records at his school while wrestling there. He wins two National Championships for his school, and eventually takes his career to the next level. He eventually moved on to become a Professional wrestler and then an Ultimate fighter. He is well known throughout the Deaf and Wrestling Community.
Matt is no longer with us today because the men who killed him learned to