The House Of The Scorpion Comparison

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

producer of drugs in Opium.
Matt wouldn’t live in seclusion forever, though. Eventually, three of the Alacran children found him, and Matt smashed the glass on one of the windows to his house. He then proceeded to jump barefoot outside to meet them, but suffered severe wounds, and was carted to the Big House, the mansion on the Alacran estate, and was treated very nicely. However, when Matt was identified as a clone, he was thrown in jail and utterly disregarded, at least until El Patron found out. He was livid and gave Matt a room in the mansion, clothes, a dedicated tutor, and even a bodyguard. While at the Big House, he became good friends with one of the Alacran girls, Maria, who would play a pivotal role in the story later on.
Unfortunately, Matt’s nightmares didn’t end after El Patron began to treat him extremely well. Even though everyone else knew he was a clone, he only found out after a mean joke, but he found out something very distressing as well -- all clones were to be harvested for their organs! Matt was astonished, but he didn’t believe that could be true for him, because of how well El Patron treated him. He was in for a cold surprise. For a while, Matt lived relatively peacefully, going on adventures with his tough-loving bodyguard, Tam Lin, taking lessons from various eejits, or clones, just like him, and enjoying Celia’s loving company.
Unfortunately, this wouldn’t go on forever, far from it. At the wedding of Steven, El Patron’s great-grandson, and Emilia, Maria’s older sister, El Patron suffered a heart attack. Maria attempted to help Matt escape, but she couldn’t, and Matt was taken to the hospital. There, El Patron confirmed Matt’s true use. He told him that he had several clones, treated them all well, and then killed all of them. Matt was just one in a group of many. Just as it appeared that Matt met his doom, something stunning happened. His caretaker spoke up, saying that she secretly fed Matt arsenic, not enough to kill him, but enough to kill someone as frail as El Patron. El Patron became livid, and out of this shock, suffered a fatal heart attack. After El Patron died, Mr. Alacran ordered Tam Lin to dispose of Matt, who was seen as nothing but a filthy clone. Luckily for Matt, though, instead of doing his bidding, he secretly led him to the natural area that he had shown Matt before, and they had spent considerable time together at. It was a sort of portal that went from the poppy fields, full of eejits, clones that did everything they were told, to their own detriment, to another, beautiful world. There, Tam Lin had to part ways with Matt, but he gave Matt everything he needed to escape Opium to Aztlan, a free country with all of the newest technologies, which were strictly forbidden in Opium, with the exception of medical technology.
Matt began on his treacherous journey to Aztlan, and despite dealing with everything imaginable, from scaling cliffs to dealing with the heavily armed Farm patrol, he arrived in Aztlan safely. His plan was to meet up with Maria’s mother, Esperanza, a famed opponent of Opium. However, he had to face some roadblocks first. He was sent to live with the Keepers, who had a Marxist ideology, and emphasized the effects of Marxism in practice, in which those with all of the power could do whatever they wanted, while the people lower down suffered due to so-called economic equality. The Keepers made Matt work at a plankton factory, where workers labored long hours, ate terrible meals that consisted of plankton, and then had a storytime, in which the Keepers fed the workers Marxist propaganda. Matt often spoke up, but this didn’t go without reprimand. Verbal warnings were used first, but then, force was used. Eventually, this got so bad that Matt and a friend from the factory were sent to die in the boneyard, a huge pit of whale bones. Matt somehow found his way out, but his friend passed out, at least until help arrived. Others from the factory showed up with a vehicle, and the started another tough journey, this to the city of San Luis, where Matt was to meet Esperanza. Matt got there and did meet Esperanza. She told him that Opium was in trouble, as they had no connection with the outside world since El Patron’s death -- and that Matt was the leader of the country. Matt was stunned but agreed to lead the country and to destroy it.
Upon arriving in Opium, something seemed awry.

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

could.
The House of the Scorpion is an exciting science-fiction story, with all kinds of twists and turns. However, there is much more to the story. Through what many would consider an extremely odd book, Nancy Farmer still found a way to effectively characterize Matt, the main character in the story, and make sure that the reader would truly feel connected to him. It is apparent that Matt is the main character because he is the only character in which thoughts are revealed to the reader. An example of this is, “ … those were Matt’s sentiments too.” (106) While the reader knows this, the people Matt was surrounded by didn’t, and that was unique to Matt in the story. Matt was the protagonist in the story, but he didn’t always assume the role of one. He experienced an incredible change, from someone who was cultivated in another’s image, to someone extremely unique.
Initially, Matt assumed the nature of El Patron, the cruel dictator of Opium. He acted ruthless, without care for others, and equated money with love. The principal example of this ruthlessness was during chapter eleven. The first example was when Matt answered when questioned about Tom’s whereabouts, “‘I put him [Tom] at the baby table … ’ El Patron laughed. ‘That’s the stuff, Mi Vida. Get rid of your enemies when you can. I don’t like Tom either, and dinner will be better without him.’” (104) The worse and more telling of the two examples, however, occurred later in the chapter. It was when Matt demanded,
“‘a birthday kiss.’ Gasps richoted around the crowd. Senator Mendoza turned ashen, and put his hands protectively on Maria’s shoulders. ‘Don’t do this,’ murmured Tam Lin. El Patron beamed with delight. ‘It’s my party too,’ said Matt, ‘and I can have anything I want. Isn’t that so, mi patron?’ ‘It’s so, my little fighting cock. Give him the kiss, girl.’ ‘He’s a clone!’ Senator Mendoza cried. ‘He’s my clone.’” (109)
Matt had the makings of El Patron, and El Patron was pleased. However, fortunately, Matt eventually saw the light.
In the beginning of the story, Matt was lost. He didn’t know the way to being a good, respectable person, and followed the footsteps of the seemingly generous El Patron. When El Patron finally attempted to kill him and use him for a heart transplant, though, Matt began to walk down a different trail, because for the first time, he experienced true mercy. His caretaker, Celia, who truly loved him, said, “... I began feeding him arsenic… I didn’t give Matt enough to kill him -- I wouldn’t do that! -- but enough to kill anyone already weak who tried to steal his heart. You’ve had your eight lives, El Patron. It’s time to make your peace with God.” (236) Matt would never forget, and in chapter 27, his new nature, one of kindness and thoughtfulness, shined through. This occurred when, “Matt helped Fidelito make pills. It seemed monstrously unfair that the little boy was deprived of food simply because he was slower than the larger boys.” (270) Unlike before, when Matt took advantage of his situation to the detriment of others, he helped another person out, even though he could have benefited from only taking care of himself. He had morphed into another, more caring person, and found his role in life, helping others. This made him extremely determined to meet Esperanza, which he did, and she informed him that he would be fulfilling that destiny, by disbanding Opium and reuniting Aztlan and the U.S. In the beginning of the story, it seemed that Matt’s destiny would be having his organ harvested, but his destiny changed in a big way, to dedicating his life to serve others, and to do right.
Matt is the classic example of a dynamic character or a character who evolved. In the beginning of the story, Matt didn’t think highly of himself and used power to cover up this weakness. Later on, though, Matt saw the light. He became kind and generous and didn’t think of himself as a clone. He thought of himself as a real person with real feelings, who wasn’t just a shadow of someone else -- he was someone unique, someone, who was destined to change the world, and he intended to do just that.
Along with bold, vivid characterization, and one of the most exciting plots conceivable in a story, Nancy Farmer threw in some invaluable life lessons in The House of the Scorpion. The first of the two most important ones has to do with the choices you make in life. This theme begins to develop in chapter seven, when Tam Lin explained to Matt, “When you’re small you can choose which way to grow. If you’re kind and decent, you grow into a kind and decent man. If you’re like El Patron… Just think about it.” (70) At this time, Matt was very young and was still learning about himself. Since Tam Lin truly cared about him, he wanted to give Matt good advice as he grew up, and for the first time, he revealed to Matt that your choices shape your life. The theme was further developed twice in chapter eleven, first on a more religious note, with, “He’s [Mr. Alacran] deeply religious. He thinks God put him on earth for a certain number of years and that he mustn’t ask for more,” (106) which El Patron thought was foolish. This is another example of a choice made in life and doubles down on the comment made by Tam Lin. The other time where the theme appears in chapter eleven is when Matt asked for a kiss from Maria, thus humiliating her, and, “For an instant he wanted to say, Stop. It was a joke, I didn’t mean it. But it was too late. El Patron was watching them with obvious glee, and Matt realized it might be dangerous to draw back now.” (110) This quote shows further development of the theme of choices, because Matt, for the first time, is realizing that there are tangible consequences to his choices.