The House of the Scorpion by: Nancy Farmer
About the Author-
Nancy Farmer, a three time Newberry Honor award writer, has written many books. Among her most popular are "The House of the Scorpion", " The Ear , the Eye , and the Arm", and " A Girl Named Disaster." She also writes books for young children.
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The Characters-
Matteo (Matt) Alacran- strong, smart, stubborn, understanding, dynamic character, courageous, brave, protagonist, main character. He is El Patron's Clone.
Mr. Alacran- Scary, mean, cold-hearted, static character, antagonist. Head of the Alacran household..
Mrs. Felicia Alacran- mean, hateful, often appears to be slightly unconscious, antagonist. Mr. Alacran's wife.
" I wanted to kill that abomination El Patron keeps at his heels!" " Matt went cold. He had no idea how much Felicia hated him.
Tam Lin- strong, friendly, dynamic character, hates evil, protagonist. Matt's closest friend and bodyguard.
Maria-stubborn, loving, kind-hearted, friendly, round character, protagonist. Matt's girlfriend.
El Patron- Seemingly kind-hearted, evil, selfish, cruel, hateful, powerful, old,static character, antagonist. El Patron is the emperor of Opium.
" Matt still loved the man, but there was no question that he was evil."
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About the Author Part 2
She grew up on the Arizona-Mexico border and she uses that location for many of her stories including " The House of the Scorpion." She lives with her family in California.
Character's Part 2-
Tom Alacran- mean, greedy, seemingly innocent, cruel, hateful, static character. Mr. Alacran's son.
" How could anyone marry Tom? He was such a rotten little pustule. He was intolerable!"
Celia- caring, gentle, just, kind, loving, motherly, hateful towards El Patron and the Alacrans, static character. She is Matt's caretaker.
The Conflicts in this Story
-External/Person versus Person - Matt vs. El Patron:
At the end, Matt realizes that El Patron does not really love and care for him, but only wants to use his life for himself so he will be able to live longer. He tries to fight El Patron. El Patron dies.
- Internal, Person versus Self:
Matt is debating within himself to see if El Patron really loves him or only wants to use him just to gain a longer life. Matt finds out that El Patron used other clones so that when he was about to die, he could use the clones organs for himself. Matt wonders if he will have the same fate.
Point of View-
The point of view in The House of the Scorpion is Third Person Omniscient. The narrator can see into the mind of Matt, Felicia, Tom, Tam Lin and Celia.
Setting-
The setting of the story takes place in a country between Mexico and the United States. The country is called Opium and it was founded by El Patron who is one of the main characters in the story. El Patron created this country because he wanted to become a rich and famous emperor. This story takes place somewhere in the near future. There is no exact date or time except for the fact that there are ways to create clones or carbon copies of people.
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" Suddenly Matt knew what he had to do. Matt grabbed to iron cooking pot Celia used to cookand sung it as hard as he could against the window. He smashed the glass out of the window. "
Plot Line-
Exposition- Matt jumps out the window so he can play with the children outside. Matt's feet are all cut up and bleeding. The children take him home to there house which is the house of the Alacrans.
Rising Action- Matt is found out by the Alacrans that he is El Patron's clone. This means that Matt is equal to the Country's founder, whom everyone else in the country hates. Matt does not know what is going on. He had no idea he was a clone.
Climax- Later on in the story, El Patron is dying. Matt is captured and given over to be killed so that El Patron can have his life and regain a longer life for himself. However, just when Matt was about to be killed, Celia tells El Patron that she poisoned Matt when he was young so
" You must leave Opium. Be careful and quick. Take the pack, it has everything you need."
that if El Patron was dying he couldn't have Matt's life because it would kill him. At this El Patron dies and Matt is than captured by Tam Lin who pretends to be a back-stabber and is taken to the eejit pens to die. When they are far away from the house, Tam Lin tells Matt that he was pretending to be evil. He tells Matt that he must leave Opium and head for the place where Maria is staying. He must be quick, and smart. He must not be captured by the Farm Patrol. Tam Lin then says goodbye to Matt forever.
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Rising Action- Matt makes his way across the border towards the United States. He finds out where Maria is staying and he makes his way there. When he gets there, Maria's mom is already there and she has a plan to destroy the rest of Opium and help transform it into a beautiful vibrant country. In order for the plan to work however, Matt had to go back to Opium and try to organize a plan with Tam Lin.
Resolution- Matt made his way back to Opium and found Celia. Celia told him that there was a big wedding and that everyone died because Tam Lin poisoned their drinks and drank it himself. Matt then leaves for the secret place that Tam Lin showed him. There at the spot was a letter to Matt from Tam Lin. In it was Tam Lin's vioce telling Matt to "be safe and good luck. I know you can do it." Matt in turn says back to the recently dead Tam Lin,"You fool, you could have stopped it too. You could have stopped it!"
Themes- The theme of the story applies to us because many times in life we don't see people for who they really are. Matt saw El Patron as a friend and guide. He did not realize that he was just being used in order to gain a longer life until the end of the story.
Sites-
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