HOUSE OF THE SCORPION THEMES
Throughout the book, House of the Scorpion, various themes are expressed. A major theme in this book is what it means to be human, with the nature vs. nurture conspiracy. With the character, Matt, being a clone, he is at first just used for spare parts for his patron, and is ignored, hurt, mistreated, and demeaned. Later though, a character starts talking about how clones and humans are exactly the same, and should be treated that way. Some supporting quotes about how clones were being portrayed as property and just for the help of the owner are shown on pages 23 and 238.
Page 23: Mr. Alacran-“You Idiot! You need a vet for this little beast! How dare you defile this house? Take the creature outside now.”
Page 238: “I’m here to inform you we no longer need your services.”
Matt gasped. That meant El Patron was dead…
“I—I’m sorry.”
“I imagine you are. It means we no longer have a use for you,” said Mr. Alacran. “Have it put to sleep.”
Another theme in the book is of hope, and how, as the story progresses, Matt has a greater hope that he will finally be accepted, and live a normal life. But nothing is normal, and he keeps hearing doves cooing and claims that it sounds like they are saying “no hope, no hope, no hope...” This gives him a feeling after some time that there really is no hope for him, and that nothing will ever be normal for him. A quote that shows this concept can be found on page 328.
“Chacho? I’m here. The bats are settling down. I’m going to try to cut the tape again.” “We’ll never get out” “Sure we will. But we have to be very, very careful. We mustn’t fall down any farther.” “We’re going to die. If we try to climb out, the bones will shift. There’s tons of them here. We’ll fall to the bottom, and they’ll come down on top of us.”
Another theme shown is about the consequences for illegal immigration, showing a little more than necessary action of people on children, forcing them to work and abusing them for not following orders and it also shows how different social structures can be for different people. A quote that can be used as an example to show this concept is on page 280.
“There’s one of the vermin who stank up my hovercraft,” said the pilot.
“What’s your name?” said a Keeper.
“Matt Ortega,” Matt replied.
“Ah. The aristocrat. Well, you won’t get away with your swanky ways here. We’ve got something called the boneyard, and any troublemaker who goes through it comes out as harmless as a little lamb.”