Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The House of the Scorpion, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Free Will vs. Predetermination
Scientific Ethics and Abuse
Language, Law, and Dehumanization
Abuse of Power and Corruption
Summary
Analysis
Matt doesn’t understand how he can be a clone if what he just saw is also a clone. He thinks about how the doctor said clones fall apart as they age, and wonders if the same will happen to him. He goes to find Celia and tells her what Tom showed him and María. Enraged, Celia tells Matt that Tom is actually MacGregor’s son, even though he acts like a scorpion like the rest of the Alacráns. Tom was conceived when Felicia briefly ran off with MacGregor. El Patrón then stole Felicia back and imprisoned her on the estate.
Matt’s struggle for identity is caused by the conflict between his own sense of individuality and society’s categorization of him as a clone. Matt’s broadened knowledge of clones, as he connects his observation of MacGregor’s clone with what the doctor previously said, highlights how Matt’s increased consciousness of the fate of clones only heightens his sense of suffering.
Themes
Matt asks about MacGregor’s clone. Celia hesitates, because someone is always listening within the walls of the house. With Matt’s persuasion, she reveals that scientists destroyed the brain of MacGregor’s clone at birth, because the law requires them to. El Patrón broke this law for Matt. Matt takes this as a sign of El Patrón’s love for him, sparing his mind so that Matt may become someone greater than a clone or maybe even a human. Although Celia assures Matt that he’ll be safe for his entire life, she starts crying.
Matt’s interpretation of El Patrón’s decision not to scramble his brain shows how Matt is desperate to remain unique in a society which erases his personal identity for being a clone, as well as his desire to use his success to overcome his society’s prejudices. Celia’s tears suggest she does not truly believe her own statement about Matt being safe forever.
Themes
Feeling more at ease, Matt goes to take a nap. He contemplates how he will show María that he’s totally different from MacGregor’s clone. He wonders why MacGregor would replace his lost son Tom with a brain-damaged clone.
Matt’s continued confusion over MacGregor’s treatment of his clone shows the conflict between what Matt has been told about clones and the reality he has witnessed. His uncertainty implies that the clones serve a purpose beyond what is able to make sense of at this point.
Themes
María continues to avoid Matt, but he knows if he could just speak to her alone, she would see that he’s different from all other clones. MacGregor comes back from his medical procedures, looking progressively healthier. Matt decides he must bring María to him by stealing Furball. But first, he must make sure Furball doesn’t bark and alert other people to his scheme.
Matt’s commitment to reconcile with María shows he is still motivated by the hope that he can prove his individual worth to others in spite of their prejudice toward him. This motivation leads him to the complicated scheme to kidnap Furball, suggesting the naiveté and futility of Matt’s ambitions.
Themes
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Matt knows from past exploration that part of the secret passage leads to Felicia’s closet. There, he finds laudanum (“opium dissolved in alcohol”), which Felicia uses to sleep. He steals a bottle and goes out to the beautiful, Egyptian-inspired lotus pond. There, he makes a bed for Furball. He runs into Tom, who is nailing frogs to the ground. Matt threatens to tell María what Tom is doing, but Tom is unnervingly calm. He talks about the natural food chain one can observe out by the pond.
The “Egyptian-inspired” pond references a nostalgic obsession with a kingdom of the past, further showcasing El Patrón’s obsession with unnaturally preserving antiquated things—including his elderly self. Tom’s torture of animals and his calculating calmness highlights his violent and cruel nature. His food chain comment references the natural superiority he feels over clones, perhaps because he feels lesser within the family for being an illegitimate son.
Themes
Matt attempts one last time to speak to María outside her apartment, but she makes an excuse to avoid him. After she leaves, he sneaks into her room and temps Furball out with a piece of hamburger meat. He feeds the dog until it falls asleep and then leaves a signed note for María. He takes Furball out to the pond without even having to use the laudanum. He sets the dog and the bottle down and returns to his apartment.
María’s continued avoidance of Matt suggests her internal conflict between her personal relationship with Matt and what she has learned about clones. Her inability to connect with Matt due to this conflict motivates Matt to commit the morally dubious act of stealing her dog.
Themes
That night, Matt sneaks out to the lotus pond, though he is still a little scared of the monster myths of his childhood. He goes to where he left Furball, but suddenly all the lights around the garden turn on. Daft Donald and Tam Lin grab him and drag him out into the lawn. Senator Mendoza appears and calls Matt worse than an animal, swearing that Matt will never see María again. Matt doesn’t understand, until Senator Mendoza accuses him of killing Furball with laudanum. Matt says he wouldn’t commit such a crime because he loves María, which further infuriates Senator Mendoza.
Ironically, Matt’s plan to prove he is worth more than a clone ends with him being accused as being less than an animal, showing the futility of Matt attempting to prove his humanity to those who strive to dehumanize him. This dehumanization is further highlighted by Senator Mendoza’s anger at the implication that Matt and María could ever genuinely love each other.
Themes
Senator Mendoza leaves while Matt insists that he didn’t kill Furball and didn’t even use the laudanum. Tam Lin says Matt’s fingerprints were on the laudanum bottle. He tells Matt that the most cowardly thing a person can do is lie. Matt argues that he is telling the truth, but Tam Lin believes Matt accidently overdosed Furball and now is lying about using the laudanum. Tam Lin tells him María is leaving soon, and so is El Patrón. Tam Lin will be leaving with El Patrón.
Tam Lin’s disappointment in Matt for lying shows that he expects Matt to act morally, in contrast to the rest of Matt’s society, who expect him to act like an amoral animal. This heightens the injustice Matt feels at being falsely accused of killing Furball. This is a devastating loss to Matt, as he lost two of the few friends he has in a society that hates him.
Themes
