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 hears María leave in a hovercraft. He has never been in a hovercraft because El Patrón usually discourages modern inventions like this, having designed the estate to match the home of a wealthy rancher from his childhood over a hundred years ago. El Patrón recreated the winged baby statues, tile fountains, and gardens all from memory, except he made these even grander because of his wealth. All technology in the house is antique, with no air-conditioning or gas stoves.
El Patrón’s exact recreation of the wealthy rancher’s mansion from his childhood, as well as the inclusion of the winged baby statues, shows his continued obsession with the pursuit of youth and the unnatural preservation of antiquated things. It also demonstrates his coveting of the wealth and status he was denied as a poor child, and suggests that this disenfranchisement may be why he is now fixated on maintaining power over others
Themes
El Patrón leaves. Matt lies in his bedroom, thinking and rethinking everything that has gone wrong since the birthday party. He knows it was Tom who killed Furball with the laudanum, but all the evidence points to Matt. He regrets Tam Lin’s last words about his cowardice. He knows Tam Lin, unlike María, holds him accountable for his supposed actions because Tam Lin sees Matt as human. Tam Lin was the only person to ever treat Matt as an equal.
Tam Lin recognizes Matt’s inherent humanity when he expects Matt to use his free will to make the right moral choices. This increases Matt’s devastation at disappointing and then losing Tam Lin, for a crime he did not commit, because Tam Lin is one of the few people who affirm Matt’s humanity.
Themes
Matt remembers how Tam Lin used to tell him about all the mistakes he himself made as a child growing up in Scotland. Matt thinks about the picnics where Tam Lin told these stories, and he begins to cry. He feels a little bit hopeful, however, because if Tam Lin sees him as more than an animal, maybe Matt can be better than society’s view of him. Matt promises himself to be the man Tam Lin expects him to be.
Tam Lin’s tears suggest the character is tormented by something greater than the average childhood mistakes. The inspiration Matt feels from Tam Lin’s expectations show how Tam Lin influences Matt both be more moral and to believe in his own worth, even as he is oppressed.
Themes
El Patrón finds out about Tom showing Matt the clone and banishes Tom from the estate, even on holidays. Matt wonders why MacGregor does not take responsibility for Tom now, but Celia explains that El Patrón never gives up anything or anyone he believes belongs to him. He has a secret tomb underground where he hoards all his valuable gifts, and where he wants to be buried like an Egyptian pharaoh. El Patrón holds onto Felicia and Tom, even though he doesn’t like them, because he wants to maintain possession of people.
El Patrón’s anger over Matt seeing another clone suggests that there may be a sinister purpose to cloning that he is trying to hide in order to keep Matt ignorant and obedient. El Patrón shows his characteristic possessiveness and controlling behavior by not allowing Tom or Felicia to leave, even though El Patrón personally does not like them. The comparison of the material gifts El Patrón hoards to the people he holds onto shows how El Patrón essentially views people as objects, rather than individuals, hinting that his kindness toward Matt is ingenuine.
Themes
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Celia says Matt wouldn’t get in so much trouble if he just knew more about the world. She tells Matt she grew up in the same impoverished village as El Patrón. As a girl, she worked in a factory and would climb on top of the building to look across the border into the country of Opium. Beyond Opium was the United States, a country Celia had heard was full of luxury. She lived in the factory for years and eventually learned cooking from an older woman.
The fact that Celia and El Patrón come from the same background, and yet Celia is kind and selfless while El Patrón is authoritarian and possessive, contributes to the idea that free will, rather than predetermined circumstances determines a person’s moral character. Celia’s wish to immigrate to the U.S. hints at the geopolitical conflict surrounding Matt’s life.
Themes
One day, Celia meets a coyote, a man who supposedly helped people illegally immigrate from Aztlán to the United States by crossing through the country of Opium. However, after a dangerous journey through the mountains, the coyote led the group Celia joined straight to the Farm Patrol, the law enforcement agency responsible for catching undocumented immigrants in Opium.
The dangerous circumstances of Celia’s immigration suggest further injustices in Matt’s society, and also mirror some of the real-world issues immigrants face today. The actions of the coyote and the Farm Patrol shows how one can abuse their power to exploit the most vulnerable.
Themes
Farm Patrol arrested Celia and dumped out her possessions. While she begged them to stop, El Patrón entered. He recognized her accent as coming from his hometown. He asked if Celia had any skills. Celia says that from that point on, she has always belonged to El Patrón. This thought makes Matt feel cold. The rest of the people from Celia’s group caught by Farm Patrol were turned into eejits.
Matt’s conflicted feelings suggest that, thanks to Celia’s information, he is beginning to become aware of the dangers of El Patrón’s possessiveness, despite Matt’s enduring love for the man. The rest of Celia’s group being turned into eejits reveals the extreme punishment for illegal immigration in Matt’s society, emphasizing the insular and oppressive nature of the country.
Themes
