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
María wonders who made the secret passage. Matt guesses El Patrón made it to spy on people. María insinuates that El Patrón is creepy, but Matt defends him. Matt and María attempt to escape the intense heat of the passage and end up in an air-conditioned room full of computers.
Matt’s defense of El Patrón shows his enduring loyalty to the man, at the expense of conflicting with his friend, María. The presence of the many computers in this hidden area suggests a greater, potentially darker purpose for the room.
Themes
María says she decided to forgive Matt after reading about Saint Francis, a Catholic saint who convinced a wolf to stop terrorizing a town and to become vegetarian. Saint Francis decided not to punish to wolf for his past deeds, but instead encouraged him to live an honorable life from then on.
María says she won’t hold a grudge against Matt for his past actions, as long as he promises to be moral from now on. Matt agrees because he missed María. He calls María a saint. María talks about all her mistakes at school, and Matt asks if she has been baptized. She says of course, or else she wouldn’t be able to go to heaven. Matt asks about the priest’s harsh words toward him. María says that society believes Matt doesn’t have a soul, just like animals don’t, so therefore he can’t go to heaven. María disagrees, however, that animals can’t go to heaven.
María’s encouragement of Matt to be moral shows how she is a positive influence on his ability to use his free will to make the right choices. The question of whether or not Matt has a soul mirrors the question of whether or not Matt is a human. María’s comparison of Matt’s soullessness to that of animals shows that, although her views are progressing, she still equates him with an animal.
Themes
María is happy to be with Matt because he is so easy to talk to. They hear voices coming so they run back into the passage. Through the peephole they see Tom and Felicia enter the computer room. Felicia sits down at one of the computers, which shows security footage of El Viejo’s body in the salon. Felicia laments how he is now useless, because one can’t harvest organs from person who died of cancer. Tom and Felicia laugh at El Viejo.
Felicia’s comments show how she is just as cruel as Tom, despite her previous appearance as a helpless prisoner. Whereas Matt is trying to deviate from how others have treated him, Felicia has conformed to the cruelty around her. Her comments about El Viejo’s dead body also show how their society reduces the value of everyone (not just clones) to their body’s ability to sustain the lives of others.
Themes
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Tom and Felicia sit at the computer and scroll through security footage from the house until they see María’s black hat abandoned in the music room. They switch to the camera’s in Celia’s apartment, where Celia sits with Tam Lin. Celia and Tam Lin wonder where María and Matt could have gone, but they hold back their words because they know someone is listening.
The camera’s placed throughout the house further emphasize the sinister nature of the family, because no one is allowed the right to privacy. Celia and Tam Lin’s self-censorship shows they are aware of the abuses of their society, such as the constant surveillance, which explains why they are so eager to empower Matt to think and act for himself.
Themes
Felicia suggests they look at the security footage from outside. She shows Tom the lotus pond and asks him if he remembers what happened there. Felicia tells Tom she saw Matt leaving María’s apartment with Furball. Tom asks her if she saw Matt kill the dog. Felicia admits that she herself killed Furball and blamed Matt, because she was angry with how Matt treated Tom at the birthday party. She poisoned Furball with her own bottle of laudanum. Matt and María listen to all this, horrified, from within the passage.
Felicia’s vindictiveness is further highlighted by her killing of an innocent animal in order to frame Matt. Her anger at Matt shows how she discriminates against him as a clone, because she is outraged that her human son, even through he is evil, is treated worse than a clone. Felicia’s admission holds further significance for Matt’s character because it clears his name for María.
Themes
Matt and María run into Tam Lin in the passage. Tam Lin says El Patrón told him about the secret passage a long time ago. María reveals to Tam Lin that Felicia killed Furball. Tam Lin offers to sneak María out through El Patrón’s study because her father is looking for her. Before she leaves, María scolds Matt for letting her forgive him for a crime he didn’t commit. She tells Matt she’ll miss him and reminds him of his promise to be good.
María continues to influence Matt to choose to be kind, even though his society is cruel. This scene also heals the riff in Matt and Tam Lin’s relationship, so Tam Lin may continue to influence Matt’s life. Tam Lin’s assistance to María shows how he will help the children defy the authority figures of their society.
Themes
