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 returns to the oasis and builds a fire, hoping Farm Patrol cannot see the flames. He eats dinner and studies the map Tam Lin gave him. He lays out under the stars, briefly worrying he could float off, unattached, into the sky. Matt falls asleep but wakes at dawn when he thinks he hears something vibrating. He sees nothing but the nature around him, so he prepares breakfast. He worries about Celia, alone in the stables, pretending to be an eejit. He double-checks his supplies before leaving.
Matt’s happiness out in nature contrasts with the suffering that science and society brought upon him. His irrational fears of floating into the sky show how completely alien this experience of freedom in nature is to him. Matt shows his love and his compassion as a character by continuing to worry about Celia even as he faces his own challenges.
Themes
Matt has no problem going down the trail until he reaches a canyon covered in bushes that he has to cut away. He struggles to breathe and has to use his inhaler. He finds a machete in his backpack and uses that to cut through the rest of the brush. He arrives at a giant cliff. Tam Lin’s map tells him he must climb it. He struggles to climb it and fears he is going to fall to his death. He sees a vulture flying overhead and is filled with a deep will to live.
Matt’s struggle to survive heightens the tension of the story. The vultures represent the constant threat of death Matt faces as he escapes. Matt’s will to live shows his independence and his belief in the value of his life, both of which have been oppressed by the society he now leaves.
Themes
Matt reaches the top and throws a rock at the vulture. He has five more miles to hike, but he feels confident he can make it. He looks out toward Aztlán but cannot see the country past the mountains. He gazes back at the poppy fields and the mansion. He cries for Celia and even for El Patrón. He knows that as long as he lives, a piece of El Patrón will remain in the world.
Though Matt would like to see himself as an independent, unique individual, his emotions shows that he cannot deny the link he will always share with El Patrón as his clone. In a sense, El Patrón achieves his goal of eternal life through Matt’s survival, rather than by harvesting Matt’s organs.
Themes
Matt camps on top of the cliff. He sees more animals than he has ever seen in his life, including deer, frogs, squirrels, and hawks. He listens to the sounds of nature, which give him the same joy as music. He feels as if he lives in a world only made up of beauty, instead of the evil he has previously known. He looks out at the lights of the country of Opium, which seems less real than the natural environment around him.
The narrative again contrasts Matt’s happiness in nature to the suffering he experienced in society. This contrast shows how society and technology, as represented here by the lights of Opium, can oppress an individual’s inherent humanity and separate them from nature.
Themes
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Matt wakes up feeling courageous. He continues down the trail. Suddenly, he hears a popping noise, over and over again. He realizes the noise is two rams butting heads. Then, he hears a mechanical sound along with horns and music. He gazes out and sees a large group of factories and skyscrapers, more technology than he has ever seen. He realizes this is Aztlán. He is nervous but presses on.
The noisy, chaotic technology of Aztlán, in contrast with the peacefulness of nature, suggests Matt will encounter further struggles in the new country. The dramatic change in environment represents a dramatic change in Matt’s life as he leaves his home country for this new place, where he will be recognized simply as a human being.
Themes
Matt goes down the hill, getting poked by a cactus along the way. Through binoculars, he spots Farm Patrol agents nearby. Matt hides behind a rock until he feels safe enough to continue walking. The agents keep patrolling the boarder. Suddenly, a group of men run across the border and the agents pursue them. Matt sees his chance and runs for the border. He hears the sound of stun guns going off behind him. A Farm Patrol agent grabs Matt by the backpack but he slips away, just barely making it across the border in Aztlán, now with no possessions.
The drama of the scene brings the novel to its climatic moment, where Matt just barely frees himself from the oppression of Opium. The Farm Patrol’s pursuit of the immigrants and their use of stun guns highlight the violence and control of El Patrón’s regime. Matt’s loss of his possessions shows a dramatic transformation in his character from a boy who is wealthy but oppressed to a boy who is poor but now free. Wealth and power, then, are not the guarantors of freedom that El Patrón so adamantly held them to be.
Themes
