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
Ton-Ton complains about his pain to the boy in charge of the infirmary, whose name is Luna. Luna is a Keeper-in-training who was once a Lost Boy. Luna tells Matt that all Lost Boys become Keepers eventually, but Matt says there are too many Lost Boys and not enough Keepers for that to be true. Luna and Ton-Ton do not agree with his logic. Ton-Ton tells Matt all about the videogames, television, and pool in the Keepers’ compound. The Keepers also have parties and better food. Matt realizes Ton-Ton may see dumb, but he is actually very observant and very knowledgeable about the factory’s machinery.
Luna shows how one can become so brainwashed by oppression that they cannot see the reality in front of them, as Matt fails to reason with him. Luna also represents how individuals living under an oppressive system will cope by dreaming of the day when they can become the oppressors. Ton-Ton exposes the Keepers’ hypocrisy by detailing how they unfairly live in luxury while the Lost Boys suffer in harsh conditions.
Themes
Ton-Ton is distressed by the amount of punishment he receives even though he follows all the Keepers’ rules. Luna says Ton-Ton must have done something to receive a beating from Jorge. Matt encourages Ton-Ton to describe in detail the fancy food and dessert the Keepers eat. Matt asks Luna and Ton-Ton if it is fair that the Keepers receive such luxury when the Lost Boys live in scarcity. Luna and Ton-Ton argue that the Keepers have earned their blessings, and one day the Lost Boys will, too.
Ton-Ton and Luna’s insistence of the justice of a clearly unjust system demonstrates how oppressed individuals can deny logic and accept the language of the oppressor in order to survive the treatment they face. The Keepers show how a corrupt power can prevent rebellion by continuously promising a better life in the future for the oppressed.
Themes
Luna offers Matt some more laudanum, but he refuses. Luna says he takes the drug often, but Ton-Ton says one is not supposed to get high until they become a Keeper. Matt realizes the Keepers are all abusing drugs every single night, which offers an opportunity for escape. He asks the boys where San Luis is. Ton-Ton is actually from San Luis, but has never thought of returning there. Matt realizes his face is covered in zits and Luna says it is a side effect of working with plankton. Matt realizes the Keepers do not have zits, meaning that the acne comes from eating plankton rather than working with it.
The Keepers’ abuse of drugs and the opportunity it gives Matt to potentially escape shows how a government’s corruption can lead to its own downfall. Ton-Ton never thinking about returning to his home shows how the Keepers have abused him to the point where he suffers from psychological as well as physical imprisonment, not dissimilar to how the eejits are brainwashed in opium. The acne is a seemingly trivial yet tangible example of how the Keepers’ society, despite its dogma, is deeply unequal.
Themes
The next day, Jorge makes Matt and Ton-Ton return to work, even though Ton-Ton is still injured. Matt is eager to plan his escape. Matt knows he must somehow shut off the electric fence during the night and then travel the 20 miles to San Luis. He commits to taking Chacho and Fidelito with him but worries about how Fidelito will make the long journey. He realizes friendship is a burden, but he is still grateful to have friends for the first time in his life. He considers blowing up the Keepers, but realizes that would be morally wrong.
Matt’s refusal to abandon his friends even though this would be convenient, and his refusal to act on his darker impulses of hurting the Keepers shows how he is choosing to be moral just like Tam Lin encouraged him to be. Matt’s freedom is restricted by personal relations, as it was back in Opium, but now Matt has come to realize that love and loyalty toward others is worth the sacrifice one must make.
Themes
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Chacho and Matt wait for Ton-Ton to arrive with the shrimp harvester. Chacho hates Ton-Ton for sucking up to the Keepers, but Matt says they need Ton-Ton for their escape plan. Fidelito says his grandma taught him to be kind to the meanest people, because they are the ones who need the most love. Ton-Ton arrives and suspects that the three boys are waiting to beat him up. Matt tells him they just want to be friends. He asks Ton-Ton about San Luis. Ton-Ton says his family used to live there, but everyone, except his grandma, disappeared going over the border.
Chacho and Matt gravitate toward the immoral decision of exploiting Ton-Ton for his knowledge of the Keepers. However, Fidelito encourages them to make the moral choice of compassion, similar to how Tam Lin, Celia, and María have always encouraged Matt to be kind and fair. This further emphasizes how personal relationships can have a positive effect on one’s moral character.
Themes
Ton-Ton tells Matt about how Jorge saved him from the Farm Patrol, so therefore Ton-Ton owes him his life. He will become a Keeper and never go to San Luis to look for his grandmother. Matt then encourages Ton-Ton to describe San Luis in detail. Ton-Ton talks about his large family who lived happily together despite their poverty. Ton-Ton offers to lie and tell the Keepers the harvester broke so the boys will not get in trouble for being late.
Jorge’s cruelty is further emphasized by his exploitation of the debt that Ton-Ton feels like he owes to him. Ton-Ton’s offer to lie for the sake of the other boys suggests his relationship to them is beginning to encourage rebellion. Ton-Ton’s family’s happiness in poverty contrasts with the Alacrán family’s misery in wealth, suggesting that power and affluence do not guarantee a fulfilling life.
Themes
Matt tells Chacho that Celia is his mother, because that’s how he thinks of her. He considers Tam Lin to be his father. Suddenly, Matt is overcome with longing for the loved ones of his past life. Chacho empathizes with Matt’s sadness over his lost family because all the Lost Boys are orphaned.
Matt acknowledges the parental influence Tam Lin and Celia had on his moral development. This acknowledgement shows that Matt is not the unloved orphan he always thought he was, and the struggles of the Lost Boys allow him to feel gratitude for his upbringing despite the discrimination he faced as a clone. Chacho’s reaction suggests that, despite his tough exterior, he is also capable of great empathy.
Themes
