El Viejo is El Patrón’s grandson and Mr. Alacrán’s father. Unlike El Patrón, El Viejo will not use clone organ transplants in order to extend his life. El Viejo is deeply religious and believes choosing not to treat his cancer is following God’s will. Thus, El Viejo presents a foil to the extreme use of science in novel to extend one’s life.
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Gustavo “El Viejo” Alacrán Character Timeline in The House of the Scorpion
The timeline below shows where the character Gustavo “El Viejo” Alacrán appears in The House of the Scorpion. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 6: El Patrón
...a sickly woman who is Mr. Alacrán’s wife, and a very old man who is Mr. Alacrán’s father . Matt can tell that none of them are happy to meet him, but they...
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Chapter 9: The Secret Passage
...of the other closets. In the next room, the doctor and Mr. Alacrán are imploring Mr. Alacrán’s father to use chemotherapy or get a liver transplant. Mr. Alacrán’s father says God is calling...
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Chapter 11: The Giving and Taking of Gifts
...Felicia and María eat their dinner miserably. Matt notices that Felicia keeps looking at MacGregor. El Viejo , Mr. Alacrán’s father, makes a mess of his dinner. El Patrón marvels to Matt...
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Chapter 15: A Starved Bird
Matt returns home and finds servants running around and hovercrafts landing. Celia tells him that El Viejo has died. Matt doesn’t mourn the man because he barely knew him, but Celia seems...
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Inside the coffin, El Viejo ’s body looks like an emaciated bird. Celia cries. Matt sees Benito, Steven, and Emilia....
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At the priest’s invitation, Mr. Alacrán says a few words for El Viejo , his departed father. Then everyone lines up to say their goodbyes to the body....
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Chapter 16: Brother Wolf
...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...
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Chapter 23: Death
...and he caught them running both toward and away from the United States. Celia says El Viejo was the only decent member of the family because he died at the natural time....
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