Free Will vs. Predetermination
Matteo “Matt” Alacrán, the main character of The House of the Scorpion, is a clone of the powerful drug lord, El Patrón, created for the sole purpose of providing organ transplants. Matt’s society sees his destiny as therefore prefixed. Even Matt’s DNA is supposed to determine his traits to be exactly like El Patrón. However, Matt asserts his free will by escaping from El Patrón’s estate and choosing to be kind whereas…
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Scientific Ethics and Abuse
The medical advances in the futuristic country of Opium in The House of the Scorpion show the miracles science could achieve, as well as the high human costs of those miracles. In the novel, scientific advancement allows society to overcome diseases like cancer and Alzheimer’s, but at the cost of the lives of clones. The country of Opium has created the most efficient workers by robbing illegal immigrants of their free will. Dictator and drug…
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Language, Law, and Dehumanization
The leaders of Opium, the futuristic country in which the novel is set, use language and law to strip clones and eejits (enslaved people who have computer chips in their brains) of their humanity. Once those in power deny these groups their humanity, they can exploit their bodies for their own gain. However, both the clones (like Matt) and eejits (like the Lost Boys’ parents) prove their inherent, undeniable humanity through Matt’s ability to…
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Abuse of Power and Corruption
In The House of the Scorpion, Matt encounters two very different systems of government: his home country of Opium, where all power is centered around one individual (El Patrón), and the orphanage in the neighboring country of Aztlán, where every individual is required to labor for the collective good of society. Despite their differences in the distribution of power, both systems are corrupt and abusive. While El Patrón exploits his family, his…
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