The House of the Scorpion

The House of the Scorpion, by Nancy Farmer, is a novel about the life of a clone named Matt and the struggles he faces in his somber life. The novel takes place in the future in Opium, a country separating the United States and Aztlan, the name of the present-day country of Mexico. Opium is led by a corrupt drug lord named El Patron, a member of the Alacran family. In the beginning of the novel, Matt is an infant who lives at the Alacran family’s house under the guidance of a housekeeper named Celia. As Matt ages, he is eventually exposed to the truth about his past and how he came to be. Matt discovers that the whole purpose of him being created was only as a resource for organs. El Patron, the human from which Matt was created, has an obsession with staying alive for eternity and plans to use Matt’s existence for his own personal gain. When El Patron’s heart finally gives out, the time comes for Matt to fulfill his “purpose” and have his heart transplanted to El Patron’s body in order for El Patron to cheat death once again. However, El Patron’s chances of escaping death’s grasp on him slip through his fingers when he finds out Celia has poisoned Matt. Due to the poisoning, if the transplant took place, the poison would surely kill El Patron. Matt is spared thanks to the clever thinking of his guardian and El Patron dies from heart failure. Matt escapes the Alacran Mansion and leaves for Aztlan, present-day Mexico, to find Maria, his childhood crush. In Aztlan, Matt is forced to stay at an orphanage and work in a plankton factory until he gains the trust and support of the other orphans and leads a rebellion against the orphanage and finally gains the freedom to continue his search for Maria. Eventually, Matt locates Maria and her mother, Esperanza, at a local convent. Esperanza, as Matt finds out, is a cloned human rights leader of the United States and declares that Matt is legally the real El Patron since the real El Patron’s death. Furthermore, Matt gains all of El Patron’s possessions and power and therefore becomes the ruler of Opium. Matt plans to end the corruption caused by Opium and restore the way of life before the wicked drug lord El Patron came into power.
I enjoyed reading The House of the Scorpion because the novel gives an interesting view of a possible scenario of what a future could be like. I felt that, in time, the world could change completely from the way we know it today, where freedom is cherished, and become anything from your wildest imagination. The novel deals with the rights of people and the struggle those who are different from society to earn those rights. In the end, the reader feels inspired and appreciative of their life. I would recommend this book to anyone except those who dislike novels that may feel too distance from today’s reality.