Name: Thy Pham #17 The Importance of Humanity What if you’re an exact copy of someone? Will you make the same decisions as that person? Are you your own person or a backup for the original you? The House of the Scorpion, a novel written by Nancy Farmer, is about a clone named Matt that struggles with his identity and survival. Like many books, The House of the Scorpion has many themes. The theme that I feel fits best is: don’t let anyone take away your humanity. Farmer expresses this theme by writing about Matt’s inhumane treatment, Matt learning about humanity, and Rosa losing her humanity. Let’s take a closer look at the evidence. One piece of evidence for this theme is Matt’s inhumane treatment. In the book from chapters five to six, Matt was treated like an animal by …show more content…
Throughout the book, Matt was repeatedly called an “animal”. In fact, he was called, “an animal” so many times that he considered himself to be an animal. On page 92, when Maria said that Matt is like a wild animal, Matt replied that he is an animal. On page 159, Matt and Maria discuss that Matt can’t go to heaven because he doesn't have a soul and all animals don’t have souls. Everyone’s insults had such an effect on Matt that he considered himself to be an “animal” for the majority of the book and his life. Finally on page 245, Tam Lin reveals to Matt the truth that there is no difference between humans and clones. In the book, Tam Lin said that no one can tell the difference between humans and clones because there is no difference. He also said that clones being inferior are a lie. When Matt heard this, he couldn’t believe it because his whole life argued against it. However, as he lived in Aztlán, he realized that what Tam Lin had said was true and no one found out Matt was a clone until they found Matt’s tattoo. The tattoo is the only sign that shows Matt is a clone. Let’s take a closer look at a final piece of