The House Of The Scorpion Character Analysis

The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer Fascinating and insightful, Nancy Farmer’s book The House of the Scorpion holds the power to captivate any audience with the tale of a young boy named Matteo Alacran. Being a clone, Matteo, called Matt, faces many perilous and persistent challenges that force him to change the way he thinks and acts. Affected immensely by the other characters in the story, Matt learns that not everyone gets what they deserve. Throughout this story of prejudice, danger, and love, there are several important turning points that altered the course of the novel dramatically. The first turning point for Matt is when he jumps out of the window of his home. When he cuts his foot on the glass from the window, the children of the Alacran estate take him to the doctor, which ultimately leads to him becoming imprisoned. Before this happens, Matt is young, naive, and lonely. Because of his isolation and lack of human interaction, he lacks social skills. Matt is, however, very curious and yearns to meet other children, but the fear instilled in him is still present. Farmer shows the reader how desperate Matt is for others to interact with when she describes, “He sprawled over the pillows and pretended to feed the stuffed dog, the teddy bear, the rabbit… For a while this was fun, but then a hollow feeling began to grow inside Matt. These weren’t real animals. He could talk to them all he liked. They couldn’t understand. In some we

Matt’s struggles and growth throughout the story wouldn’t be possible without these major changes, so it is very important for the reader to acknowledge them. Farmer does an incredible job making The House of the Scorpion an interesting novel with story-altering turning points that perfectly highlight Matt’s ability to adapt to new situations and learn from past