The book The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer was very mysterious, and includes many twists and turns that the main character, Matt Alacran, goes through. The book addresses many themes including power, harsh leaders, lies, deceit, but it also provides issues in Matt’s life like love and friendship. Nancy Farmer is a three-time Newbery Honor Author, and this story just proves her worth even more. The suspenseful and descriptive details Farmer applies plays the story page by page in the reader’s mind. Diagrams and lists are provided in the beginning of the book, to avoid confusion, which is a beneficial add on to the marvelous book.
“You really are El Patron. You have his body and his identity. You own everything he owned, and rule
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The book narrates Matt’s life, from his birth to his teens. Throughout his life, he interacts with many characters. Him and these characters are the source of the many twists and turns Farmer provides. Matt and many characters (especially Tom), build up an abundance of suspense and action in the story.
Maria, an important character in the story is the major source of the suspense between Tom and Matt. Both Tom and Matt are interested in Maria, and many suspenseful events occur because of this conflict. This conflict and the events that follow are some of the many twists and turns the book takes.
“When I’m in charge - Matt quickly adjusted his thought: When I’m helping the person in charge, I’ll free the eejits. Surely Opium could be grown by normal people. They might not be as efficient, but anything was better than a mindless army of slaves,” (Farmer 171).
This excerpt from the novel reveals the when Matt replaces El Patron in his ruling, Matt will try to do everything he can to make Opium, a country between U.S. and Mexico, a better place for the citizens. The excerpt also foreshadows how El Patron will eventually die, and how Matt will replace him as the leader of