The House of the Scorpion
Summer reading project
Who is Nancy Farmer?
Nancy Farmers was born on July 7, 1941. She is a science fiction author for children and young adults. She has written three Newbery Honor books and won the U.S. National Book Award for Young People's Literature. She earned her B.A. at Reed College in 1963, and also enlisted in the peace corps in 1963 to 1965.
House In a Field
This house is a major event in the story because Matt is discovered and found out to be a clone. Matt has been isolated in this house for his whole life which is 6 years. One day he finally snapped and told his "mother" Celia to take him with her. She told him no, of course, and "You must stay hidden in the nest like a good little mouse. There're hawks out there that eat little mice." Matt replied by yelling, "I'm not a mouse!" She yelled back at him but then apologized quickly after. After a small talk she left and Matt turned on the television to watch his soap operas and to cry a little bit. He watched how the kids fought and played with each other. Then he heard some voices outside his window. He went to check it out and the kids came to the door and saw that he was inside. The next day he waited all day by the window until sunset when he heard voices. He tried to have a conversation with them but one of them stole his sentence which turned him to a mute. When the kids started to leave Matt smashed the window with a cooking pot. Then he fell out the window and glass went into his hands and knees then everything went black. He then was carried to the Alcatrans' house where the doctor could help him. The doctor pulled out the glass but then the father of the house saw a tattoo on his foot and realized he was a clone, so he locked him up.
Locked Up
The second major event in the book is when he is locked up in the cell. In this book clones are considered filthy and stupid animals so when the find out he is a clone of course they freak out and lock him up. But if locking him up was not bad enough he had to have an angry maid look after him the whole time.The maid after the doctor would leave, would pull him up by his hair, talk to him rudely, and treat him like an animal. One day to Matt's surprise two gardeners came in and took out his bed and replaced the whole floor with sawdust. When the doctor came the next time he saw the saw dust and did not say anything because he did not want to make the maid, Rosa mad. The saw dust wouldn't be so bad if Matt would of not started to develop rashes from it. After about six months Celia found out where he was and contacted a very high man.
El Patron
The third major event in the story is when Matt is introduced to the drug lord El Patron. El Patron is the most powerful man in Opium (the country the story is set in). Rosa had to clean Matt up to see but when she saw him and Matt's, "mother" she was in a predicament. Celia saw how Matt was living and told El Patron. When he heard these stories he told Matt to take of his shirt so he could see that damage done to him. When he saw how bad it was he called in the doctor immediately. When the doctor saw the bruises and rash he said that he was suffering from mild malnutrition and that he had sores in his mouth. He also stated that it is from a combination of dirt and chicken litter. When he said chicken litter El Patron got mad. The doctor said he had nothing to do with it even though he did so Rosa was taking all the blame and she did not like that. She couldn't get the doctor to confess so she charged him and clawed his face and tried to bite him before 2 guards took her away. When all that was over Matt sat down and talked with El Patron for an hour. He talked about how he was his clone and all his favorite things. They also ate El Patrons favorite things and a lot of cookies
Heart Transplant
The fourth major event takes place a lot farther in the book then the last few. In this part Matt finds out that El Patron only created him so he can use him for "parts". He is later taken to a hospital to see El Patron. He is very sick and very weak but he wanted to see Matt for the last time. When Matt got there Celia was there also. El Patron talked to Matt for a little while but then Celia intervened. She said that when he had his first heart attack she poised Matt with foxglove so his heart would be too unstable for use. She then said that foxglove was much to dangerous to keep using so she had to find something else. Someone then told her about monarch butterflies. Matt then remembered Tam Lin, his body, talking about this. She then said that later she started to feed him arsenic. Enough to make it unusable to a weak old man.
The Journey
This one was hard for me because there are a lot of other major events but if this one didn't happen then the events later in the story would not happen. The fifth and final major event is when Tam Lin sends Matt on a journey. So Tam Lin is ordered to bring Matt to the waste lands so he could die. Even though he has been Matt's friend and mentor while he was growing up but he found out that he had a history of bombing a school bus with 20 children on it. So Tam throws a bag on Matt's head and puts him on a horse. After a while Tam stops and takes him and to Matt's surprise they were not at the waste lands. Tam had brought Matt to a path to the Ajo Mountains. These were the ones that lead to out of state. Tam Lin handed him a heavy backpack with survival equipment and a map. He told Matt what to do and that he will protect Celia. He then told Matt good bye and left him. The next morning Matt set off on his journey. While he was walking he saw many animals and had to hide at times. When he got there he found a keeper and was taken to a plankton facility.