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Chapter 1
Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The House of the Scorpion, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Free Will vs. Predetermination
Scientific Ethics and Abuse
Language, Law, and Dehumanization
Abuse of Power and Corruption
Summary
Analysis
Matt stands in front of the front door, preventing Celia from leaving. Celia scolds him for acting so childish, because he is almost six years old. Matt begs her to take him with her, but Celia insists he must hide. Matt screams, angry that he will be left alone all day. Celia pushes him away and yells at him. Matt pouts and Celia hugs him, calling him “mi vida” and telling him she’ll explain everything when he is older.
The reader can see how Celia truly loves Matt by her affection actions and her language toward him. Celia calls Matt “mi vida” (“my life” in Spanish) because, as the reader will see throughout the novel, protecting and caring for Matt will give her life a purpose.
Themes
Celia leaves, promising she’ll bring Matt a present when she gets back. Matt is still angry, because the house is so lonely when she is gone. He didn’t mind being alone when he was younger, but now he looks at the wide, white poppy fields outside the window and sees children riding horses. He wants to go meet the children, because he has never met anybody but Celia and the mean doctor.
Matt’s keen observation of his surroundings shows his characteristic intelligence. Matt suffers in isolation because he can see other children doing joyful activities and is beginning to sense he is different from them, when he only wishes to fit in.
Themes
The doors and windows are locked, so Matt cannot go outside. Instead, he reads Pedro el Conejo, a book about an adventurous rabbit who outsmarts the evil MacGregor. Then Matt goes to eat the snacks Celia has saved him from the Big House. He goes to Celia’s room and looks at the frightening crucifix she has hanging over her bed. He plays with his stuffed animals and watches TV, but is overwhelmingly sad that neither is real.
MacGregor is a rival political figure in the novel, so his inclusion in the children’s book shows how this society teaches children to align with the government from an early age. Crucifixes like the one in Celia’s room symbolize sacrifice, which will become a defining aspect of Matt’s life as he grows up.
Themes
Matt stops crying when he realizes he hears children’s voices outside. The voices wonder what this little house is out in the field, as someone tries to open the front door. Matt is suddenly afraid. The children, a boy and a girl, look inside the window and see Matt.
Matt shows his humanity through his desire for human interaction. However, his fear of such contact also shows his isolation living out in the cottage with Celia.
Themes
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The boy recognizes the photograph in the house as Celia, his family’s cook. The boy and the girl debate whether or not to tell the boy’s family that their servant has a child hiding out in the poppy fields. They leave, and Matt shivers with fear over all this new contact with the outside world.
Both the reader and Matt are exposed for the first time to the strict social hierarchy of the novel’s society, where members of the upper class like the boy can control the lives of servants like Celia.
Themes
Matt decides not to tell Celia about the children, because she would get mad. She comes home that night and gives him a thrown-out coloring book and cooks him dinner. Matt asks her to tell him about the children in the Big House. He calls Celia “Mamá,” but she tells him not to call her that, because he’s only on loan to her.
The idea of Matt being loaned to Celia implies that his life belongs to someone other than himself. This shows how society dehumanizes him, not only by treating him as a possession of others, but also by undermining his closeness with Celia, the one person on whom he can depend.
Themes
Celia tells Matt about the children of the Big House, including Benito, who is 17 years old and a womanizer, and Steven, who is 13 and kinder than his brother. Steven spends time with Emilia, a family friend. Matt realizes Steven and Emilia are the children he saw earlier. Celia says Emilia has a younger sister, María, who is tormented by Steven’s devilish little brother, Tom.
Celia’s descriptions of Benito and Tom’s mistreatment of others reflects the general selfishness and cruelty of the family in the Big House. The dynamics of the characters Celia describes here shows that while Matt’s isolation may make him feel lonely, it may also protect him from these toxic family dynamics.
Themes
Celia is exhausted from the day, but she still carries Matt to bed and lights a candle underneath their statue of The Virgin of Guadalupe. She goes to bed, while Matt practices how he’ll invite Steven and Emilia to play with him when they come again tomorrow.
Celia has created a loving and safe environment for Matt, as highlighted by the saintly icon she has watch over his bedside. The presence of the Virgin, a Catholic symbol of virtue, kindness, and maternalism, is a stark contrast to the cruelty in the Big House that Cecelia has described to Matt.
Themes
