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Chapter 6
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 doesn’t like leaving Celia’s apartment, but does so when María and Celia persuade him to do so. The servants, Steven, and Emilia all turn away from him when they see him. Matt also doesn’t like to see Tom, who often tease María until she cries. One day, Tom follows María to Celia’s apartment. Tom tears the ear off one of Matt’s stuffed animals, inciting Matt to hit him. The boys tussle until Tam Lin breaks them up. Tom calmly apologizes. Matt is still angry, and makes María and Tom leave.
Tom shows his dual nature as both aggressive and violent, and calm and calculating. Matt’s continued display of unfiltered anger shows that he is more genuine than Tom about his true feelings. However, genuineness is not valued in this society, as shown by the fact that Matt’s anger separates him from his friend, María.
Themes
Tam Lin spends his days sitting with a newspaper in the apartment while Celia and María attempt to get Matt interested in playing or eating. The doctor often visits because Matt has developed a cough. One night, Matt wakes up and cannot breathe, until Tam Lin slaps his back and makes him cough up a wad of mucus. Afterward, Matt enjoys watching Celia and María panic when he coughs because it makes him feel cared for.
Matt’s enjoyment of Celia and María’s concern shows his continued desire for the attention of others. Matt’s exploitation of Celia and María’s worry, however, suggests that Matt has a tendency toward selfishness, and indulges his darker impulses to have others serve him. This likely stems from the lack of care he suffered during his imprisonment under Rosa, and the fact that he’s never had a model of what a healthy, caring relationship looks like.
Themes
María announces that she must leave for school. Matt, sad to lose his friend, ignores her, which upsets María. After she leaves, Tam Lin tells Matt he should have been nicer to her. He explains that he’s been observing Matt and has determined that Matt is exactly like El Patrón. El Patrón, according to Tam Lin, has a good side and a bad side. When El Patrón was young, he chose to favor the bad side. Tam Lin informs Matt that he is still young, so he must choose to be kind now, so that he grows into kind man.
Tam Lin’s statement shows that he believes Matt has control over his moral development. His words also suggest that good and bad are not traits one inherently possesses, but instead are moral codes one cultivates through practice. This notion contrasts with the viewpoint of Eduardo (the scientist who created Matt), who believed that the clones’ inner makeup and personality were determined in utero. Tam Lin’s advice empowers Matt to determine what kind of person he becomes in the future, rather than resigning himself to society’s expectations.
Themes
All the other children of the house have left for school except Matt. Matt examines himself in the mirror and wonders how he is so different from everyone else if he looks like a child on the outside. He thinks about how the doctor once said that clones fall apart when they get older.
Matt’s continued feelings of loneliness and isolation highlight how he perceives difference between him and his peers, but wishes to resist this difference and belong among the other children instead of accepting his subjugated position in society.
Themes
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Matt’s new teacher, who just goes by Teacher, arrives at the apartment. She speaks with a cheery voice and has an odd laugh. Teacher makes Matt copy letters and color in pictures all day, until Tam Lin says Matt needs a break. The rest of the day, Teacher has Matt count objects over and over again. She keeps telling Matt that his mother will be proud of him, even though Tam Lin already told her Matt is an orphan. Tam Lin later remarks that Teacher is very strange.
The teacher’s identification solely as “Teacher” suggests that she does not have an individual identity beyond the societal function she serves. Her constant repetition of activities and social mistakes suggest that something is deeply wrong with her thought process, which Tam Lin, as a foreign outsider, immediately perceives.
Themes
The next day, and all the following days, Teacher has Matt repeat the exact same activities. Matt becomes so frustrated that he yells at Teacher and throws her supplies around the room. Teacher cowers and whimpers. Tam Lin comes in and comforts her. Matt calms down when he realizes he can talk again. Matt tells Tam Lin that Teacher is an eejit. Tam Lin says Matt doesn’t really understand what that means, and suggests he and Matt go on a picnic.
By comforting Teacher, Tam Lin shows his characteristic compassion. Teacher’s breakdown further emphasizes her strangeness. Matt’s use of the word eejit, a word he does not know the meaning of, shows how he has internalized the insulting context of the term used by the other children.
Themes
