The House of the Scorpion

by

Nancy Farmer

María is the youngest daughter of Senator Mendoza and Esperanza, the younger sister of Emilia, and the friend and love interest of Matt. She has black hair and olive skin and grows up to be a beautiful young woman. She is kind and affectionate, but also emotionally sensitive and easily upset. She feels great empathy for the suffering of eejits and clones in the country of Opium, just as she cares deeply for animals. She encourages Matt to be virtuous so that he may go to the heaven. She struggles with the idea of Matt being a clone because she knows this means he will ultimately be killed for his organs. El Patrón arranges for her to marry Tom and she accepts this fate. As she grows older, she becomes more rebellious against her convent education and her family’s expectations. She is initially compliant with the abusive regime of the Alacrán family, but after she falls in love with Matt, she defies their discrimination against clones in order to try to save his life.

María Mendoza Quotes in The House of the Scorpion

The The House of the Scorpion quotes below are all either spoken by María Mendoza or refer to María Mendoza. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Free Will vs. Predetermination Theme Icon
).
Chapter 11 Quotes

The senator didn’t know that María had kissed Matt on several occasions, just as she kissed Furball and anything else that pleased her. Matt knew this was different, though. He was humiliating her. If it had been Tom asking for the kiss, no one would have cared. People would have thought it cute for a boy to flirt with his novia.

Matt wasn’t a boy. He was a beast.

Related Characters: Matteo “Matt” Alacrán, María Mendoza, Tom, Senator Mendoza
Page Number: 110
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 12 Quotes

“It’s a boy,” whispered María.

It was. Only first Matt thought it was some kind of beast, so alien and terrible was its face. It had doughy, unhealthy skin and red hair that struck up in bristles…Worst of all was the terrible energy that rolled through the trapped body. The creature never stopped moving. It was as though invisible snakes were rippling beneath the skin and forcing its arms and legs to move in a ceaseless bid for freedom.

Related Characters: María Mendoza (speaker), Matteo “Matt” Alacrán, MacGregor’s Clone
Page Number: 119-20
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 16 Quotes

“You don’t have a soul, so you can’t be baptized. All animals are like that. I think it’s unfair and sometimes I don’t believe it. After all, what would heaven be without birds or dogs or horses? And what about trees and flowers? They don’t have souls either. Does that mean heaven looks like a parking lot?”

Related Characters: María Mendoza (speaker), Matteo “Matt” Alacrán
Page Number: 159
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 37 Quotes

“Matt’s human?”

“He always was,” her mother replied. “The law is a wicked fiction to make it possible to use clones for transplants. But bad law or not, we’re going to use t now. If you survive the landing, Matt, I’ll do everything in my power to make you the new reigning drug lord. […] Only you must promise me that once you’re in control, you’ll destroy the opium empire.”

Related Characters: María Mendoza (speaker), Esperanza Mendoza (speaker), Matteo “Matt” Alacrán
Page Number: 367
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 38 Quotes

Tomorrow he would begin the task of breaking down the empire of Opium. It was a huge and terrifying job, but he wasn’t alone. He had Chacho, Fidelito, and Ton-Ton to cheer him on. He had Celia and Daft Donald to advise him and María to be everyone’s conscience.

Related Characters: Matteo “Matt” Alacrán, María Mendoza, Celia, Daft Donald, Fidelito, Chacho, Ton-Ton
Page Number: 380
Explanation and Analysis:
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María Mendoza Quotes in The House of the Scorpion

The The House of the Scorpion quotes below are all either spoken by María Mendoza or refer to María Mendoza. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Free Will vs. Predetermination Theme Icon
).
Chapter 11 Quotes

The senator didn’t know that María had kissed Matt on several occasions, just as she kissed Furball and anything else that pleased her. Matt knew this was different, though. He was humiliating her. If it had been Tom asking for the kiss, no one would have cared. People would have thought it cute for a boy to flirt with his novia.

Matt wasn’t a boy. He was a beast.

Related Characters: Matteo “Matt” Alacrán, María Mendoza, Tom, Senator Mendoza
Page Number: 110
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 12 Quotes

“It’s a boy,” whispered María.

It was. Only first Matt thought it was some kind of beast, so alien and terrible was its face. It had doughy, unhealthy skin and red hair that struck up in bristles…Worst of all was the terrible energy that rolled through the trapped body. The creature never stopped moving. It was as though invisible snakes were rippling beneath the skin and forcing its arms and legs to move in a ceaseless bid for freedom.

Related Characters: María Mendoza (speaker), Matteo “Matt” Alacrán, MacGregor’s Clone
Page Number: 119-20
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 16 Quotes

“You don’t have a soul, so you can’t be baptized. All animals are like that. I think it’s unfair and sometimes I don’t believe it. After all, what would heaven be without birds or dogs or horses? And what about trees and flowers? They don’t have souls either. Does that mean heaven looks like a parking lot?”

Related Characters: María Mendoza (speaker), Matteo “Matt” Alacrán
Page Number: 159
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 37 Quotes

“Matt’s human?”

“He always was,” her mother replied. “The law is a wicked fiction to make it possible to use clones for transplants. But bad law or not, we’re going to use t now. If you survive the landing, Matt, I’ll do everything in my power to make you the new reigning drug lord. […] Only you must promise me that once you’re in control, you’ll destroy the opium empire.”

Related Characters: María Mendoza (speaker), Esperanza Mendoza (speaker), Matteo “Matt” Alacrán
Page Number: 367
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 38 Quotes

Tomorrow he would begin the task of breaking down the empire of Opium. It was a huge and terrifying job, but he wasn’t alone. He had Chacho, Fidelito, and Ton-Ton to cheer him on. He had Celia and Daft Donald to advise him and María to be everyone’s conscience.

Related Characters: Matteo “Matt” Alacrán, María Mendoza, Celia, Daft Donald, Fidelito, Chacho, Ton-Ton
Page Number: 380
Explanation and Analysis: