Character Analysis: The House Of The Scorpion

The light beckons him, but Matteo can be nothing more than a shadow imprisoned in the dark. This is the way Matt, a clone, feels in a world of humans who despise his very existence. Unintentionally, Matt goes through what has been coined as The Heroic Cycle, and Nancy Farmer, author of The House of the Scorpion visibly depicts our troubled protagonist as a future hero of the deteriorating empire that is Opium. In spite of his sufferings, Matteo Alacran defeats all odds once discovering this new world and prevails through the hardships he faces. When Matt unknowingly ventures into the world previously unknown to him, he promptly grasps the concept of survival as he learns to tolerate the perpetual evils he faces daily. This is evidenced when Matt challenges Tom by defending himself against his taunts, which causes Tom to retaliate in hostility. Matt realizes “…that if he refuses to react, Tom would
This is proven once Matt attempts to assert his authoritative position by daring to “…demand a birthday kiss.”(Farmer, 109) from Maria. He realizes he is treading boundaries he should not cross, yet his cockiness to prove that he is not some nuisance is too great. Rather than become ambitious, though, he realizes his mistake, instead of becoming power hungry like El Patron. It is crucial to note that Matt makes plenty mistakes, most unintentionally. One prime example is his kidnapping of Furball, Maria’s dog and unfortunately,”…killing her dog.”(Farmer 133). After every step he misses, the Alacran family is there to push him down further. The ordeals Matt goes through are presented in a variety of ways; the betrayal of the Alacran’s and Tam-Lin; his will to survive when trapped in a massive field of bones; or the way he returned to Opium with death as an imminent threat. Matteo Alacran was born a fighter, and he lived that way