Overall, the first 9 chapters of The House of the Scorpion have left a very good impression on me. I am amazed at Farmer’s character development, as I was never able to do so like she has. In just the first few chapters, Farmer has made her characters very realistic. Her characters have real-life problems and real-life responses. For example, Matt is a clone and is treated very badly by the people around him. Matt’s circumstance can be linked to racism in real life, since he is discriminated against in the same way. When Matt, María, and Tom were young, their relationship with each other is very similar to real children. Each action the character takes gives the reader a very good idea of the character’s personality. Nancy Farmer demonstrates a very developed “show, don’t tell” skill in her characterization. For example, the dialogue between two characters tells a lot about each character’s respective personality and their relationship.
Chapter 5: Page 45
“‘You’re ugly,’ said the boy. ‘You look like a pig in a sty.’”
“‘Do something,’ said Tom. ‘Root around. Scratch your piggy behind on the wall. I have something to tell María.’”
This quote shows that Tom does not hold Matt in a very high regard. Tom came to his cell, for no apparent reason, and began to taunt him. To any person, being insulted like this is sufficient grounds to become angry. Matt and Tom do not have a very good relationship in the future.
Nancy Farmer also makes society’s opinion clear through the character’s dialogue. For example, many people in the story dislike clones. The reader figures this out from the popular “clones are disgusting” theme of many character’s words.
Chapter 3: Page 22
“‘That’s disgusting! Clones aren’t people!’ cried Emilia.”
Chapter 4: Page 27
“‘He is an animal.’ Steven said after a pause.”
If children are taught things like this, then it is easy to infer what society’s views on clones are.
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