The Twisting of the Branches: Corruption in House of the Scorpion Throughout all of history, there have been governments, and throughout all of government, there has been corruption. The similarity between all of these misled regimes is that they all had immense power, too much for one rule. The blackening of powered authorities is represented in Nancy Farmer’s dystopian fiction book, The House of the Scorpion. In The House of the Scorpion, Matt is a clone of the drug lord El Patron. He grows up in the drug state of Opium, and eventually learns he is a clone. Many people begin to resent Matt, and eventually he discovers that he is to be used for transplants. He escapes to Aztlan (present-day Mexico), and falls in with the Lost Boys, a group
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Once El Patron dies, the remaining Alacrans toast to something very strange at his funeral: “Here’s to greed!” (Farmer 375). A toast is given in praise and celebration. When the Alacrans toast to greed, they are encouraging this awful aspect of humans and are celebrating all it has given to them. Through this toast, they tell us that they accept how depraved they have become, and how they want to acknowledge it. Lastly, by doing this, the Alacrans keep greed at the front of their minds. Greed is a terrible side of human beings, but in this family, their bad sides have been fueled by a long, unsavory list. Matt thinks about this when he spies on one of their marriages: “What a family, though Matt. The women were alcoholics, Benito was dumb as a guppy, and Tom was a moral black hole.” (Farmer 213). In this statement, “What a family” displays how this family has become a target of sarcasm and even strange jokes by those that can see what the family actually represents. By telling us that the women were alcoholics, Matt tells us that the women in this family are drugged to keep them from rebelling against their treatment and the treatment of others. Finally, the moral black hole of Tom’s heart reveals that he absolutely and completely cannot feel for anyone, displaying his method of corruption. While El Patron may be the head of this awful family, it is clear that …show more content…
Farmer shows this through all of the Alacrans, especially El Patron, and through the Farm Patrol. The clones and the eejits, the greed and the awful family, and the Farm Patrol’s massive death toll prove this theme. While it may be a morbid fact to face, terror is everywhere. Sometimes, that terror exists because of unavoidable things: an earthquake, a tsunami, a flood. But more often than not, it is because of people. People who, for any and every reason, feel that it is right for them to inflict terror in one way or another. Some believe that it is the will of a God, some believe they are creating paradise, some even are doing good things that destroy everything farther along the road, like deforestation. But all cause terror. All strike a chord of grief and despair in one’s heart. All make others miserable: Pol Pot, Osama Bin Laden, Hitler, Stalin, the list goes on and on. And most of these horrors have at least one thing in common: they have been corrupted by their power. Many people, when they look at all humanity has done, can only say that humans are innately corrupt and that as a race we cannot avoid it. Perhaps this is true. But as each person, as each one, we can look at these examples of corruptions, at El Patron, at the Alacrans, at the Farm Patrol. And as each person, as each one, we can fight back. And maybe, just
Once El Patron dies, the remaining Alacrans toast to something very strange at his funeral: “Here’s to greed!” (Farmer 375). A toast is given in praise and celebration. When the Alacrans toast to greed, they are encouraging this awful aspect of humans and are celebrating all it has given to them. Through this toast, they tell us that they accept how depraved they have become, and how they want to acknowledge it. Lastly, by doing this, the Alacrans keep greed at the front of their minds. Greed is a terrible side of human beings, but in this family, their bad sides have been fueled by a long, unsavory list. Matt thinks about this when he spies on one of their marriages: “What a family, though Matt. The women were alcoholics, Benito was dumb as a guppy, and Tom was a moral black hole.” (Farmer 213). In this statement, “What a family” displays how this family has become a target of sarcasm and even strange jokes by those that can see what the family actually represents. By telling us that the women were alcoholics, Matt tells us that the women in this family are drugged to keep them from rebelling against their treatment and the treatment of others. Finally, the moral black hole of Tom’s heart reveals that he absolutely and completely cannot feel for anyone, displaying his method of corruption. While El Patron may be the head of this awful family, it is clear that …show more content…
Farmer shows this through all of the Alacrans, especially El Patron, and through the Farm Patrol. The clones and the eejits, the greed and the awful family, and the Farm Patrol’s massive death toll prove this theme. While it may be a morbid fact to face, terror is everywhere. Sometimes, that terror exists because of unavoidable things: an earthquake, a tsunami, a flood. But more often than not, it is because of people. People who, for any and every reason, feel that it is right for them to inflict terror in one way or another. Some believe that it is the will of a God, some believe they are creating paradise, some even are doing good things that destroy everything farther along the road, like deforestation. But all cause terror. All strike a chord of grief and despair in one’s heart. All make others miserable: Pol Pot, Osama Bin Laden, Hitler, Stalin, the list goes on and on. And most of these horrors have at least one thing in common: they have been corrupted by their power. Many people, when they look at all humanity has done, can only say that humans are innately corrupt and that as a race we cannot avoid it. Perhaps this is true. But as each person, as each one, we can look at these examples of corruptions, at El Patron, at the Alacrans, at the Farm Patrol. And as each person, as each one, we can fight back. And maybe, just