The argument of nature versus nurture has been a long-standing debate that still has not been made clear as to which is the dominating factor that determines our actions and personality. In Nancy Farmer's book, The House of the Scorpion, Matt is an exact clone of the powerful 146 year old drug lord, El Patrón. Though Matt is a clone of El Patrón, the nurturing and the events he experienced is what shaped him into the person he is.
In the book, there is a prejudice towards clones, thinking that they are animals and not real humans. Because of this, throughout Matt's whole life, he was not treated the same as other children. He was ostracized, made fun of, and treated poorly. Others would show a fake respect towards him only when El Patrón was …show more content…
It turns them into idiots" (227). This is a law that was required for anyone who was creating clones. However, El Patrón being the man he is was "powerful enough to break the law" (228). This allowed Matt to have the opportunities that any other brain dead clone would not be able to have, but why was it required by law to make these clones brain dead? El Patrón even created mindless slaves called eejits by inserting a computer chip in their brains. The "computer chip in their brains removed [their] sensations. They toiled with the steady devotion of worker bees" (350). Creating these eejits and making clones brain dead he is able to be in full control of them. Without this control, the slaves who were once "Mexicans [that] flooded across the border in search of work" (302), would once again try to flee from Opium and El Patrón's control. The same sense of needing control applies to the clones who are made brain dead. Not wanting El Patrón to use Matt for organ transplants, Celia had secretly fed Matt small quantities of arsenic so that El Patrón's weak body would not be able to handle the transplant of Matt's organs. This ultimately caused the death of El Patrón. Situations like these are the reason control over the eejits and clones are needed even if they may be the exact same person as you
In the book, there is a prejudice towards clones, thinking that they are animals and not real humans. Because of this, throughout Matt's whole life, he was not treated the same as other children. He was ostracized, made fun of, and treated poorly. Others would show a fake respect towards him only when El Patrón was …show more content…
It turns them into idiots" (227). This is a law that was required for anyone who was creating clones. However, El Patrón being the man he is was "powerful enough to break the law" (228). This allowed Matt to have the opportunities that any other brain dead clone would not be able to have, but why was it required by law to make these clones brain dead? El Patrón even created mindless slaves called eejits by inserting a computer chip in their brains. The "computer chip in their brains removed [their] sensations. They toiled with the steady devotion of worker bees" (350). Creating these eejits and making clones brain dead he is able to be in full control of them. Without this control, the slaves who were once "Mexicans [that] flooded across the border in search of work" (302), would once again try to flee from Opium and El Patrón's control. The same sense of needing control applies to the clones who are made brain dead. Not wanting El Patrón to use Matt for organ transplants, Celia had secretly fed Matt small quantities of arsenic so that El Patrón's weak body would not be able to handle the transplant of Matt's organs. This ultimately caused the death of El Patrón. Situations like these are the reason control over the eejits and clones are needed even if they may be the exact same person as you