Eliana Rodriguez’s Reviews > The House of the Scorpion > Status Update

3/30 PREDICTION: I predict that Mateo will rise up above judgment and show society that he is more than just a clone, he is a human being. In the book, Mateo is courageous and stands up for himself and this shows that he has the motivation and strength to prove himself. I think he is going to save Maria's father, who has done nothing but insult him and cast him out.

3/23 CONNECTIONS: This story reminds me of The Outsiders. In the book, Mateo is separated from the rest of society. This relates to the Outsiders because like Mateo, the Greasers are outcast from society based on their values and the judgement of others. Mateo is outcast from humanity because he is a clone and society doesn't value them.

Types of Conflict: The story falls into the category of "character vs. society", because nearly everyone kinda hates Matteo because he's a clone, even though he's no different than a human physically and mentally, yet most only see him as a clone.

P. 2/2 Plot Type: The text says, “He is an animal,” Steven said after a pause. […] “Matt’s a clone” […] “That’s disgusting. Clones aren’t people.” Cried Emilia” “Matt’s a clone, you mustn’t go near it.” (Pg.26-27) This fits the plot type because it demonstrates that clones like Matt, even if they actually have human intelligence and human sentiment like he does, he’ll still be treated badly just because he’s a clone.

P. 1/2 PLOT TYPE: The House of the Scorpion fits the plot type of a dystopian future because of how messed up some things in the world really are, even if it’s seen as normal and mediocre there. It really is a big deal and kind of inhumane in ways, such as the fact that when they make clones in this world which is apparently possible there, they normally cut their brain chords and make them as mindless as a zombie.

Protagonist:
In The House of the Scorpion, the protagonist is Matt because the story starts getting into motion in his point of view, and because he’s the only clone around. One way the author shows this is when “Matt stood at the front of the door and spread his arms to keep Celia from leaving” (page 1). This evidence shows that the protagonist is Matt because the story starts off talking about him.

Characterizon: Matt (Matteo Alacran) is curious, and observant, this is shown in the text on PG. 30 "Matt found that if he lay perfectly still, his wounds didn't hurt too much." Which shows that he was observant to notice such.

UPDATE: when you were gone, I was confused for the most part and assignments flew by me, i'm not sure how many I actually got done, nor how many there were, but wrote a lot more write zones than I read, so there's a few more write zones than read zones because I was confused as what to do for most of the time you were gone, although I do take most blame on my behalf for not asking for help.