The House of the Scorpion - Theme

Here are my thoughts on the theme of the novel.

             When I first thought about the theme of The House of the Scorpion, I thought it had something to do with loyalty because of the role that certain individuals play but as the novel progressed, I came to realize that even though this could be a sub-theme, the actual theme was that your identity may be determined by your place in society. I thought that this was evident throughout the novel, even after Matt escapes into Aztlan. It shows how everyones actions and feelings reflected their place in society, people from a higher stature were treated with far more respect and felt that they deserved better than others. People from a lower stature treated people from a higher stature with respect and they were generally quite obedient, even if it was against their will. Even so, people like María, who is was a higher stature didn’t stick to the status quo.

            As I said above this novel one of the sub-themes I felt really popped out was loyalty. People can go to great lengths for friendship. I felt that this was important because throughout his life, and therefore the book, Matt is introduced to many new characters, some of which become his friend. Friendship with a clone however, is looked down on. In Aztlan, becoming friends with the aristocrat is also looked down on.  With the chance of being grouped in with him, his friends still stick by him, which in this kind of a society is a very big step to take. There are many different sub-themes explored in this novel but I only stated this one because it can easily be mistaken as the actual theme of the novel. It is highly explored as well but thinking about the novel as a whole, the theme is that your identity may be determined by your place in society.