Cloning Themes In The House Of The Scorpion - 2065 Words

The House of the Scorpion is a fictional novel by Nancy Farmer that is intended for the grades six through nine, which is ages eleven and up. The House of the Scorpion is a coming of age story about a clone named Matteo Alacran, whose DNA is from the leader/dictator of a country between Mexico and the US called Opium. He struggles to find his purpose in the world and his own identity outside of being a clone. The book addresses serious themes such as drugs, abuse, cloning, and religion. These themes can be perceived as controversial, causing some teacher and parents to be concerned about children reading such literature. Throughout the book, the themes relate to teenage experiences such as growing up, young people finding their identities,†¦show more content†¦Nobody dares say what they truly feel about El Patrà ³n and no one insults him. Tam Lin tells the truth and instills into Matt to be honest as well. Additionally, Matt and El Patrà ³n are genetically the same, but Ta m Lin attributes that it was choices that caused El Patrà ³n to be what he is today. Matt does not need to grow up and be like El Patrà ³n. Tam Lin also told Matt, â€Å"When youre small, you can choose which way to grow. If youre kind and decent, you grow into a kind and decent man† (Farmer 70). Matt is told that he has the choice to be a good person, that as a person he has free will. Showing him that he could be the product of his environment rather than his DNA. If he is nurtured the right way, his nature or biology will not matter. The character is taught lessons relevant to the intended audience, such as telling the truth and making your own choices. However, if parents are just in general opposed to cloning, they can rest well knowing that at least the character is a good person learning good moral lessons from good parental figures. In the novel, the main character is mistreated by all the people that are genetically related to him. Child abuse is a serious issue whether the perpetrators are adults or children. Nevertheless, the main character deals with it in healthy and constructive ways instead of reacting violently and gives an example to children dealing with the same issues. Abuse is a challenge that Matt deals with allShow MoreRelatedAnalysis Of The Book The House Of Scorpion 1698 Words   |  7 Pagesread and discuss a book that will capture the interest of the village. For the selection of the book, the village council asked the Niles West English 22 classes to suggest a book for the upcoming event. The House of Scorpion, by Nancy Farmer would fit the council’s criteria. The House of Scorpion is a science fiction, utopian, and dystopian novel. This story is dark and twisted, but a hopeful story. The book is broken up into different parts, Youth 0 to 6, Middle Age 7 to 11, Old Age 12 to 14, AgeRead MoreThe Island of Dr. Moreau Essay1343 Words   |  6 Pagesto get the entire animal out, and make a creature of his own. His creatures, which continue to come to their demise, then kill Moreau and finally all die off. When the H.M.S. Scorpion visits the island, there is nothing alive there except for a few white moths, some hogs and rabbits and some rather peculiar rats. The theme of this novel is that science experiments can go too far, because the creatures made from the experimentation go against their creators. These creatures, known as Beast MenRead MoreSea Syllabus9016 Words   |  37 PagesLivestock Genetic Engineering Cloning. Livestock Animals around us . Farm animals and their young. Rearing Rabbits Classification of livestockhelpful and harmful. Poultry farming v Topics Livestock Infant yr 1 Animals around us Farm animals Infant yr 2 Types of animals Std 1 Types of livestock/ farms Aquaculture Std 2 Rearing rabbits Classification of livestock Std 3 Poultry farming Std 4 Beneficial insects Std5 Improving breeds of livestock Genetic engineering Cloning Helpful and harmful animals