House Of The Scorpion Essay
Book Selection #2 (from the Grade 9 Required Reading List): The House of The Scorpion
(1) After reading The House of the Scorpion, many thoughts and questions ran through my mind. One, was, as in almost all books, the ending. While Matt was starting his new life away from Opium, a lot happened at the Big House. At El Patron’s wake, Tam Lin opened a bottle of wine that was made the day El Patron was born- El Patron had said he wanted it to be opened at his 150th birthday party. The wine, as it turns out, was poisoned by El Patron. He had wanted, after he finally died, to be joined in Heaven by his ‘Dragon Hoard’. The ending of this awarded novel, is a great finale to the fantastic story Nancy Farmer created. It turns a page and finishes a chapter in Matt’s life while leaving room for more to come.
(2) One thing that was a little confusing to me was Tam Lin’s death. After reading the Author’s Note I understood his …show more content…
The major theme I took away from the Newbery Honor novel was the idea of Power. In the novel, El Patron has control of the entire kingdom of Opium and everyone that lives in it. Although El Patron is the ruler, some people are able to control their own destiny. Celia, for example rebels against El Patron by slightly poisoning Matt so that he is not able to be used for parts. This saves Matt’s life and also shows that El Patron could be tricked. “Power’s a strange thing lad. It’s a drug and people like me crave it” (243). Tam Lin is explaining why he killed the children as he takes Matt up the mountain preparing to escape. This is a lesson that is worthwhile to Matt’s life and it is what I took from the novel. People crave power like it is a drug and they cannot stop wanting more. El Patron had power but kept wanting more, until he had no more fight left in him. Power is in fact like a drug, and as Nancy Farmer explained in The House of the Scorpion, it can
(1) After reading The House of the Scorpion, many thoughts and questions ran through my mind. One, was, as in almost all books, the ending. While Matt was starting his new life away from Opium, a lot happened at the Big House. At El Patron’s wake, Tam Lin opened a bottle of wine that was made the day El Patron was born- El Patron had said he wanted it to be opened at his 150th birthday party. The wine, as it turns out, was poisoned by El Patron. He had wanted, after he finally died, to be joined in Heaven by his ‘Dragon Hoard’. The ending of this awarded novel, is a great finale to the fantastic story Nancy Farmer created. It turns a page and finishes a chapter in Matt’s life while leaving room for more to come.
(2) One thing that was a little confusing to me was Tam Lin’s death. After reading the Author’s Note I understood his …show more content…
The major theme I took away from the Newbery Honor novel was the idea of Power. In the novel, El Patron has control of the entire kingdom of Opium and everyone that lives in it. Although El Patron is the ruler, some people are able to control their own destiny. Celia, for example rebels against El Patron by slightly poisoning Matt so that he is not able to be used for parts. This saves Matt’s life and also shows that El Patron could be tricked. “Power’s a strange thing lad. It’s a drug and people like me crave it” (243). Tam Lin is explaining why he killed the children as he takes Matt up the mountain preparing to escape. This is a lesson that is worthwhile to Matt’s life and it is what I took from the novel. People crave power like it is a drug and they cannot stop wanting more. El Patron had power but kept wanting more, until he had no more fight left in him. Power is in fact like a drug, and as Nancy Farmer explained in The House of the Scorpion, it can