House of the Scorpion
Chapter Summaries/Multi-Media
Chapters 1 and 2
Eduardo had 36 cells, then 15. He put the 15 in cows so that a child could be born from the cow's womb. Only one survived. Somehow the child got named Matt. A chef named Celia cooked for the big house on a slave farm. Matt wasn't allowed to go outside Celia's shack; he never saw anyone other than Celia and the doctor once a month. One day a girl, Emilia, and a boy, Steven, saw Matt threw the window of the shack. They did not know who Matt was. Matt was 6 years old at the time.
These chapters can be related to "The Compound." In this book the dad creates a compound so the family would be safe from the air bombs. The family has to stay in the compound for many years. The family is not allowed to see or talk to anyone outside the compound. Just like Matt is not allowed to see or talk to anyone outside the shack.
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Chapters 3 and 4
The boy Steven, and the girl, Emilia, came back to the window to see Matt. Matt broke a window to talk to the people outside he finally got out of the shack. Steven and Emilia brought Maria, a girl Matt's age with them to play with Matt. When Matt broke the window, he jumped out cutting his hands and feet on the broken glass. Steven and Emilia carried Matt back to the big house where their dad tossed Matt out because Matt was a clone. He was taken care of by the doctor and then tossed into a small room. Maria brought Matt food and drink and slept the night with Matt in the room. Matt liked Maria because she was the only person that showed her kindness.
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These chapters can be related to the movie "Tangled" In this movie a girl named Rapunzel is trapped in a castle by a girl that kidnapped he and pretends to be her mother. Rapunzel breaks out of the castle knowing that her "mother would be mad. Just like Matt broke out of the window of the shack knowing Celia would be upset.
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Chapters 5+6
In the room that Matt stayed in; his bed was taken and the bucket he used to go to the bathroom was gone too. He now slept on the ground and went to the bathroom on a pile of newspaper like an animal. Rosa put sawdust in the room to act as litter. Matt met Tom. Tom was very rude to Matt so Matt threw a rotten tomato at his head. Celia found Matt and brought Maria with her. Celia gave Maria a letter to give to her dad hoping to persuade him to let Matt go free. Matt is El Patron's clone. Matt was saved from his prison because El Patron let him free. Matt met El Patron. El Patron said Matt was to be treated as a person not an animal. El Patron gave matt a body guard; Tam Lin.
These chapters can be related to the movie called "The Bodyguard." In this movie Whitney Houston gets a bodyguard to protect her from people who want to kill her. Just like El Patron did for Matt. The bodyguard also gives her love and compassion. Just like Tam Lin gave Matt. Tam Lin provided facts and support as well as love and compassion. This is what the movie "The Bodyguard" has to offer.
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Chapters 7+8
Matt met his teacher; she told him he could call her teacher. His instructor was very boring; she taught the same lesson over and over. Matt and his bodyguard, Tam Lin went on a ride on horses to go to a spot to talk and have a picnic. On their way they saw a dead slave. Matt finds out what an eejet is. It's someone with a thing implanted in their head to make them do whatever the master tells them to do. So the dead save they saw probably didn't hear the master say stop working and grab a drink so it kept working until it got so thirsty it died. No teacher wanted to teach Matt because he was a clone so they hired a eejet to teach him. Eejets can only do simple things; that's why the lesson was taught over and over.
These chapters can be related to the quote from Harriet Ann Jacobs "death is better than slavery." In this chapter you find out about the eejets and how they are slaves. But they are not just normal slaves, their brainwashed and they have no life in them. That's when the question comes in "What the purpose of living if you're a slave with no life? Is being brainwashed the same as being dead? That's why this quote "death is better than slavery" connects to these chapters.
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Chapters 9+10
Matt watched Tom's mom, Felicia, in the music room playing the piano. Matt found a secret passage that was hallway that led to many rooms in the castle. Matt came back to the music room and Felicia was gone. Matt took the opportunity to press a few keys on the piano. Tam Lin heard him playing and found Matt an eejet music teacher that was deaf. Tam Lin felt that Matt was very good at playing. It's El Patron's 143 birthday party. El Patron has a guest at his party that Matt doesn't know what to think of him. His name was Mr. MacGregor.
These chapters can be related to this poem called "New Experiences." This poem suggests that when you take new experiences you move forward without hesitation because you know that something good will come out of it. Just like how Matt saw his chance to play Felicia's piano. He went forward without hesitation just so he could play even just one key. And just as the poem said, the new experience would lead to good things. Matt's new experience with the piano led him to figure out that he was a musical genius.
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Chapters 11+12
At El Patron's birthday party El Patron got many presents. Matt got a couple small gifts. Matt made Maria mad so she didn't want to give Matt her present to him. Matt demanded that the present be given to him and that he get a birthday kiss as well from her. Maria's dad made her do it because El Patron would have got mad if she had not. Maria was humiliated because everyone was disgusted that she kissed a clone. After the party Felicia and Tom set Maria and Matt up to meet at the hospital. At the hospital Tom showed Maria and Matt another clone. It was MacGregor's clone. It looked so disgusting like a pure beast. Matt thought it looked like Tom. Maria was now terrified of Matt.
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These chapters can be related to this scene from the movie "Belle." In this scene Belle is afraid of the beast. Just like Maria was afraid of the clone of MacGregor that Tom showed her. Then Maria was afraid of Matt and inn this case the beast would be Matt. When Belle stays in the castle with the beast its kind of like what Maria did when she remained friends with Matt.
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Chapters 13+14
Maria won't talk to Matt anymore so Matt decides to hide Furball (Maria's dog) in the fetus pond and leave a ransom note for Maria saying to meet him at midnight. Matt wanted to talk to Maria alone and the only way he was going to do that was by trying to get her dog back. Matt thought he could use a drug to keep Furball from barking in the hiding spot but he used raw meat instead. Matt planned to meet Maria and give her dog back once they could finally talk. When he went into the garden at midnight where he hid the dog El Patron's security system went off and Matt got accused of killing the dog because they found Matt's fingerprints on the drug. Tam Lin was leaving, Maria wasn't allowed to talk to Matt, the only person Matt had left was Celia and she was constantly working. Celia was born in the same city as El Patron. Celia worked at a factory. She crossed the border into the USA. She got turned into the farm patrol. El Patron took her and made her the cook on his farm. El Patron would never let Celia go.
Chapters 15+16
In the place that Tam Lin and Matt had picnics Tam Lin left a chest of gifts for Matt to find. El Viejo died and the family had a funeral. At the funeral the priest wanted to kick out Matt because he was a clone in other words an animal. Maria was there and she pulled Matt to the side to talk to him. Matt took Maria to the secret passage to talk because he felt it was safer in there. They took the secret passage to a place where there was what looked like computers in the room but they were under sheets. In the room Maria said that she had forgave Matt about killing Furball and gave him a kiss to prove it. Tom and Felicia went into the same room that Matt and Maria were in. Matt and Maria hid in the secret passage and listened to Tom and Felicia's conversation. Felicia confesses to Tom that she killed the dog. Tam Lin finds Maria and Matt and takes them out of the secret passage.
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These chapters can be related to the T.V series "Phineas and Ferb." This particular show called "Leave the busting to us" describes the situation of Felicia perfectly. In this show Candace wants to bust her brothers. To do this she hires people from a T.V series to help her. The one way they help her is by using video cameras to spy on them. Just like how the mansion had hidden video cameras in it and Felicia spied on them to find a way to destroy Matt.
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Chapters 17+18
Matt saw where the eejets lived. They live by a wasteland that smells so terrible that you could die from the smell. When Matt rode over to the wasteland on his safe horse, the horse died because of the smell. The Farm Patrol found Matt and dragged him out before he died too. The Farm Patrol took Matt back to the big house. Matt found out that the bodyguards in Farm Patrol were murderers and Tam Lin was an ex-terrorist. El Patron only hired them because El Patron could use them and threatens them that he would tell the police where they were. El Patron had a heart attack. Matt was rushed to the hospital to see El Patron. El Patron survived because he had a piggyback surgery done.
This chapter can be related to the song "it's not my time" by 3 doors down. The song says "the currents slowly pulling me down, it's getting harder and harder to breath. Just how the aroma in the air at the wasteland was making him fall on the ground and use his inhaler to breath. When the song says "cause it's not my time" it's like Matt thinking in his head I was meant for more than this, I can't die now, and I need to be there for El Patron. When they say "this could be the end of me" it's like Matt think that he was going to die from the smell. And lastly when they say "but I won't let go" represents when the Farm Patrol saved him from the wasteland.
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Chapters 19+20
Matt is "coming of age." He is 14 years old. Matt finds out that El Patron is only making clones to provide organs and other health options for him. Matt is not sure if El Patron is going to use Matt's heart to piggyback his own or not. He doesn't know if he will survive. Matt started reading a book by someone named Esperanza. Matt looked further into the author and found out that she was Maria's mom that supposedly ran away and died. She wrote the book Matt was reading on behalf of the Anti-Slavery Foundation. Matt goes swimming in the pool at the oasis. Matt got the stomach flu and he thinks it was from the water, but he got a little better. Matt wants to escape; he thinks the chest Tam Lin gave him was for that reason. He was planning on escaping after seeing Maria at Steven and Emilia's wedding.
These chapters can be related to the poem "Coming of Age" by seas.Collide. In this poem the 3rd stanza says "I had no knowledge of the good and evil that the world kept secret. This is kind of like when Matt didn't know that El Patron planned to use Matt's organs for his own health benefit. The next line says "I did what I was told, never thinking twice about what might happen if I chose to fight back. Like how Matt thought about of escaping but he knew that El Patron would never hurt him.
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Chapters 21+22
It was Steven and Emilia's wedding. They had everything going perfectly, Matt saw Maria in the secret passage, and the couple got officially married. But the moment after El Patron had a heart attack and was taken to the hospital. Matt hid in the secret passage because bodyguards were looking for him. Matt knew know that the only reason why he existed was to provide a new heart for El Patron before he dies. Maria helped Matt escape to the hovercraft so they could get away before El Patron killed him. Maria disguised Matt as an eejet to make that happen. But Steven and Emilia figured out what Maria was up to. The newly married couple made bodyguards take Matt away to El Patron. Matt knew that this was the last few moments of his life. El Patron had completely betrayed him.
These chapters can be related to the movie "Mulan." In the movie, a girl named Mulan wants in the army but only men are allowed to. So Mulan dresses up as a man to be in the army. Just like how Matt dressed up as an eejet to get on the plane to go to San Louis with Maria. In the middle of the movie Mulan gets caught and the other men in the army finds out that she was a girl in disguise. Just like how Steven and Emilia figures out that Matt wasn't really an eejet.
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Chapters 23+24
El Patron gave Matt an education, food, and shelter but Matt soon found out he didn't give him all those things because he loved him but to make Matt feel like he owed him his life. Celia admits that she used arsenic on Matt so El Patron couldn't use his heart. Celia, as a consequence, would be turned into an eejet. El Patron didn't survive and Tam Lin was now unemployed. But he found another job with Mr. Alacran. Matt finds out from Tam Lin that El Patron made 7 other clones just like Matt. Mr. Alacran tells Tam Lin to put Matt to sleep because they had no more use for the clone since El Patron was dead. Tam Lin ties him up with duct tape and is told to bring him to the wasteland to kill him but instead of doing that, he takes Matt to the oasis. He tells Matt to go to Aztlan and catch a hovercraft and the go to the Covent where Maria is. Tam Lin also saved Celia. She was going to get turned into an eejet but Tam Lin put a mark on her to make it seem she already was one. Matt would never see Tam Lin again. Tam Lin tells Matt that no one can tell the difference between a clone and a human. So Matt should be safe as long as he told no one he was a clone.
These chapters can be related to this website that tells you what arsenic is and what the symptoms are. On this website it says that the symptoms are as follows: drowsiness, headaches, confusion, and a terrible stomach ache. This is exactly how Matt felt after Celia gave him arsenic. Also another symptom is that your breath will smell like garlic. Just like Tam Lin smelled Matt's breath and said it smelt like garlic.
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Chapters 25+26
Matt started on his journey to Aztlan. On the first day he traveled 5 miles and he had to climb an enormous cliff. Matt started to hear booming, clanking, and thundering noises. That's when Matt realized he was in Aztlan. He had reached the border of the United States and Mexico. While looking at the border, about to pass, he saw 2 members of the farm patrol. And soon more and more of them came visible. Matt was hiding behind a rock, waiting for the border to be deserted so he could run the couple yards left to freedom. Matt crossed the border but by doing so, a farm patrol grabbed his backpack with all his supplies in it. He convinced the farm patrol that he was a refugee. When crossing the border he fell into a pile of goo, but he made it. Matt met Raul, a border guard and told him that he wanted to go to San Louis. Raul put Matt in a room with a group of boys. When Raul went out of the room he locked the door on the boys. All the boys in the room where orphans and were doing work. Matt had to work as well if he wanted to get fed.
These chapters can be related to the movie "Tinker Bell and the Secret of the Wings." In this chapter Matt crosses the border between the United States and Aztlan. Kind of like when Tinker Bell crosses the border of spring and winter in the movie. When Tinker Bell crosses the border it was very dangerous because if she wasn't careful, her wings could have cracked. Just like when Matt crossed the border it was very dangerous because he could have got caught by the farm patrol.
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Chapters 27+28
Matt is told that in Aztlan the U.S.A is looked at as dreamland. Matt finds out from Chacho that soon he will only be allowed to do one job and not switch anymore. At night Raul tells the boys a bedtime story about a horse that had 5 legs and would corporate. Raul asks for questions and Matt asks "why don't you just put a computer chip in the horse's head? Raul gets furious by that question. The boys head to San Luis on a hovercraft. They will be going to the plankton factory. On their way the Fidelito throws up on the plane. When they get to the factory they meet Carlos, a keeper. Carlos tells them that their first job will be cleaning the plane. Then they will be pulling out bugs from the plankton. The boys find out that their new life is to make plankton clean and then have plankton for meals. When the boys had worked for a long time they thought that Fidelito would faint. So when it came dinner time Matt asked Carlos to drive Fidelito to dinner in his vehicle. Carlos says no and that they would get no dinner that night. Matt, Fidelito, and Chacho say that they are glad to have each other and that they will stick together.
These chapters can be related to this quote that reads Friendship is not about who you've known the longest; it is about who came and never left your side. In these chapters Matt has known Chacho and Fidelito for about a couple of days. Obviously Matt did not know them very long but they are definitely friends. You can tell that they have a true friendship when Matt and Chacho were told they weren't allowed to have food. Fidelito; even though he was about to faint from working so hard said that if they weren't allowed to eat then he wouldn't either. This situation proves the quote. Even though Matt had just made new friends and had not known them for very long, their true friendship showed when they never left each other's side.
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Chapters 29+30
Chacho and Fidelito told Matt that he was different and they couldn't figure out why. Matt felt once again that he did not belong because the Keepers were telling him that he was an aristocrat. Matt and Chacho found many whale bones in the salt. When Jorge told the boys a bedtime story and asked for them to confess their sins. Jorge got mad at Ton-Ton for stealing something out of the Keeper's room. Jorge beat him up with a cane. When Matt didn't confess his sins Jorge beat him up as well. While Jorge was about to beat him up Matt stood up to him and told him what he was doing was wrong. The boys tell Matt that because he stood up to Jorge that he really belonged. He wasn't an aristocrat to them anymore he was a normal boy.
These chapters can be related to the book called "The Ugly Duckling." In this book a swan was born in with ducks. All the ducks made fun of him and he felt like he did not belong. But the swan found other swans and they did not make fun of him. That's when the swan realized that he wasn't a duck. This story is just like these chapters. In the beginning of the book Matt is born (harvested) into the Alacran Family. This family makes fun of him to a point where Matt fells like he does not belong. So when Matt joins the lost boys he was accepted by a few people and that's all he ever needed. Matt and the Ugly Duckling felt like they belonged for a change.
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Chapters 31+32
Matt finds out that all of the lost boys, if they follow the rules, eventually become a keeper. Matt also finds out that the keepers get better entertainment (games), food and even drinks - drinks as in the drugs that Felicia drank that turned her into a "zombie." Matt figures that since the keepers always get drunk at night that that was his chance to escape to San Luis. Matt asks Ton-Ton about San Luis since that was his hometown. Ton says that his mother crossed the border and then his father went to go look for her and never returned. But he said that his grandmother was still alive somewhere in San Luis. Matt encourages him to escape with him, Fidelito and Chacho. Matt started crying when he started thinking about Celia and Tam Lin. Jorge was about to kill Fidelito because he was Matt's "lackey." But right before Jorge charged at Fidelito Matt and Chacho beat him up. They didn't want him to hurt their friend. All of the keepers came rushing into the room. They put tape on Matt's and Chacho's mouths but the other boys tell the keepers that Jorge tried to kill Fidelito. Jorge defends himself by saying that they tried to kill him. He also tell everyone that when Matt was in the infirmary someone noticed Matt's tattoo. And that it said that he belonged to the Alacran Estate. All of the boys got away from him like he was something unclean. Ton-Ton stood up for Matt by saying that just because he was from there doesn't mean he was bad.
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These chapters can be related to the movie "Toy Story 3." In this movie the toys are sent to a daycare to get played with. At the daycare the toys are put in the "caterpillar room" the room where the younger kids play. But the other toys, the ones that have been at the daycare for years are placed at the "butterfly room." the room where the older kids play. In the "butterfly room" the toys get better treatment and are played with softer. The kids in the "caterpillar room" are played with harshly want to be moved to the other room but they are told they are not allowed. The toys don't like this and they want to escape the daycare for good. This is just like how the book. In this case the toys in the "butterfly room" are the keepers and the toys in the "caterpillar room" are the boys. The keepers get better food and treatment. The boys get treated harshly like the toys in the "caterpillar room. And when the toys want to escape is like how Matt wanted to escape from the plankton factory.
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Chapters 33+34
As a punishment Matt and Chacho's hands and feet were taped together. Then they were thrown into the bone yard. (A wide area filled with whale bones.) Underneath of the bones was a pit and many bats. Matt and Chacho broke the tape with a bone. A storm came and Matt reached the ground at the surface of the bone yard. The rain from the storm helped with his thirst. When Matt reached the surface he tried to find Chacho and he didn't respond, Matt came to believe that he was dead. That's when Ton-Ton came with a shrimp harvester and Fidelito and used the claw on the vehicle to push bones away and find Chacho. They found that he was still alive. Ton-Ton brought tons of supplies. He told Matt that that the keepers were locked up and that the other boys piled tons of salt outside the doors so that they couldn't get out. Also that Ton-Ton gave them a ton of laudanum so that they would stay asleep. Ton-Ton told them that he planned to escape with them to find his grandmother in San Luis. They got past the fence by using the claw on the vehicle to break the wires. Then going 5 miles per hour they used the shrimp harvester to drive to San Luis.
These chapters can be related to this painting. In this painting I see a person pointing up to a sign with a smiley face on it. And beside the person is another person that looks like they have given up hope. And I also see a road that looks like and black hole or a pit. It's kind of like if the people take one more step forward they would fall. In the book Matt is kind of acting like the guy that is pointing to the smiley sign. Matt is very optimistic. He knows he will find a way out of the bone yard and that he was going to live. And the person beside the person pointing in the painting would be Chacho. Chacho in the bone yard was very pessimistic. He thought that that was the end for him and he would never make it out alive. The man in the painting looks like he has given up hope just like Chacho did. The road symbolizes the pit underneath the bones. Matt and Chacho, like the people in the painting, knew that if they moved or took a step they would fall into the pit.
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Chapters 35+36
Matt and Fidelito were heading for the convent where Maria was staying when they came to the Colorado River. The smell was so terrible that Matt fell on the ground gasping for air. Fidelito ran for help. When Fidelito returned he brought a women, Consuela and her brother Guapo. Consuela handed Matt an inhaler. Once Matt could breathe Consuela and Guapo took him to the cemetery. They said it was "the day of the dead." a holiday where they celebrate the lives of the dead. The brother and sister tell Matt that Chacho is at the hospital at the convent where Maria is staying. Since that's where Matt and Fidelito were heading Guapo says he could take them there. Once they got to the convent they were told where Chacho was. When they got to the room they found Chacho along with Ton-Ton, Jorge, Carlos and 2 sisters from the convent. All of the sudden everyone got in a fight. That's when Ezperanza, Maria's mother, walks in the room. Ton-Ton had told her the story of how the keepers had treated them. Jorge and Carlos were taken away. Maria came in the room and saw Matt and hugged his so tight. Things were finally going good for him for a change.
These chapters can be related to this website that explains all about the famous Mexican holiday "The Day of the Dead." In this website it says that this holiday is celebrated all throughout Mexico. Just like in the book how everywhere they went someone was celebrating. It also says that this holiday is for remembering and honoring those who have passed. Which is just what Consulea told Matt when he asked why they celebrated the holiday. The article says that the holiday is celebrated on graveyards just how in the book there were people celebrating at the graveyard. It also says that in the graveyard they place food and drink on the grave just like the characters were doing at the graves. The last thing the article says is that the celebrations also get held on the streets. Like how Guapo was trying to cross the street with his hover car but couldn't get threw because of all the people celebrating in the streets.
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Chapters 37+38
Esperanza tells Matt that the Opium has been in lock down for 3 months. Which means that no one is allowed to leave or enter the U.S. When hovercrafts are sent over the border they are not allowed to land and they are blown up in space. The hovercrafts can only be landed by El Patron. But since Matt has the same DNA and fingerprints as El Patron he can land that plane. So Matt takes a hovercraft over back to the U.S. Matt's next job was to convince everyone to stop the lock down, free the eejets and let Esperanza make him ruler. When Matt got back to the mansion to his surprise he only found Daft Donald, Mr.Ortega, and Celia. They told him that the night when he was escaping and El Patron was buried; that there was wine served at his funeral. But the wine was poisoned and everyone drank it except Daft Donald because he knew about the poisoning. Tam Lin knew about the poisoning to but because of his action he did when he was little he committed suicide. El Patron had a dragon hoard that he wanted to take to the grave with him. Unfortunately his dragon hoard contained people.
These chapters can be related to the book/movie called "The Hobbit." In this book/movie there is a dragon who's name is Smaug. This dragon stays in a castle and hides his treasure. If someone tried to steal some of his treasure Smaug will fight until he has everything that is his. Just like El Patron. Except the dragon's castle would be the mansion and his treasure would include people such as Matt. Just like the dragon El Patron would do anything to keep what is his whole life. Even if it meant murdering them to bring them to the grave with you.
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