Published in 2002, Nancy Farmer’s The House of the Scorpion is a young adult science fiction novel that earned a US National Book Award for Young People’s Literature. It is set in the futuristic country of Opium, which is situated along the border of the United States and what was once Mexico. The protagonist, a clone of Opium’s dictator and drug lord, struggles with his identity. His experience articulates a complex argument about the potential ethical dilemmas raised by scientific advancements.

Plot Summary

In the futuristic country of Opium, a scientist grows clones from the cells of a powerful 140-year-old man known as Matteo “El Patrón” Alacrán. His new clone, Matt, grows up under the care of Celia, the Alacrán family’s cook, who loves and cares for Matt as her own. He lives isolated in a small house in the poppy fields until he is six years old, when three children from the Alacrán house—Steven, Emilia, and María—show up at his window. The three soon discover that Matt is a clone and lock him in servant quarters. Rosa, the servant tasked with watching Matt, locks him in isolation for over six months until Celia and María find and rescue him.

After he is rescued, Matt is taken to meet El Patrón, the powerful drug lord and dictator of Opium. El Patrón decides that as his clone, Matt will receive an education and will be treated with respect. Matt spends his childhood with Celia and Tam Lin, one of El Patrón’s bodyguards, on the Alacrán estate. While the rest of the Alacrán family avoids him and treats him with contempt, Tam Lin teaches Matt outdoor skills and about the choice between becoming evil like El Patrón or being kind. Though Matt excels in his studies and is musically gifted, everyone continues to treat him with disgust. Matt does not see any difference between himself and other humans and wonders what it truly means to be a clone.

At El Patrón’s birthday party, Matt receives special treatment and presents. Emboldened by the power he feels, he humiliates María, his only friend, by demanding that she kiss him. Afterwards, Matt deeply regrets his actions and hopes to make it up to María. When he kidnaps María’s beloved dog Furball to make her talk to him, someone kills the dog and places the blame on him. Both María and Tam Lin lose their trust in Matt and leave the estate immediately afterward.

At the funeral of El Patrón’s grandson, El Viejo, María returns from convent school. Equipped with the teachings of Saint Francis, she chooses to forgive Matt and believes he has a soul. They discover that Mr. Alacrán’s wife killed Furball. Matt believes that he is receiving an education to one day run El Patrón’s empire. When El Patrón has a heart attack, sick Matt is reunited with Tam Lin. Matt doesn’t understand Tam Lin and Celia’s secretive behavior. He doesn’t believe that El Patrón would educate him if he meant to use him for organ transplants. Faced with death, Matt learns that El Patrón left the intelligence of his past clones intact so they could enjoy life before he took their hearts for transplants. Celia reveals that she poisoned Matt’s heart just enough to make it unviable for transplant before El Patrón dies.

Using Tam Lin’s guidance and tools, Matt escapes Opium and ends up in the country of Aztlán, where Keepers take him in. The Keepers overwork the Lost Boys, who lost their families to Opium’s Farm Patrol when crossing the border. Matt learns that the Keepers are as oppressive and abusive of power as El Patrón and points out their injustices. He befriends Chacho, Fidelito, and Ton-Ton, standing up for them and leading a revolt. They narrowly escape to San Luis and head to María’s convent. There, they find María and her mother, Esperanza, an activist who is seeking to dismantle Opium. She sends Matt back into Opium, promising to make him the leader if he opens the borders and dismantles the empire. Matt agrees and arrives in Opium to find all of the Alacrán household dead except for Celia and a few others. Matt learns that El Patrón arranged for his family and household to be buried with him in his tomb along with his possessions. With the help and support of his friends and loved ones, Matt starts the task of undoing El Patrón’s evils.