The House of the Scorpion

El Patrón is the patriarch of the Alacrán family and the founder and dictator of the country of Opium. He is 140 years old when Matt is first harvested at the beginning of the novel. El Patrón was born in a poor, overcrowded town in the country of Mexico before it became Aztlán. His eight siblings all died young, leaving El Patrón the only person in his family. He took the name Alacrán, or scorpion, as his family name after the nickname given to the people who overpopulated Mexico. The powerful drug lord is revealed to have used clones over the years for transplants to extend his life. Due to his power to break international law, El Patrón ensures that his clones’ intelligence always remains intact. While it seems that El Patrón does this out of mercy and to grant the clones a chance to enjoy a childhood he didn’t have, his enjoyment in watching his clones grow up only to be sacrificed is a testament to his vanity. El Patrón sees himself as a deity who grants life to his clones the way God created Adam. He also believes that he is entitled to the lives his siblings were not able to live.

El Patrón displays cruel control over his family, forcing marriages to increase his wealth and perceiving people as possessions. Tam Lin compares El Patrón and his wealth to a dragon and its hoard—El Patrón loots and gathers wealth and cannot bear to give away a single coin. Even in death, El Patrón poisons his household so that Opium remains frozen as his empire forever. His fascination with the practice of Chaldean kings is evident in his desire to seal not only all his riches but also his family and servants in his tomb after death in an attempt to carry them to the grave.

Celia is Matt’s caretaker from his early childhood and a cook on El Patrón’s estate. After attempting to cross the border from Aztlán to the United States, Celia is captured by the Farm Patrol, but she is spared when El Patrón learns that she is from his hometown and that she can cook. Celia is a deeply religious person who teaches Matt moral values and about the Virgin Guadalupe from a young age. Unlike most people, Celia loves Matt as her own son and makes every effort to keep him safe from El Patrón. She does not perceive Matt as a clone the way most of society does and encourages him to be a kind, good person. Her upbringing allows Matt to make choices that greatly differ from El Patrón’s worst impulses. Celia is also clever and brave, taking measures to prevent Matt’s heart from being viable for transplant by poisoning him and standing up to El Patrón on his deathbed. Though she is sentenced to become an eejit, Tam Lin rescues her, and she survives when the rest of the Alacrán household dies at El Patrón’s wake.

Tam Lin is El Patrón and Matt’s bodyguard. Born and raised in Scotland, Tam Lin is a muscular man covered in scars. When El Patrón lets Matt choose a bodyguard for himself, Matt chooses Tam Lin because of the look of friendliness in his eyes. While lacking a traditional education, he has excellent outdoor skills and spends his time training Matt on how to live in nature. Once a Scottish nationalist, he accidentally killed 20 children when attempting to assassinate the prime minister. Tam Lin has gained a deep moral compass after spending time with Celia, and he succumbs to the death that El Patrón intends for him to make up for his sins. He repeatedly advises Matt that he has the choice to either become cruel like El Patrón or to be a kind person, guiding him to make moral choices. Unlike most of the Alacrán household, Tam Lin sees Matt as a human being capable of molding his character, holding him accountable for his actions.

María is Senator Mendoza and Esperanza’s youngest daughter and Matt’s only friend and love interest. María is kind and affectionate but very sensitive and emotional. She is quick to upset and feels empathy for everyone, including animals and eejits. From an early age, she treats Matt with compassion in the belief that even animals, like her beloved dog Furball, deserve love and care. After she is sent to convent school and learns the teachings of Saint Francis, María believes that Matt should not be treated as an animal but rather be given the chance to start anew. While the popular belief is that clones do not have souls, María insists that Matt indeed has a soul. El Patrón arranges the marriage between María and Tom. Despite Tom’s cruel and hypocritical nature, she believes that she can change him. She rebels against her convent education and family’s expectations over time, choosing to develop a close relationship with Matt. She stands against the mistreatment of clones in her attempt to save Matt’s life. She falls in love with Matt as she grows older, clearly able to see how identical he is to a human, acknowledging his humanity, and admiring his personality.

The Keepers are in charge of the orphaned Lost Boys in Aztlán. While Matt first believes them to be caring, he slowly learns that they abuse their power and oppress those beneath them just as El Patrón once did with his family and empire. They keep the boys under forced labor, deprive them of many basic needs, and often physically abuse them if they act out of line. The Keepers drill their belief systems into the boys, including lessons about the evils of individualism and the need to sacrifice oneself for the general good of the people. The Keepers prove themselves to be hypocritical, withholding luxuries from the lost boys when enjoying privileges themselves. Matt does not hesitate in standing up against their twisted teachings and cruelty, even when they single him out for acting like an aristocrat. Matt points out that there is not much difference between the Keeper’s treatment of the boys and the process of turning humans and animals into eejits.

Matt’s three friends from the plankton factory in San Luis stay by his side and stand up for him when needed. Like the rest of the Lost Boys, they lost their parents when attempting to cross the border to the United States. Though they deny it, they know deep down that their parents were turned into eejits, or zombies. When Matt attempts an escape, they accompany him to San Luis with Chacho seriously injured. Matt learns from them that while friendship is burdensome, there is nothing that can compare to companionship after a lifetime of loneliness, isolation, and hatred.