Nature versus nurture has been a question from sociologists for centuries.

Nancy Farmer s House of the Scorpion is a novel that shows nurture prevailing over nature. The characters El Patron, Matt, and Celia in the novel represent this. El Patron and Celia grew up together, and Matt is El Patron s exact copy of DNA. Our environment growing up, the people we meet, the places we go, and the memories we make, determine who we are. We are more than, not just, our genetics. Celia is Matt s mother figure and care taker. She is loving and caring of Matt, and even risks her life to sabotage Matt s organs with arsenic so El Patron cannot use him for transplants. This shows her dedication for Matt s well being. Celia grew up in the same poor village as El Patron; Durango. Celia responds to El Patron s comparison to them as a pair of scorpions with Speak for yourself. (pg.235). She loathes him and is disgusted by him categorizing him with her. She became a herbologist, then a maid for El Patron, since he saved her from the border patrol turning her into an eejit. Since she did not grow up with the loss of her siblings Celia became a nice person, her childhood was better than El Patron s even though they grew up together. Matt is El Patron s ninth clone and is the protagonist of the story. Matt has some of the same personal traits as El patron because of the same DNA, like a short temper and calculating brain. On his birthday, Matt s traits from El Patron really come out One more thing, I demand a birthday kiss. (pg.109). Fortunately, unlike El Patron, he tries not to become angered, and stay calm, while El Patron encourages him to demonstrate his power. Matt has grown up without greed and with sympathy. He is happy with giving away possessions without consideration because Maria - his childhood crush - told him tales of Saint Francis. His lonely comment on his fourteenth birthday party was The party went on with renewed spirit now that El Patron was gone, but no one talked to Matt. No one seemed to notice he was even there. (pg.110). His childhood was made up of very few close friends, like Celia and Tam Lin. He considered El Patron his friend just because he was his clone. He grew up being shunned, so friendship made a huge impact on him. El Patron, the original Matteo Alacran, is the antagonist of House of the Scorpion. He is the cruellest character in the book. After his funeral genocide Matt realizes He d never intended to let Mr. Alacran or Steven inherit his kingdom. Their education was as hollow as Matt s. None of them was meant to survive. (pg.376) His final ploy of insane greed was to keep everyone in his dragon hoard by making sure nobody can inherit his country. He was the only survivor of eight children in the impoverished village of Durango. Since he watched his eight siblings die as a child, he developed a twisted sense of redemption and thought that he should get everything possible for himself, as if to share and make up for his siblings absence. This

sense of redemption only became corrupted greed. El Patron compares himself to a cat (also hinting at Matt is his ninth clone/life) with his reason for living You could say I m a cat with nine lives. As long as there s mice to catch, I intend to keep hunting. (pg.101). He wants to keep living to amass his treasure hoard as redemption. While talking about El Patron s past, his personal doctor threatens Don t say that, not even to me. El Patron s rage is something you don t want to see. (pg.37) El Patron has grown to make others fear him, his power, his cruelty, and his intentions. As the power of the corrupt country Opium, he himself is even more devious and twisted than the country he runs. The upbringing of all three characters has affected who each person has become. Celia and El Patron were both raised in the same poor village, but did not have the same tragedies in their lives. Matt was raised in the Alacran Estate and defies his genetic similarities to El Patron by learning from his experiences. The people, location, and events all affected who each person became, just as all humans grow from their surroundings.