Identify the most significant change in the main character’s personality.
Support your ideas with examples from the novel.
Someone once said, “What you think of yourself is much more important than what others think of you.” Matt, the main character in Nancy Farmer’s House of the Scorpion , realizes that negative thoughts of himself are holding him back as he struggles through being a clone. In the beginning of the novel, Matt finds out he’s a clone; a species looked down upon in the land of Opium. After seeing the real dangers of being a clone, Matt finds out escape is necessary. From the beginning, Matt has progressed from an insecure boy to a confident adolescent.
Throughout the beginning of the novel, Matt proved to be an insecure boy swayed by others thoughts. To begin, Matt always limited himself because he was a clone. One time when Matt was young, …show more content…
A clear example of Matt gaining confidence was when he finally returned home to Opium after his escape. When he arrived at Opium, he found out Tam Lin, a man he considered his father, had died. In that moment matt though that he would not be able to take on his role as Lord of Opium, but as he started to think about his friends he gained confidence. When he finished thinking about how to accomplish his goals, with a smile, Matt said, “I know I can,”ensuring he would try his hardest (Farmer, 380). In the start, matt may have been easily brought down by his insecurities thus dragging him down. Now that Matt has supportive friends and he accepts himself he has gained true confidence and transformed himself enough to realize that he can take on the role as Lord of Opium. In the end, Matt has finally realizes what it really means to be human and has gain