The Scorpion Project: Characterization

Hello! This is my fourth post on the Scorpion Project and second post talking about one of the six literary elements we will be exploring. As the title suggests, this post is on the characters.

At the beginning of the book, I didn't like Matt. This was because I couldn't relate to him, as he was 6 years old. I understood why he wouldn't talk to people after his imprisonment or didn't speak up, but that didn't make me like him anymore. To be honest, it just made me frustrated and annoyed with the repetition and the way the story was going. However, I actually found myself sympathizing with Matt and understanding him more as the story went on. It was a really obvious show of Matt growing up, which proved him as a dynamic character. Matt is obviously a round character as well, as we follow his life from the age of 6 to 14, and the protagonist as well.

The most surprising character to me in this book was Tam Lin. There was a lot of development surrounding his character, and some backstory that gave a bit of insight into his past. Though we don't know all the background surrounding some of his choices and actions, we do understand more about how these choices have affected him throughout his life.

I was disappointed with the lack of character development about Tom and Felicia. We understand that they both hate Matt, probably because of the fact he is El Patron's clone, who did some horrible things to Felicia in the past. However, I would've liked to see more insight into Tom's story about his family life, and how Felicia changed from before she was constantly on drugs or alcohol. I feel like their only purpose in the story was to show how much hate people show for El Patron and Matt.

I loved Maria because, though sometimes a little bratty when she was little, she was a fun character to read about. Her explosive moods and bubbly personality made her more vivid in my mind. Maria is a round character because we understand many things about her through Matt's narrative, as they have a close relationship. Though still the same bubbly, full of life girl she was at the beginning, Maria is slightly dynamic as well because her views on Matt not having a soul change throughout the novel.

I think in the majority of the novel, society (and the people in it) is the antagonist because this is the reason he feels like he doesn't belong. A sub-antagonist of this novel is El Patron because he is the one who deceived Matt and wants his organs.

Thanks for reading! I'll be posting my theme post very soon today.