“To do anything, he would have to go outdoors, which Celia said again and again was very dangerous” (7)
In The House of the Scorpion, Matt repeatedly references the Spanish mythological creature the Chupacabra. It is a creature that “suck[s] your blood and [leaves] you to dry like an old cantaloupe skin” (10). The repeated references to the chupacabra made me think about why people create myths. We create myths because they serve the purpose of allowing us to believe that there exists something bigger than ourselves; something unknown. It just so happens that like with common myths, in which people tend to exploit these beliefs in order to control someone else, this happens in The House of the Scorpion, as Celia uses the chupacabra as a deterrent so Matt will not go outside. Also like with common myths, Matt shows that even against strong counter evidence, people tend to hold on to these beliefs. Maria explains that the chickens, who Matt believes is the result of the chupacabra, are really the result of Illegals stealing them (32). Matt begins to show the process of critical thinking when he notices how everything from the stuffed animals on the bed to the soap operas on TV does not seem “real” (8). Only for this process to be completely thrown out the window when it comes to the chupacabra. This shows how people disregard evidence because they have some sort of value in the belief they hold.
