Overall Setting of "The House Of The Scorpions"

Compared to other novels, Nancy Farmer has illustrated the setting in quite a different way. Instead of telling us what the setting was, she illustrated the setting through different events through out the novel. In the 2nd chapter of the book, it explains a beautiful morning sunrise with bright blue skies and early morning sunlight. This description of the morning sky suggests that the time the novel is taking place in is around spring or summer. Another possible hint as to the season this novel is located in is the title of the second chapter, "The Little House In The Poppy Fields" also hinting us that it is around summer time. Near the beginning of the book, it does have a family tree stating that the many characters that are being brought up in the novel are from Mexico, suggesting that the place of which the book is taking place in is in and around Mexico. However, it doesn't state a certain time period that the book is taking place in but judging by the events that are happening in the first chapter of the book, you can take and educated guess that this book is taking place somewhere in the future as we do not have the technology to create clones yet. In chapter 8, it gives you can get a general feel of the setting through reading about the horseback ride and the secret pond the Tam Lin took Matt to go and see. However, Nancy farmer has not given a straight explanation of the the book and up until chapter 9, has given little hints about the setting through the action of characters and what the characters see. This could mean that the setting could be constantly changing and isn't always the same. I believe that the reason Nancy farmer is doing this is to keep and hold the readers interests. Instead of having the book in the same setting throughout, the setting continuously changes, thus captivating the readers interests.