House of the Scorpion (6)

I always say the truth is best when we find it unpleasant. Any rat in a sewer can lie. It's how rats are. It's what makes them rats. But a human doesn't run and hide in dark places, because he's something more. Lying is the most personal act of cowardice there is.

The government and how El Patron runs the society is relies heavily on lying and manipulating the way the people think. They lie to the people by vaccinating them and taking control of their thoughts. They also lie to the children of Lost Boys and the rest of the people by saying obedience will give them privileges and how they are less than the Keepers. When a government turns to lying to gain the control and trust of the people, they are considered a dystopian government. This government promises the people privileges, however all they do is work until they are told to stop or, like the field worker, until they die from being overworked.

The government presented in House of the Scorpion shows their cowardice through controlling the people with a vaccine. They feel that their own power is not strong enough to gain the loyalty of the people. They need to enforce obedience rather than gaining their trust. As things seem to be comfortable, Matt is created and ruins the government's plan. Everyone was being obedient until Matt was given the opportunity to think for himself by not receiving the vaccine. In the presence of Matt, the government that El Patron created is the rat while Matt himself is the human that never hides in the dark. He pushes himself to free the people of Lost Boys and Opium and realizes the lies that the government has been telling. Their act of cowardice does not earn them the power to control the people and eventually lose that power because of Matt.