Monday, 7 December 2015

Trash Reviewed By Devlin Abergel-Preston


Trash written by Andy Mulligan is a young-adult thriller type novel.  The novel is mainly situated in the city dumpsite known as Behala where the corruption of many political figures is causing major trouble in the less fortunate part of town. The action is driven by the three protagonists named Raphael, Gardo, and Rat (Jun-Jun) who discover a set of clues that lead to a large sum of money.   The new found bounty fuels the dream amongst the boys of retiring to spend days fishing from their boats peacefully.  These boys are only a few of the hundreds known as the dumpsite boys.

            The dream of a better life drives the dumpsite boys as they spend their days sorting through trash and garbage. Keeping spirits high and not losing optimism is the key to not breaking down and losing all hope. Often the dumpsite boys have very little money to support their relatives and family yet they dream of one day finding something big and bringing it home.  They want nothing more than to bring their loved ones out of poverty and to help them to live a better life. The dumpsite boys only want to have a place in society where they can live peacefully without disruptions or quarrels with authority.  The opportunity for a better life is only a pipe dream for most people in Behala yet there are those who do not take advantage of the opportunity when it presents itself.

            The author powerfully presents the conflict of a society as a whole where most people struggle every day to survive while a lucky few find something special in the depth of trash that surround their daily lives. To some extent their lives resemble some of our generation struggling to get by with little money.  This novel made me reflect upon some problems that I do not necessarily have to deal with at this point in my life.  It dawned on me that we should not take what we have for granted, not be greedy, and never take from others what doesn’t belong to us.  Ultimately I realized the importance of taking advantage of the opportunities that are gifted to us over our lifetime.
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11 comments:

  1. Anonymous10 December 2015 at 07:27

    Dear Devlin,

    You did a very good job giving a detailed description of the novel. I was just wondering, when you said the "less fortunate side of town" what was it that made it less fortunate? did you mean wealthiness or hoe they live?

    Thanks, Brett

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  2. Anonymous10 December 2015 at 14:44

    Dear Brett,

    Thank you for your great comment. When I said the less fortunate part of town I was referring to the families living in Behala (the dumpsite). These families were poor and did not have much money to support their families and relatives.

    Thanks,
    Devlin

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  3. Anonymous12 December 2015 at 07:11

    Dear Devlin,

    This novel has many themes. Two that come to mind are "poverty" and "political corruption". As you were reading this novel what theme did you think about and why?

    Thank you

    Mr. King

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous14 December 2015 at 14:27

      Dear Mr. King

      Thank you for this interesting question. Yes while reading this novel I did pick up many themes displayed by the author. You hit the nail on the head with those two important themes; "poverty" and "political corruption" which I did touch on in my book review. As I was reading this novel i picked up on a couple more; for one "trust". Trust is essential for the survival of the community of Behala. The community is a very tight nit organization, as said in the novel; when one person is injured the entire community comes out to help. Another theme might be optimism. Optimism is impotent in this novel because it helps the "trash boys" to get through their every day life, sifting through trash. The idea of a better life encourages them to work harder the next day to fulfill their task and lead a better life.

      Thanks,
      Devlin

      Delete
  4. Anonymous12 December 2015 at 07:21

    Hi Devlin,

    After reading this novel I thought about many 3rd world countries where children are faced with this kind of experience(s) every single day. I would be curious what thoughts crossed your mind as you read this story. Did you make any connections between the story and what is happening in the world today?

    Sincerely,

    Mr. King

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous14 December 2015 at 14:42

      Dear Mr. King,

      That thought crossed my mind many times while reading this novel. The idea of corruption and poverty is occurring in todays world a lot lately. Even in our own community there are children that struggle to make enough money to have breakfast in the morning. A very present example of this in our world today of corruption and poverty is no doubt the Syrian refugee crisis where thousands of men, woman, and children are being mistreated by their own government. Many of the refugees coming from Syria are very poor with little money to support their families. This mirroring what was happening in the novel.

      Thanks,
      Devlin

      Delete
  5. Anonymous12 December 2015 at 07:25

    Hi Devlin,

    While reading the novel "Trash" I was hit by a mixed message to the story. On the one hand I saw it as an adventure but at the same time it was tragic. Did you feel the same way? Why or why not?

    Thanks

    Mr. King

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous14 December 2015 at 14:52

      Dear Mr. King,

      Yes I did feel the same way while reading this novel. I think the novel plays on both subject simultaneously throughout the novel. The author uses the tragedy of the Behala trash boys to fuel the conflict that creates adventure. At first thought while reading this novel I was feeling very bad for the Behala peoples for they were poor and had no money. As the novel progressed I found that this poverty was not a stopping point for the group of boys. They would not settle for that sort of life. That concept created the adventure, the fight for a better life.

      Thanks,
      Devlin

      Delete
  6. Anonymous12 December 2015 at 07:32

    Hi Devlin,

    I am interested in your thoughts if "Trash" captivated you from the very beginning like it did for me. The reason I feel this way has to do with the many different types of conflict present in this novel. could you please talk to me about 2 types of conflict and how each was resolved in the story.

    Sincerely,

    Mr. King

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    Replies
    1. Anonymous14 December 2015 at 15:10

      Dear Mr. King,

      I definitely was captivated from the very start of the novel. To answer your question, the two biggest conflicts I came across while reading this novel was character versus self and character versus society. Character versus self is present the entire novel. Throughout the whole novel the boys, three in particular are fighting them selves to make more money for their families to support them. Also when they are attempting to escape and make there voyage to spend their days on boats they needed to find the courage to leave their friend and families. Character versus society was especially apparent in this novel. As we know the government in charge of their community was very corrupt, government officials were stealing large sums of money and going as far as torturing children to get information. For the most part the conflict is surrounding the corruption of the government in that area, and the fight against them.

      Thanks,
      Devlin

      Delete
  7. Anonymous15 December 2015 at 15:21

    Dear Devlin,
    The book review was amazing and it was very descriptive. The one thing that bothered me though is when you said the "less fortunate side of town" what was less fortunate about it, was it poor, was there a lot of crime? Other than that it was amazing!
    Sincerely,
    Xito

    ReplyDelete

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