Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in The Rent Collector, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
The Power of Literature
Appearances, Judgment, and Hidden Character
Heroism and Self-Sacrifice
Hope and Action
Humor and Resilience
Summary
Analysis
Soon, Sang Ly is reading simple books, enchanted by the way that individual words can unite and form a picture in her mind. Sopeap tells her that she will give her some more difficult books before she leaves for several days for some sort of appointment. When Sopeap returns, she will teach Sang Ly about grammar, and then they will be finished. However, Sang Ly does not want the lessons to end, and begs Sopeap to teach her about literature as well, even though she doesn’t really know what literature is.
Although Sang Ly’s initial plan was simply to learn how to read, she has accomplished this goal within the first portion of the story, suggesting that there is far more to literacy than simply decoding letters into words. Now that she has begun to stir her mind, Sang Ly wants to learn more, suggesting that once one begins to take steps towards change, the process becomes its own reward.
Themes
Sopeap answers that she is unwell and doesn’t have the energy to teach literature anymore. When Sang Ly remarks that she clearly has the energy to drink, Sopeap tells her that the alcohol isn’t meant to soothe her body, but something deeper. Literature requires both an active mind and an active heart, and Sopeap’s heart simply isn’t in it anymore. She also feels that Sang Ly is not ready, since literature poses too many deep questions from which the limitations of the dump have protected her. The next reading lesson will be the last one, but if Sang Ly improves by then and finds and brings an example of literature, they can discuss it, and Sopeap will decide if she is ready. Sopeap tells Sang Ly that Stung Meanchey is “awash in literature,” and Sang Ly will recognize it when she finds it.
Sopeap’s admission that the alcohol is a way to placate her own psychological turmoil again provides an early hint that she is running from some part of her life, trying to silence some part of herself. Although Sopeap implies that anything can be literature, since even the dump is “awash” in it, she also hints at the fact that literature can ask more questions than it answers, and has the power to open the world to an individual, though this undoubtedly makes life harder and more complex.
Themes
Sang Ly is eager to tell Ki about the assignment so he can help her find a piece of literature, but when she sees him, Ki is somber. He recounts how the gang that beat him up was walking around the dump that afternoon, but all the villagers were so frightened that no one stood up to them. Ki does not want to be a coward and wants the power to protect his family, but Sang Ly is afraid that he will do something stupid and get himself killed. In the following days, Ki finds some trashy magazines, but Sang Ly does not think that these count as literature.
While Sang Ly’s newfound literacy and desire to learn empower her, Ki once again grapples with his own powerlessness and the fear that he and the other villagers have of the gangs. Again, this feeling of powerlessness is important to developing the notion of a hero, and more importantly, what a hero is not; namely, a person who merely possesses power over others.
Themes
Sang Ly and Ki bring Nisay to a local “cupping” practitioner, another traditional remedy that involves creating suction to attempt to draw the toxins out of one’s body, to see if he can cure his diarrhea. As they are returning home, they meet Lucky Fat, who says that he just left a book at their hut that he found for Sang Ly. Additionally, he saw Sopeap there, who said that they would resume their lessons on Friday. Sang Ly worries that she is running out of time to find literature.
Sang Ly and Ki’s various attempts to cure Nisay temper the idea of hope and action. Although they constantly try new remedies, Nisay’s sickness remains, demonstrating that action alone cannot solve every problem in life. Again, Nisay’s illness on top of their already-difficult poverty demonstrates how compounding issues can keep people down and disadvantaged.
Themes
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