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
Sang Ly dreams that she emerges from her tent in the morning to discover Stung Meanchey covered in snow. She marvels but knows she still must work, so taking her trash-picking tool and a sack, she ventures out to the rubbish field. However, when she digs through the snow she discovers that there is no more trash or filth; the snow has purified Stung Meanchey. Looking up, Sang Ly can see her childhood home, Prey Veng, in the distance, even though she knows this is impossible since it is a long distance away. In the far-away village, a man stands with arms stretched towards her, who says, “You should have come sooner. Why didn’t you come sooner?” He repeats his question three times, and Sang Ly wakes up.
The snow in Sang Ly’s dream seems to symbolize hopeful redemption—just as rain will also symbolize redemption in the end of the story—since although Sang Ly still lives in the Stung Meanchey dump, the setting is seemingly transformed from filthy to pure and beautiful. It is significant that Sang Ly’s dream of this mysterious man comes immediately after another remedy for Nisay has failed to cure him, implying that he may hold the key to healing the sick child.
Themes
The next day, Sang Ly asks Sopeap if she ever dreams, but Sopeap replies that she only ever has nightmares, which she keeps away with rice wine. However, she tells Sang Ly that many famous authors wrote stories based on their dreams, and the psychiatrist Carl Jung believed that dreams were incredibly important, and that one must “ponder” them to discover their true meaning.
That evening, Sang Ly is bathing Nisay when Ki arrives and tells her that the gangs beat up Lucky Fat, apparently because they found out he helped Maly escape. One of Lucky Fat’s eyes is swollen shut, and the gangs smashed all his Buddha figurines, but he’s alive. Sang Ly is furious and thinks of using Ki’s knife herself, though she’s usually a “pacifist.” However, Ki tells her that since most of the villagers like Lucky Fat, now almost 30 men are ready to stand up to the gangs.
The danger that Lucky Fat faced—and thus, his heroism for facing it—are confirmed when the gang beats him up. However, the other villagers’ goodwill towards Lucky Fat also demonstrates the manner in which being good-humored in spite of a dire environment can build connections and endear oneself to others.
Themes
