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
While Sang Ly is kneeling on the floor of their hut, sweeping ashes from the stove, Lucky Fat bursts in with a panicked look in his eye. He frantically tells Sang Ly that his friend is bleeding, and that Sang Ly must come with him right away. Lucky Fat is insistent that she come alone. Taking Nisay with her, Sang Ly follows Lucky Fat back to his hut and finds a young girl inside, 11 or 12 years old. Her pants around her pelvis and thighs are soaked with blood.
Lucky Fat demonstrates that he is not only good-humored, but also heroic. As an orphan, his life is difficult to begin with, without taking on the problems of other people as well. This scene introduces Maly as a character, whose brief presence in the story will help to develop Sang Ly’s understanding of heroism and self-sacrifice.
Themes
At first, Sang Ly thinks she must have been assaulted, but the girl, Maly, says that nobody touched her. Lucky Fat explains that while they were picking trash, she suddenly started bleeding and was so scared that he brought her back to his hut. Sang Ly is relieved, realizing that Maly is not injured—she is menstruating for the first time. Being an orphan like Lucky Fat, Maly does not have a mother to explain the process to her. Sang Ly sends Lucky Fat away so she and Maly can speak, and finding some rags and water, helps Maly to clean herself.
Sang Ly’s immediate assumption that Maly was sexually assaulted makes sense in light of Lucky Fat’s panic, and further portrays the dump as a dangerous and violent environment. Maly’s fear at an ordinary stage in a young woman’s life underscores the difficulty of living independently as an orphan, without the guidance of a mother or father.
Themes
However, Maly is still nervous, and mentions that she does not want to be “sent away.” Sang Ly does not understand, and when she suggests that Maly tell her older brother about this, Lucky Fat charges back into the hut protesting. He exclaims that Maly’s brother is in a gang, and now that Maly is a woman, they will sell her to a brothel to be a prostitute. The narration states, “The notion is unthinkable to anyone civilized—but in Cambodia, it happens all the time.” Often when poor families cannot support all their children, daughters will be “sold” for a couple hundred dollars to a man who claims the girl will be employed as a waitress, but the man will instead sell the girl to a brothel where she will be kept as a slave. Lucky Fat tearfully insists that they have to protect Maly.
While child prostitution is inarguably a horrific practice, it is also a sad reality all over the world, present even in the United States—though less publicly than some countries, such as Cambodia. In light of this, it is worth pointing out that the author, an American man, exhibits his potential bias by implying that Cambodians are somehow uncivilized, since they live in a country where child prostitution regularly occurs. While this does not seem intentional, it is worth recognizing the author’s own implicit bias and limited perspective.
Themes
Gangs have been in Stung Meanchey for as long as Sang Ly can remember. Most often, gang members are children or teenagers with no one to look after them, and used to stick mostly to minor harassment and mischief. Lately, however, they have become more aggressive, but the general Cambodian way is to mind one’s own business—after the Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge’s genocide slaughtered 1 million people in the 1970s, an entire generation of Cambodian survivors have learned to keep their heads down.
The Khmer Rouge genocide in 1975 is one of the most horrific occurrences of the 20th century, though less well-known than other such events. The narrative implies that those who survived only did so by keeping entirely to themselves and likely passed that habit down to their children as well. In light of this, the villagers’ reluctance to fight back against the gangs seems less like cowardice and more like long-practiced survival.
Themes
Get the entire The Rent Collector LitChart as a printable PDF.
However, Ki feels this refusal to engage with the problem is cowardly, though Sang Ly fears his sudden urge to fight back is motivated in part by revenge. When she tells him about Maly, he agrees they should help, but is not sure how yet, since not even the police are trustworthy. He thinks they will have to keep her hidden until they can arrange a way for her to escape Stung Meanchey.
Despite Ki’s knife and preoccupation with power, it is clear that he means well, as demonstrated by his desire to protect Maly. His distrust of the police yet again underscores the difficulty of living in such an impoverished environment, where one cannot even count on public protection.
Themes
During her next lesson with Sopeap, Sang Ly practices reading aloud while Sopeap writes notes from books. Although she previously said they must proceed quickly, she seems to be taking her time, which frustrates Sang Ly. However, Sopeap warns that it won’t do to rush into things before Sang Ly is ready. She gives Sang Ly one of Aesop’s fables to read, explaining that the story comes from Greece. In the short story, trained monkeys dance skillfully upon a stage, dressed and masked like courtiers. However, as soon as someone throws a handful of nuts onto the stage, the monkeys forget their training and scrabble for the food like mere animals.
The fact that Sang Ly has the new opportunity to hear the thoughts of an ancient Greek man illustrates the power of literature to connect people across eras, geographical distances, and social classes. Whereas Sang Ly’s entire life was previously contained within the dump at Stung Meanchey, the world is beginning to open up to her through literature, even if she does not yet know what to do with it.
Themes
Sang Ly thinks it is an amusing story, but Sopeap is frustrated that her student does not understand its purpose. Sopeap explains that the first lesson of literature is that each story has life lessons woven into them, even short ones such as this. Stories are layered with meaning. However, Sang Ly still does not understand the fable’s moral. When she presses Sopeap to explain what the story means to her, Sopeap whispers that it reminds her that sometimes, “I pretend to be something I’m not.” Sang Ly wishes she could understand what Sopeap keeps so tightly hidden about herself, but instead of offering any clues, Sopeap apologizes for teaching the material poorly, and says they will try again tomorrow, after she has spent more time preparing.
Once again, the reader is given the same lessons as Sang Ly and encouraged to search for deeper meanings within a story that can apply to daily life. For instance, Aesop’s monkey fable suggests that although one may wear a façade, with the right stimulus or temptation, that façade falls away and they show who they truly are. Sopeap obviously understands this, and her admission that she herself has a façade once again suggests that her demeanor and appearance do not give an accurate impression of her true character or value.
Themes
Rumor spreads around Stung Meanchey that a young girl has been kidnapped. During the night, Lucky Fat and Maly think they hear someone sneaking around his hut, so they bring Maly to Sang Ly and Ki’s hut to spend the night there instead. After Ki leaves in the morning, Sopeap arrives, but Sang Ly is so tired from staying awake with Maly that she asks if they can skip today. Sang Ly tries to keep sleeping Maly hidden from view when Sopeap is present. As Sopeap leaves, she remarks that people can only “go to the places they have first visited in their minds,” and surmises that perhaps that is how literature will help Sang Ly, so that someday she might be able to leave the dump. However, as she walks away, all Sang Ly can think of is what they will do about Maly.
Sang Ly and Ki’s commitment to keeping Maly safe demonstrates that they are noble, compassionate, and even heroic characters, intent on doing right. Meanwhile, Sopeap’s statement that one can only go where they have first imagined once again suggests that literature has the power to open the world up to the reader, letting them not only visualize a life that is different than their own, but perhaps even to achieve it, since by visualizing a better future, they may also be able to hope for and achieve that outcome.
Themes
