Trash

Trash

by

Andy Mulligan

Teachers and parents! Our Teacher Edition on Trash makes teaching easy.

Rat / Jun / Jun-Jun Character Analysis

A dumpsite boy who’s approximately 11 years old. Rat isn’t “lucky” enough to live in the shanty town that’s built on the dumpsite because he has no family there, so he sleeps in a wet trash hole among the rat’s nests (which is how he got his nickname). Rat is a streetwise young boy who lived for a while at the city’s train station, but he wound up in Behala because he heard about the charity-run Mission School there. Rat befriends Father Juilliard and Olivia Weston (the volunteers who run the school) and he begins lifting money from the school’s safe to get by. Rat is dangerously malnourished and he’s so filthy that he blends in with the trash, often going unnoticed by others. Though Rat doesn’t trust anyone, he falls into a fast friendship with two other dumpsite boys named Raphael and Gardo and he joins them in their search for a fortune that was stolen and hidden from a corrupt vice-president by a man named José Angelico. Despite being illiterate, Rat is highly intelligent, quick-witted, and light on his feet. His cleverness saves the boys’ lives on multiple occasions, most dramatically during a police chase across the rooftops of the city. Rat eventually realizes his dream of escaping to a better life in Sampalo along with Raphael, Gardo, and a young orphaned girl named Pia Dante. It’s Rat’s idea to distribute the stolen fortune in Behala for the trash kids to find, thus realizing José Angelico’s dying wish that the money be distributed among the poor.

Rat / Jun / Jun-Jun Quotes in Trash

The Trash quotes below are all either spoken by Rat / Jun / Jun-Jun or refer to Rat / Jun / Jun-Jun. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Childhood, Poverty, and Injustice Theme Icon
).
Part 1: Chapter 4 Quotes

Trash is often wet, and the juices are always running. Maybe the ground here was a bit lower, I don’t know—but it was always muddy […] I got down low with the candle, trying not to breathe too deep because of the stink […] It might seem crazy asking a kid if you can come into his hole, but this hole was about the only thing Rat had, apart from what he wore. I would not have lived there – anywhere would have been better.

Related Characters: Raphael Fernández (speaker), Gardo, Rat / Jun / Jun-Jun, José Angelico
Related Symbols: Trash
Page Number: 25
Explanation and Analysis:

When Smoky Mountain went down, there were nearly a hundred killed, and everyone knows some of those poor souls are still down there, down with the trash, turned into trash, rotting with the trash.

Related Characters: Raphael Fernández (speaker), Gardo, Rat / Jun / Jun-Jun
Related Symbols: Trash
Page Number: 25
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 1: Chapter 5 Quotes

On the other hand, I did not want Raphael hiding and drawing attention that way, so that’s why I kept him right in the middle of it.

Related Characters: Gardo (speaker), Raphael Fernández, Rat / Jun / Jun-Jun
Related Symbols: Trash
Page Number: 33
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 1: Chapter 6 Quotes

I was told once about runaways, and it made me sick. How if a new kid shows up with nowhere to go, and the police get him—they wait till night, break his legs and put him on the tracks.

Related Characters: Raphael Fernández (speaker), Gardo, Rat / Jun / Jun-Jun
Page Number: 45
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 2: Chapter 2 Quotes

It sounds crazy, but there was some part of me sure I’d never found it, and some other part of me begging me not to give up—maybe for José Angelico, because we knew more about him now.

Related Characters: Raphael Fernández (speaker), Gardo, Rat / Jun / Jun-Jun, José Angelico , Tired man
Related Symbols: Trash
Page Number: 69
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 3: Chapter 1 Quotes

Little Jun had me wrapped around his little finger in about two days, and I was forever giving him little bits of food, and little bits of money. I don’t know how else a boy like that survives.

Related Characters: Olivia Weston (Sister Olivia) (speaker), Rat / Jun / Jun-Jun
Page Number: 84
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 3: Chapter 5 Quotes

What matters is that forty years ago I came upon information that Senator Zapanta had spirited away thirty million dollars of international aid money […] But no schools or hospitals were ever built, and the city stayed poor.

Related Characters: Olivia Weston (Sister Olivia) (speaker), Gabriel Olondriz (speaker), Gardo, Rat / Jun / Jun-Jun, Senor Zapanta (vice-president) , José Angelico
Page Number: 104
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 4: Chapter 4 Quotes

Once again, the trash boys were ahead of the trash police.

Related Characters: Raphael Fernández (speaker), Gardo, Rat / Jun / Jun-Jun, Senor Zapanta (vice-president) , José Angelico , Gabriel Olondriz, Marco
Related Symbols: Trash
Page Number: 175
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 4: Chapter 6 Quotes

Rat had been chased so often, and grabbed at so often, that he must have had extra senses.

Related Characters: Raphael Fernández (speaker), Gardo, Rat / Jun / Jun-Jun
Page Number: 179
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 4: Chapter 7 Quotes

What was ten million dollars doing in your house, sir?

Related Characters: Mohun (speaker), Raphael Fernández, Gardo, Rat / Jun / Jun-Jun, Senor Zapanta (vice-president) , José Angelico , Gabriel Olondriz
Page Number: 188
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 5: Chapter 1 Quotes

We were amongst wealthy people in very fancy clothes, and we felt even greyer and dirtier, but there was nothing for it, and still nobody was worrying about us – no one seemed to see us, like we were ghosts.

Related Characters: Raphael Fernández (speaker), Gardo, Rat / Jun / Jun-Jun, Senor Zapanta (vice-president) , José Angelico
Page Number: 198
Explanation and Analysis:

And that is when we saw the brightest light.

Related Characters: Raphael Fernández (speaker), Gardo, Rat / Jun / Jun-Jun, Senor Zapanta (vice-president) , José Angelico , Pia Dante Angelico
Related Symbols: Brightest Light, Trash
Page Number: 198
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 5: Chapter 5 Quotes

I wanted to hang back and see what happened when the first trash boy of the morning hooked up—not a stupp, but a hundred dollar bill.

Related Characters: Rat / Jun / Jun-Jun (speaker), Raphael Fernández, Gardo, José Angelico , Pia Dante Angelico
Related Symbols: Trash
Page Number: 220
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Trash LitChart as a printable PDF.
Trash PDF

Rat / Jun / Jun-Jun Quotes in Trash

The Trash quotes below are all either spoken by Rat / Jun / Jun-Jun or refer to Rat / Jun / Jun-Jun. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Childhood, Poverty, and Injustice Theme Icon
).
Part 1: Chapter 4 Quotes

Trash is often wet, and the juices are always running. Maybe the ground here was a bit lower, I don’t know—but it was always muddy […] I got down low with the candle, trying not to breathe too deep because of the stink […] It might seem crazy asking a kid if you can come into his hole, but this hole was about the only thing Rat had, apart from what he wore. I would not have lived there – anywhere would have been better.

Related Characters: Raphael Fernández (speaker), Gardo, Rat / Jun / Jun-Jun, José Angelico
Related Symbols: Trash
Page Number: 25
Explanation and Analysis:

When Smoky Mountain went down, there were nearly a hundred killed, and everyone knows some of those poor souls are still down there, down with the trash, turned into trash, rotting with the trash.

Related Characters: Raphael Fernández (speaker), Gardo, Rat / Jun / Jun-Jun
Related Symbols: Trash
Page Number: 25
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 1: Chapter 5 Quotes

On the other hand, I did not want Raphael hiding and drawing attention that way, so that’s why I kept him right in the middle of it.

Related Characters: Gardo (speaker), Raphael Fernández, Rat / Jun / Jun-Jun
Related Symbols: Trash
Page Number: 33
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 1: Chapter 6 Quotes

I was told once about runaways, and it made me sick. How if a new kid shows up with nowhere to go, and the police get him—they wait till night, break his legs and put him on the tracks.

Related Characters: Raphael Fernández (speaker), Gardo, Rat / Jun / Jun-Jun
Page Number: 45
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 2: Chapter 2 Quotes

It sounds crazy, but there was some part of me sure I’d never found it, and some other part of me begging me not to give up—maybe for José Angelico, because we knew more about him now.

Related Characters: Raphael Fernández (speaker), Gardo, Rat / Jun / Jun-Jun, José Angelico , Tired man
Related Symbols: Trash
Page Number: 69
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 3: Chapter 1 Quotes

Little Jun had me wrapped around his little finger in about two days, and I was forever giving him little bits of food, and little bits of money. I don’t know how else a boy like that survives.

Related Characters: Olivia Weston (Sister Olivia) (speaker), Rat / Jun / Jun-Jun
Page Number: 84
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 3: Chapter 5 Quotes

What matters is that forty years ago I came upon information that Senator Zapanta had spirited away thirty million dollars of international aid money […] But no schools or hospitals were ever built, and the city stayed poor.

Related Characters: Olivia Weston (Sister Olivia) (speaker), Gabriel Olondriz (speaker), Gardo, Rat / Jun / Jun-Jun, Senor Zapanta (vice-president) , José Angelico
Page Number: 104
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 4: Chapter 4 Quotes

Once again, the trash boys were ahead of the trash police.

Related Characters: Raphael Fernández (speaker), Gardo, Rat / Jun / Jun-Jun, Senor Zapanta (vice-president) , José Angelico , Gabriel Olondriz, Marco
Related Symbols: Trash
Page Number: 175
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 4: Chapter 6 Quotes

Rat had been chased so often, and grabbed at so often, that he must have had extra senses.

Related Characters: Raphael Fernández (speaker), Gardo, Rat / Jun / Jun-Jun
Page Number: 179
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 4: Chapter 7 Quotes

What was ten million dollars doing in your house, sir?

Related Characters: Mohun (speaker), Raphael Fernández, Gardo, Rat / Jun / Jun-Jun, Senor Zapanta (vice-president) , José Angelico , Gabriel Olondriz
Page Number: 188
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 5: Chapter 1 Quotes

We were amongst wealthy people in very fancy clothes, and we felt even greyer and dirtier, but there was nothing for it, and still nobody was worrying about us – no one seemed to see us, like we were ghosts.

Related Characters: Raphael Fernández (speaker), Gardo, Rat / Jun / Jun-Jun, Senor Zapanta (vice-president) , José Angelico
Page Number: 198
Explanation and Analysis:

And that is when we saw the brightest light.

Related Characters: Raphael Fernández (speaker), Gardo, Rat / Jun / Jun-Jun, Senor Zapanta (vice-president) , José Angelico , Pia Dante Angelico
Related Symbols: Brightest Light, Trash
Page Number: 198
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 5: Chapter 5 Quotes

I wanted to hang back and see what happened when the first trash boy of the morning hooked up—not a stupp, but a hundred dollar bill.

Related Characters: Rat / Jun / Jun-Jun (speaker), Raphael Fernández, Gardo, José Angelico , Pia Dante Angelico
Related Symbols: Trash
Page Number: 220
Explanation and Analysis: