Themes
Key
LitCharts assigns a color and icon to each theme in Trash, which you can use to track the themes throughout the work.
Childhood, Poverty, and Injustice
Corruption, Power, and Theft
Community, Loyalty, and Solidarity
Intelligence, Education, and Street Smarts
Summary
Analysis
Raphael, Gardo, Jun, and Pia Dante get on the train, looking just like all the other school kids (except their backpacks are stuffed with cash) and they ride all night to Sampalo. They step onto a beach that’s “more beautiful than creation.” That was some time ago. Now, the lying is over. They’ve learned to fish and bought fishing boats, and they will live happily until the end of their days.
Mulligan gives his protagonists the happy ending they desire and the fresh start that society owed them in the first place. They have formed a new little community in a place where they have access to water, can be clean, and can earn a living—the minimum that every person deserves in life.
Themes
