Who am I?
I am the protagonist of the novel!
Raphael Fernandez
Behala Dumpsite
Waste or rubbish that people throw away because they no longer want or need it.
Trash
What important item does Raphael find while sorting through rubbish at Behala?
"I was a trash boy since I was old enough to move without help."
Raphael
"The whites of his eyes stood out like a pair of eggs."
Simile
"To walk into a prison is a very frightening thing, because you cannot help but think, What if something goes wrong and they won't let me out?"
Rhetorical question --> places the reader in the narrator's (Olivia's) position, conveying her fear and anxiety while encouraging the reader to imagine feeling trapped and powerless.
People call me 'Rat' by my real name is?
Jun-Jun
In what country is the novel based?
The Philippines
Not having enough money or resources to meet basic needs such as food, clean water, shelter, clothing, healthcare, and education.
Poverty
Hung him out a window and threatened to drop him.
"I did have a holiday. But I found lying on the beach was good for a week, and then I started to feel restless and useless"
Sister Olivia
“Crawl and crawl, and sort and sort.”
Repetition
"...our feet are as hard as hooves."
Simile --> shows the physical impact of working on the dumpsite, with the boys' feet calloused from hard work.
I run the Mission School in Behala and wish the three boys would come more.
Father Juliard
Where does Rat live?
In a hole, underground
To search through discarded items or rubbish to find something useful or valuable.
Scavenge
What was located inside the locker at the train station?
A brown envelop sealed with tape and a letter addressed to Gabrielle Olondriz
"Little Jun - the boy they called 'Rat' - I knew better. He would visit me in my office, sneaking up when the other children had gone."
Father Juliard
"You could break Jun's arms with your finger and your thumb. He was a spider, not a rat."
Metaphor
"the trash is alive at night"
Personification --> stating the trash is "alive" suggests that the dumpsite is a constantly moving, active environment, emphasising the overwhelming presence of rubbish and how it dominates the lives of the people who live and work there.
I am a volunteer from another country who helps Gardo dress nicely before we go to the prison.
Sister Olivia
What is the name of the prison where Gabrielle Olendriz currently is?
Colva Prison
The act of giving help, money, goods, or support to people who are in need.
Charity
What job did Jose Angelico have for Senator Zapanta?
He was a houseboy
"How is it going to look when everyone is there to earn money, and the boy they know found something - maybe a shoe, or maybe something else - doesn't show?"
Gardo
"We...climbed up on a wall nearby, and wondered what to do. And that is when we saw the brightest light."
Symbolism
"The trucks and the trains never stop, and nor do we."
Hyperbole --> exaggerates the seemingly endless cycle of waste production and the ongoing work it takes to deal with it.
My name is mentioned a lot throughout the novel, despite never making a physical appearance, and I am the reason the boys are on their journey.
Jose Angelico
The corrupt senator Zapanta lives in this part of the city.
Green Hills
When people in positions of power abuse their authority to get money, benefits, or advantages for personal gain.
Corruption
What did the policeman offer the finder AND each family in Behala as a reward for finding and handing in the bag?
10,000 pesos to finder
1,000 pesos to each family in Behala
"I said my money wouldn't last, and Gardo told me to shut up. So I sewed the cash into my shorts, and looked after us all with it."
Rat
"...all I could see was faces and hands waving. Man then child. Young man, then older man, then child again - thin bodies, glistening with sweat. Almost everyone in shorts only, and a smell of old food, sweat and urine."
Olfactory (smell) imagery
"But if you had no parents, you had aunties or uncles, or older brothers, or cousins, and so there was always somebody who would take care of you and give you a bit of the mat to sleep on, and a plate of rice."
What grammatical technique is evident in this quote and what is its effect?
a) Asyndeton
b) Alliteration
c) Polysyndeton
d) Parallelism
Polysyndeton --> The repeated use of "or"/"and" emphasises the many family members who could care for a child, highlighting the strength of the community and the sense that no one is left completely alone.
I am Gabriel Olondriz's son, and I dedicated my life to caring for vulnerable youth. Running a school through a government program, I eventually adopted over thirty children to ensure their safety, providing a loving home for orphans who had nothing. One of those children I adopted had the initials J.A.
Dante Jerome Olondriz
This cemetery represents the stark divide between the rich and poor. The wealthy are buried in the ground, while impoverished families are forced to rent small, cubby-like concrete boxes stacked high.
Naravo Cemetery
A situation where people are treated unfairly or do not receive the rights, opportunities, or treatment they deserve.
Injustice
What ambiguous, three-word phrase appears throughout the novel, first in Jose's letter to Gabriel, as well as in Jose's grave memorial on Pia Dante's fake tombstone?
"I learned perhaps more than any university could ever teach me. I learned the world revolves around money."
Olivia
"I've got a cup with a picture of the Virgin Mary."
Religious allusion
"You should see me, dressed to kill. I wear a pair of hacked-off jeans and a too-big T-shirt that I can roll up onto my head when the sun gets bad."
The idiom "dressed to kill" --> suggests someone is wearing stylish, impressive clothes.
The situational irony comes from the contrast between this expectation and the character's old, worn, practical clothes, highlighting their poverty while adding humour to their situation.