Characters
$100: This character continues to mentor Sang Ly in reading and literature.
Who is Sopeap Sin?
Sang Ly continues meeting Sopeap for this activity
are reading lessons?
This theme grows stronger as Sang Ly becomes more confident in reading.
is education/literacy?
Sopeap often says literature teaches this important life skill.
is seeing meaning in stories?
The main setting for the novel remains this large garbage area.
is Stung Meanchey?
He is Sang Ly’s husband, who worries about her safety and future.
Who is Ki?
Sang Ly discovers that Sopeap is connected to this major part of Cambodia’s history.
what is Khmer Rouge genocide
These chapters focus on how people carry deep emotional injuries.
is trauma and healing?
Sang Ly realizes stories can do this for people’s emotions.
is it to give comfort/heal?
Despite being dirty and dangerous, the dump symbolizes this for Sang Ly.
is opportunity or change?
This child’s illness motivates Sang Ly to keep learning and searching for hope.
Who is Nisay?
Sang Ly makes this personal decision to understand Sopeap better.
is asking about her past?
The bond between Sopeap and Sang Ly represents this kind of relationship.
is mentorship?
Sopeap uses this classic teaching method to explain deeper messages.
are metaphors?
Sopeap’s house represents this contrast to the dump.
is stability or the past?
This character’s past as a professor becomes more clear in these chapters
Who is Sopeap?
Sopeap reveals what happened to her family.
Who is her son who died?
Sang Ly learns that even people living in garbage dumps still have this powerful human ability.
is hope?
Sang Ly learns that books reflect this part of life.
is the human experience?
Books symbolize this major idea across Chapters 22–24.
is hope or transformation?
Sang Ly finally sees this emotional side of Sopeap, revealing how deeply her past still affects her.
is her grief/sorrow when she remembers her son?
Chapter 24 shows Sang Ly realizing this important truth about learning and healing.
is that stories and knowledge can heal emotional wounds?
Sopeap’s tragic past strongly connects to this theme of letting go of pain.
forgiveness?
A key idea in these chapters is that reading helps people understand this powerful truth about themselves.
is their strength or identity?
Sopeap’s emotional breakdown symbolizes how this still controls her life.
is unresolved grief?