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Maly
Lena is Sang Ly’s mother. Although Lena is originally from Prey Veng, she moves to Stung Meanchey to be close to Sang Ly, Ki, and Nisay, sharing a hut with a distant cousin a short walk away. Lena is depicted as strong and virtuous by the fact that she too wants to take a stand against the gangs and is proud of Sang Ly for helping to protect Maly, and she helps devise the plan to get Maly to safety. Lena plays a relatively limited role within the story overall, and is most often described taking care of Nisay while Sang Ly studies with Sopeap.
Lena / Mother Quotes in The Rent Collector
The The Rent Collector quotes below are all either spoken by Lena / Mother or refer to Lena / Mother. 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:
).
Chapter Seven
Quotes
Her biggest fault—perplexing to this day—is that Mother loves to pick trash.
“It’s an adventure,” she says. “You never know what surprises you’ll find.”
I remind her that surprises usually mean human body parts.
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Chapter Twenty-Two
Quotes
“Remember, the province, though beautiful, has its own pockets of ugliness. While the dump is ugly, it also has its pockets of beauty. I think finding beauty in either place simply depends on where you decide to stand.
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Chapter Twenty-Four
Quotes
“I should go to work,” [Ki] says, “but I have no boots, no picker, nothing.” Of course, he is right, we have nothing. And yet, if Nisay is truly better, we have everything.
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Lena / Mother Quotes in The Rent Collector
The The Rent Collector quotes below are all either spoken by Lena / Mother or refer to Lena / Mother. 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:
).
Chapter Seven
Quotes
Her biggest fault—perplexing to this day—is that Mother loves to pick trash.
“It’s an adventure,” she says. “You never know what surprises you’ll find.”
I remind her that surprises usually mean human body parts.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter Twenty-Two
Quotes
“Remember, the province, though beautiful, has its own pockets of ugliness. While the dump is ugly, it also has its pockets of beauty. I think finding beauty in either place simply depends on where you decide to stand.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter Twenty-Four
Quotes
“I should go to work,” [Ki] says, “but I have no boots, no picker, nothing.” Of course, he is right, we have nothing. And yet, if Nisay is truly better, we have everything.
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
