Hope and Action Theme Analysis

Sopeap describes hope to Sang Ly as “our longing not only to make a difference today but to see what is possible for tomorrow.” Although such longing and optimism seem a rare thing in the Stung Meanchey dump, Sang Ly learns to find and tend her hope for the future until it compels her to take action and create change in her life.  Sang Ly’s personal journey suggests that, although a difficult environment may seem hopeless, hope can be fostered by taking action and searching for glimpses of positivity and possibility in one’s own environment.

Stung Meanchey and its poverty make for a difficult environment to live in—the village seems almost inescapable, demonstrating how having constant hardships in one’s environment often inevitably lead to a feeling of hopelessness. Like most of Stun Meanchey’s residents, Sang Ly and Ki Lim rarely have more than enough money to buy enough food for the day, even though Ki works every day. Sang Ly describes it as “a life where the hope of tomorrow is traded to satisfy the hunger of today,” demonstrating their abject poverty and the hopeless cycle they are trapped in, just trying to get by. Additionally, the dump is a dangerous environment in which to work. Most villagers make their living by picking through trash for recyclable materials to sell, but the presence of constantly-moving garbage trucks and heavy machinery means that fatalities among the trash-pickers are common. Only weeks before the story takes place, a garbage truck crushes Lucky Fat’s young friend, emphasizing the daily dangers and hopelessness of living in such a destitute environment. The noxious chemicals in the dump’s waste present yet another danger: Sang Ly’s infant son Nisay is constantly ill, stricken with diarrhea and unable to put on weight, and although doctors at a nearby clinic have prescribed several different antibiotics, none have made a permanent change. The fragility of Nisay’s life in Stung Meanchey further demonstrates the apparent hopelessness of Sang Ly’s position, not only for her own life, but for her son’s as well.

However, as Sang Ly begins learning to read, she feels hope begin to grow inside her again, suggesting that one can take action to foster hope even in a seemingly hopeless environment. Rather than simply wishing her life was different, the act of learning a new skill—and thus bettering herself—begins to revitalize Sang Ly’s sense of hope and help her to believe that the future could be better, and that education could even someday lead to new work opportunities for her or perhaps her son. Sopeap affirms this when she admonishes Sang Ly, “if you want to resurrect hope, doing is the most important,” suggesting that taking action to better one’s self or circumstances is the first critical step to renewing hope and setting oneself up for future opportunities. Sang Ly’s revitalized optimism helps her to realize that she must also be hopeful for Nisay’s sake, so that he can learn to hope in the future as well. She reflects, “I don’t want to raise a child of doubt. I want my son to believe, to hope, to dream that the future holds brighter days.” Sang Ly’s recognition that her own hopefulness will impact her son as he grows up suggests that one’s positive attitude and proactivity in improving one’s circumstances are not only important for their own sake, but for the people around them as well. Sopeap helps Sang Ly to understand that sources of hope can also be found in hidden places, such as the orphan Lucky Fat’s courage and goodness when he hides Maly from her brother so that she will not be sold into prostitution. Sang Ly tells her fellow villagers, “If we look carefully around Stung Meanchey, if we search for stories that teach truth and goodness, stories with lessons that can soften and change our hearts—we will discover hope.” This clearly suggests that even in a seemingly hopeless environment, hidden sources of hope may be found if one choose to actively search for them.

Sang Ly’s renewed sense of hope compels her to take further actions to create a better future for herself, demonstrating how hopefulness can be self-fulfilling when it compels one to make changes that will benefit their future. This is most evident when, after Sang Ly has multiple dreams of a Healer she once knew in her childhood village, she feels determined that she must take Nisay there so he can be healed of his illness. Acting purely out of hope—she does not even know if the Healer is still alive—Sang Ly, Ki, and Nisay make the long journey even though they only have enough money to get there, and have no idea how they will make it back to Stung Meanchey. The risk Sang Ly takes—evidence of her hopefulness—ultimately pays off, as the Healer is able to permanently cure Nisay’s illness, suggesting that one when acts on hope, the future can change for the better. However, even amidst such a hopeful story, Sopeap recognizes, “No matter how much we cling to hope, our stories seldom end as we expect.” This is particularly evident in her own character journey, since despite trying to fight her cancer, she ultimately succumbs to it. Although Sopeap’s death is a reminder that life does not always work out as one hopes, her encouragement of Sopeap to remain optimistic and make positive changes in her life still overwhelmingly suggests that hope is worth clinging to and acting on. In spite of their difficulty of life in Stung Meanchey, Sang Ly’s hope for the future allows her to persevere through hardship and strive to better her own life and the lives of others.