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Part 4: Chapter 5
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 thinks that Rat must have extra senses from being chased so often—he knows to bolt when he hears a sound. The boys are scrambling on rooftops with the police following, but Rat’s quick thinking leads them to a shack where a hundred or so street boys sleep. They somehow manage to make the large, scary jump through the window; Raphael almost misses, but the street boys haul him in. Everyone cheers and they all run out as a noisy, chaotic crowd, confusing the police. Gardo—thinking quickly—holds out their remaining cash in front of a taxi when they hit the main road. They jump in before the driver can smell them and they head to the graveyard, which, luckily, is crowded with people gathering for the Day of the Dead.
Raphael implies that Rat’s life on the street has enabled him with greater alertness than a typical person, implying that the skills of people who are poor and uneducated should not be underestimated, since life experience is a valuable teacher. The street boys reveal a strong sense of solidarity with the three protagonists in identifying with their plight and helping them to escape, which underscores the strong sense of community among the city’s impoverished.
Themes
