Trash

At the beginning of the book, Raphael is a 14-year-old who cheerfully describes himself as a “dumpsite boy” (3). His life resembles that of everyone else he knows, and he does not seem resentful or bitter about his situation. He lives in a camp near the dumpsite in the city of Behala with his aunt and some extended family members. He and his friend Gardo dig through trash to find things to sell. After Raphael finds and hides a bag containing money, a key, and a map, the police take him and torture him for information. He resists and keeps his secret, which gives him a strength he did not know he had. However, after his arrest, he has trouble sleeping and is paranoid, unable to sit still for long for fear that he is being watched. But he is brave and does what needs to be done. He and his friends, Gardo and Rat, find the locker the key unlocks and crack the code in the letter inside the locker, which shows them the location of enough money to escape from the police and reach Sampalo, the island where his friend Jun-Jun is from. He is sad to leave his family behind without saying goodbye but loves his new life as a fisherman.

Gardo is described by Father Juilliard, the man who runs the Mission School near the dumpsite, as the leader of Raphael and Jun. He is bald, serious, and vigilant about danger. When he is corned by Marco, a prison guard who agrees to bring him the Bible of Gabriel Olondriz but then betrays him, he fights back. Raphael says that Gardo can be mean but believes that it is the result of having taken more beatings than the rest of the boys. Gardo is as loyal as Raphael and Jun and takes some of the most dangerous steps in the book, including infiltrating the prison to meet with Olondriz with Olivia, a social worker the boys trick into helping them, and meeting with Marco to exchange the money for Olondriz’s Bible. By the end of the book, he appears to be as happy as the other children as he co-narrates the final section, describing the paradise in which they now live.

Jun-Jun is a few years younger than Raphael and Gardo but is more street smart, having survived on his own with no family to help him and no ability to read. He spent a year living in a train station, and when the novel begins, he lives in a hole in the trash that is filled with rats. He is generous, loyal, and brave, which he immediately shows when he agrees to hide the bag for Raphael. Later, he is the one who recognizes that the key in Raphael’s bag comes from a locker at the train station. He is a favorite of Father Juilliard, who can scarcely bear the sight of his emaciated body and feeds him whenever he can. It is Jun-Jun’s idea to take the money to the trash at the end of the book and return it to the people, and it is his plan to take them all to Sampalo to live as fishermen. Jun-Jun never shows much fear, which may be a result of how many successful escapes he has made during his time on his own. Raphael describes him as having extra senses that allow him to know how to get away from anyone who chases him.

Father Juilliard runs the Mission School near the dumpsite and is responsible for gathering the various accounts that comprise the narrative. He is a generous, kind man who encourages the children to attend school but does not chastise them when they choose to work in the trash instead. He shows a particular fondness for Jun-Jun because the boy is so small and has no one to help him. Father Juilliard provides the primary adult perspective in the book, filling in the details surrounding Raphael’s arrest, Olivia’s recruitment, and some of the backgrounds of Gabriel Olondriz and José Angelico. He admits that he is too trusting and says that he is astonished at the ingenuity and bravery the boys show. Despite being a priest, Father Juilliard makes no references to religion, other than discussing his affection for the chapel and the chapel steps.