Raphael Fernandez:
In the very first chapter Raphael tells the reader, “I am a
trash boy with style.” this implies that even though Raphael is a trash boy he
is proud of it and may be a little better off in some ways compared to other
boys living on the dumpsite. He is not only a boy but an important part of his
family and later on in the book when Raphael is taken by the police we discover
that he is the core of his community. The people living on the dumpsite are,
yes, fighting for their own lives but have formed a tight community around
themselves; they are a group, just like people living at Central Station or
around Colva Prison. Raphael fights poverty, not having enough food, no proper shelter or getting an
education, although he faces these challenges every day and more, Raphael is a
small boy with a lot of strength, he wants to get somewhere in life.
Quotes about/by Raphael:
“You should see me, dressed to kill. I wear a pair of hacked-off
jeans and a too-big T-shirt that I can roll up onto my head when the sun gets
bad. I don’t wear shoes- one, because I don’t have any, and two, because you
need to feel with your feet.”
“I was a trash boy since I was old enough to move without help
and pick things up. That was what- three years old, and I was sorting.”
“A long time later I would think to myself: Everyone needs a
key. With the right key, you can bust the door wide open. because nobody’s
going to open it for you.”
Gardo:
Gardo is like a big brother to Raphael. He is strong and
protective, never leaving Raphael’s side. The two go through everything
together. Such as when Raphael is arrested, Gardo feels it too, “Gardo was
right with me at once, and he was
talking fast, saying, “What are you doing? What has he done?” P. 56. This tells
the reader just how much Gardo cares about Raphael and throughout the whole
book Gardo continues to display his caring nature.
Quotes about/by Gardo:
“Gardo- the bold boy- put his hand very gently on his [Raphael]
arm before turning back to me.”
“Gardo got his arm around me but someone pushed him off… He was
screaming at me. Trying to get to me, and a policeman grabbed him by the neck
and threw him off.”
Rat (Jun-Jun):
Rat, is a small but clever boy who really does live up to his
name. He is fast but sneaky, dirty but charming and is friendly. Rat is
always getting things from the mission school as he appears to be sweet and
useless. He saves the money that
he is giving so, surprisingly is one of the riches people on the
dump.
Quotes about/by Rat:
“Rat is a boy- three or four years younger than me. His real
name is Jun-Jun. Nobody calls him that, though, because he lived with the rats
and has come to look like one. He was the only kid in Behala that I knew of who
had no family at all…” P.19
“The kid was sitting up, just in his shorts, gazing at me with
frightened eyes and his big broken teeth sticking out of his mouth.”
“I am the best hearer, the best jumper, the best runner-they
think I brag, but they know it’s true!”
“Rat saw a once we had to dive back in among them… It was the
smarted thing he ever did.”
Jose Angelico:
Jose Angelico is a man of mystery in Andy Mulligan’s novel,
Trash. The boys, Raphael, Gardo and Rat, discover little bits and pieces about
Jose as they strive to uncover the secret of his murder. We know only small
bits about Jose, one of which is
in chapter seven, part four. This is where Frederico Gonz, a grave memorial
maker tells the reader all he knows about about Jose and his family as he made
memorials for his daughter, son, and Jose himself. Also near the start of the
adventure the information they find in the purse tell the reader details about
Mr. Angelico. A man of the age 33, unmarried and living in Green Hills,
employed as a houseboy, and does not appear to be wealthy in any way.
Quotes about Jose Angelico:
“I met Jose Angelico the way I meet many of my customers. I have
a workshop on the cemetery road, just past the coffin makers. I specialize in
the small, simple stone. I am very aware that my clients have next to nothing,
and renting the grave has often taken most of their money. So I modify and
modify and get down to the very lowest cost. The dead, however, must have that
stone: the reminder, the eternal reminder, that this man, this woman, this
child—existed. On some of the graves the name is marked in paint, or even pen, and
everyone knows how sad that is. Make something out of stone, I say, and no one
touches the grave. The poor are not buried, you see. There is not enough ground
here anymore, so in the Naravo they build upwards. The graves of the poor are
concrete boxes, each just big enough for the coffin. They go up and up—in some
parts twenty boxes high. A funeral here is to slide the coffin in and watch the
sealing of the compartment. Part of my service is that I cement the stone that
I’ve made into place, and thus seal the chamber.”
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