Style: At the end of part 4, Andy Mulligan uses newspaper stories to reveal further information about Senator Zapanta and the mystery. What information is revealed? Do all of the papers share the same view? How is this an effective way to reveal the story?

Coming to the end of part 4, the writer Andy Mulligan shows newspaper articles to shed some more light on Senator Zapanta and the mystery of the crime they have been trying to solve. I think these articles have a similar point of looking at this controversy but the perspectives are just a tiny bit different. This is an effective way of revealing information because it gives information on what the public would react to what is going on in the book. This technique also summarises what the whole mystery has been about without having to be trapped in all that suspense.

Empowerment: By the end of the novel, Rat states, “Jun – no longer Rat. My name is Jun-Jun” (p.217). What can be inferred about Rat’s new sense of self? How have Raphael and Gardo enabled this transformation?

At the end of the novel ‘Trash’ Rat states “Jun – no longer Rat. My name is Jun-Jun” (p.217). I believe that he states this because he has gained a new form of confidence in himself and believes that he is worth something in this world, whereas before he was treated with disrespect; like he was rubbish. Gardo and Raphael contributed in this transformation by sticking with him, befriending him. Thus making him believe that he can survive in this world with those that care for him and those that HE cares for. After all he’s been through with these two trying to bring justice to the crime, he has finally been able to accept that he deserves respect, from himself AND from others.

Multiple Perspectives: Throughout the novel, Raphael, Gardo, and Rat take turns recounting their story. How does hearing the multiple perspectives of this story benefit you?

The multiple perspectives benefits us because different characters know different things and it helps because the different characters that recount the story also have a different life, living under different conditions. With them recounting the story we get a bit of a taste of what they go through. This also creates suspense which is always good for a reader, otherwise you’d be pretty bored and throw the book away. It creates suspense because the different knowledge that are told are sometimes not given with a bit of background information on what it’s actually about, making you not know what’s going on. Some characters that recount the story are, Rat, Grace, Father Juilliard, Sister Olivia, Gardo and Raphael.

This story is about…”: Using the phrase, “This is a story about…” Supply five words or phrases to describe Trash. Explain your choices.

This story is about life in poverty, it shows how rough the people in poverty’s lives are and how strong they must be to endure how they are treated; without respect. This story is also about friendship, the story has included three boys, two of them have been friends for a while, loyal friends with each other but at a point in the story, they build another friendship bond with Rat or Jun-Jun. This friendship just started out by having Raphael and Gardo needing a favour from Rat but they’ve become real close after all they’ve been through; their connection with each other tightened along the way, they started caring for each other. Trash is about justice, many freedom fighters and people who want to expose injustice have shown up throughout the book, our three main characters for example have been trying to expose Senator Zapanta and the corrupt police to avenge Jose Angelico, Gabriel Olondriz and Pascal Aguila. Jose Angelico and Pascal Aguila are also great examples of freedom fighters. Trash is about showing that not everyone has a peaceful world; the book shows this town with corrupt policemen and a Senator that takes away the government’s money and smuggling it for his own purposes. Lastly, the book Trash is also about corruption, they show how corrupt police can be, doing anything for money and having it their way, making their job easier. They try to bribe people to do their dirty work, always not keeping their end of the bargain. They even beat up children such as Raphael for information they need.

Characters: Discuss the character traits that allow Raphael, Gardo, and Rat to ultimately persevere. How are these characters similar to each other? In what ways are they different? Which character are you most like?

Even though he characters Raphael, Gardo and Rat are living in poverty, they persevere while striving to bring justice to this crime thanks to their individual characteristics that make them tough. Gardo, for one is a brave and loyal friend to these two. He believes that these two mean more to him than his own life, he would do anything, even giving away his own life, to make sure his friends are safe. “Praying to God that both my friends were safe.” (page 152 of Chapter 1 Part 4) Gardo saying this proves that he cares a lot for his friends, even as he was in danger he had time to worry about his friends. Part of this loyalty is probably due to the fact that he has no family and probably considers his close and dear friends, Raphael and Rat to be his family. Raphael however is a kind hearted and tough boy, the police beat him but he’s still as tough as ever and he didn’t say a single word about what he really knew to them. Rat is used to rough conditions and so he is able to do things like this, he also has quite a vast knowledge of the city, having been in many different places around the city. A common thing they all share is that one type of toughness that the harsh lifestyle of Behala bred onto and trained them in; being able to handle themselves and also having physical toughness. I am not really like any of them, I don’t think I would be able to handle all the things that they go through and all the things going on with their lives.

Family: Using the phrase, “In this story, family means…” Discuss the issue of family in Trash. Explain your choices.

In this story, family means they stick together and feel each other’s hard times and good times. For example, when Raphael was being taken away by the police, it was said that when someone feels pain, the whole dumpsite was feeling distress and panic. They’ve got each others’ backs and care for each other. This closeness is needed in their little civilization in the dumpsite of Behala, because many of these poor children are orphans or have no family at all. An example of someone with no family at all would be Gardo. Also, his friend Gardo is an orphan with no parents however, he does have an aunty that looks after him.

Creating Suspense!

Within the book Trash by Andy Mulligan, a lot of suspense is added to keep the reader wondering and reading. It is very effective because readers will just be curious throughout the whole book and keep reading to know what happens in the story.

He places a trail of clues for readers to follow along adding on one after another elements of mystery. For example he always adds on a mysterious item that usually reveals a piece of information that they would know nothing about. An example of these items is the first thing they found, the bag full of things. They gave us a name of a person that we didn’t know about yet; Jose Angelico.

Another method of suspense he used was conflict. He created conflict between characters to make readers question who would win or what would result out of their rivalry. Some rivalries found throughout Trash are Raphael with the police racing against to see who would solve the mystery or hide and bury the whole mystery and all evidence related to it.

In addition he also makes the characters work against a deadline to increase suspense and make readers wonder if they’re gonna do what they need to do in time. They put in quite a lot of scenarios or problems that characters have to complete in time or before someone else in order to be ‘safe’ or to survive. For example, the dumpsite boys are in one whole huge race against the police to see who could bury or solve the mystery first. If the dumpsite boys were to solve the mystery first the police knew they would be ruined and exposed. But if the police were to bury the mystery before the boys could solve it the boys would never be able to solve the mystery and bring justice to the crime.

Andy Mulligan also switches between characters, this method helps to create suspense because it makes us wonder what is happening to the others. This technique is also used for the purpose that different characters know different things and if they start talking about something that hasn’t been told before, the reader would be completely confused about what they are talking about. This creates suspense, compelling you to read on. Some characters that recount the story are, Rat, Grace, Father Juilliard, Sister Olivia, Gardo and Raphael.

He also makes the reader wonder about the nature and purpose of some characters, whether they are good, or evil. An example of this is Jose Angelico, when the police come by searching for the thrown away belongings of Jose Angelico, it makes you wonder what the police want with him, if he’s a bad man. But then it is also revealed that the police are bad, corrupt people and makes you lean over to the opinion that he is a good guy. In addition, we also feel this way about Gabriel Olondriz, the first impression we get of him is that he is a bad and dangerous man that went to prison for a murder of some sort. But when he tells his story it makes you wonder if he’s a good guy and he’s telling the truth or he is COMPLETELY devious and made up a big lie to sound innocent.

Is it okay to lie?

Throughout the novel Trash many characters have been seen lying for their own reason. Some of the lies were by the three main characters or the three dump site boys if you will. The main reason behind their lies was for survival in their life of poverty and also to bring justice by straightening out the mystery set in the book. One of the first of the tall tales from the boys told was when they wanted to use the computer and had to lie to Father Juilliard in order to do so. They needed to search up about Jose Angelico to learn more about him, however they told Father Juilliard that they were researching for a quiz. The next lie they made was by Raphael when he lied to his aunt about the bag, about being safe and a whole lot of things related to what the police wanted. The reason for this lie was that he didn’t want his aunt to worry. Another lie they made was when the boys needed Sister Olivia to take him to the prison to see Gabriel Olondriz. But instead of telling her the truth about wanting to see Gabriel Olondriz, Gardo told Sister Olivia that he needed to see his grandfather who was in prison. This lie was made because they urgently needed to see Gabriel Olondriz to figure out the mystery. Raphael also has a reputation of lying to the police in this book. The first time he lied was when he told the police that he did not find a bag when he actually did, instead he told them that all he found was shoe. He also told a series of lie when he was being interrogated by the police. He believed that these fibs had to be made in order to protect what they have and solve the mystery.

Other than the boys, the police have also been seen lying in the book. The police use lying negatively and only in selfish situations where they are too lazy to do what they’re supposed to. For example, the reward they offered for the finding of the bag they were looking for was probably a lie they made to get what they want. That reason is the main reason the police in Trash lie. They lie to get what they want so they keep their name clean and to speed up the process of doing their job. They also never revealed or shed some truth over what they want with the bag and the belongings of Jose Angelico or in fact what happened to him.

Lying isn’t a very good thing to do but in certain dire situations it is essential for some to lie. The example of survival earlier is a good example. Without lying sometimes Raphael, Gardo, Rat and all the other people of Behala might not still be alive. Another good excuse to lie is when it is for the greater good, unlike how police use the power of lying. The police in this book demonstrate a good example why NOT to lie.