Manipulation Of The Poor In Andy Mulligan's Trash

In the novel Trash, by Andy Mulligan, the poor often manipulate others to get what they need. There are examples of this in the real world around us, and Andy Mulligan decided to use that in his novel. In Trash, children and adults that live in Behala are poor. Kids manage to get by picking plastic out of nasty landfills. Some of the children do not even get to eat, for they are too poor and dirty to be sold food. Because of this, they manipulate people in better situations than themselves to get money, clothes, etc. In this book, Rat manipulates Father Juilliard multiple times, Gardo takes advantage of Sister Olivia, and Jose Angelico betrays the Senator’s trust and deceives him.
In Trash, Rat takes advantage of Father Juilliard even though he cares for him. Father Juilliard shows his emotion about the situation, “Raphael and Gardo were smart. But little Jun…. Rat. What he did took my breath away.” (Mulligan 91) The author illustrates

He does this by stealing six million dollars from the house of Senator Zapatana, a fat man who does not care about the impoverished. The gardener of the Senator laughs as he tells the boys about how the money was stolen. “How did you let your houseboy walk out of the door with six million dollars?” he questions. (Mulligan 136) Jose works for the senator for years all the while planning to deceive him by stealing the money. Senator Zapatana’s gardener also declares that Jose just talks his way past all of the guards at the gate and takes the money freely. (Mulligan 138) Jose knows that he is taking advantage of the staff and the Senator for the good of the population of Behala. The author chooses this example to portray the poor manipulating others because it shows how someone can conceal their true motives with a false exterior. Jose comes up with a plan to rob the Senator for the good of the poor of Behala, and hides his intentions with a false exterior for